New Year Honours 2023: Hackney councillor Susan Fajana-Thomas made OBE
Susan Fajana-Thomas OBE
Cabinet member for community safety Susan Fajana-Thomas has been awarded an Order of the British Empire for services to local government and gender equality in King Charles’s first New Year’s Honours List.
Fajana-Thomas, who has lived in Hackney for over 30 years and has represented Stoke Newington Ward since 2010, also heads the SFT Foundation Trust which supports women and young people through mentoring, campaigning, training and education.
Commenting on the award, the councillor said: “Thanks to God, my family and the people who nominated me”.
Honoured with an OBE in the first publication of His Majesty’s King Charles III New Year’s Honours List
for my contributions to the community through my charity, SFT Foundation Trust, my work with women, and to Local Govt.
Thanks to God, my family and the people who nominated me https://t.co/OES1izJrZo— Susan Fajana-Thomas (@sfajanathomas) December 31, 2022
She received congratulations from around the borough, with Mayor Philip Glanville praising her “well deserved award for services to local government in Hackney & beyond; as well as to gender equality also linked to her work at @SftFoundation”.
Huge congratulations to @sfajanathomas on her OBE as part of the first New Year Honours from the King. A well deserved award for services to local government in Hackney & beyond; as well as to gender equality also linked to her work at @SftFoundation. https://t.co/6iski0VuVy
— Mayor of Hackney (@mayorofhackney) December 31, 2022
Fajana-Thomas’s cabinet responsibilities include crime reduction, antisocial behaviour, the night time economy, licensing enforcement, environmental health, environmental protection, trading standards, violence against women and girls, youth justice and the council’s relationship with local police. She also served as Speaker of Hackney in 2011/12.
In addition to her council and foundation work, she has been a mentor to young asylum seekers, a governor of Grasmere School and trustee of Abney Park Cemetery.
Gongs have also been awarded to several other prominent figures with local connections, including Nicola Baboneau, community volunteer and community assessor with the Met Police, who was given an OBE for services to the community in Hackney.
Responding to news of the award, the police said: “Nicola has worked tirelessly for the last fifteen years and excels in bringing faith, community and youth groups together.”
OBEs were likewise bestowed on former Community Library Services Manager Christopher Garnsworthy for services to home visit libraries and Sylvia Pierce, founder and chair of Governors at Mossbourne Academy, for services to education.