Acorn Awards 2025: Aashifa Hussain, Well Grounded

Age 29

Position Education and quality manager, Well Grounded

Nominator Eve Wagg, CEO and founder, Well Grounded

Aashifa Hussain has gone from trainee barista to one of the UK coffee industry’s most inspiring educators in a few short years. Now education and quality manager at social enterprise Well Grounded, Hussain oversees training that helps more than 250 people each year overcome barriers to employment and build lasting careers in hospitality.

Her story began in 2016 when she joined Well Grounded as a learner. Within a year, she was head barista at Vagabond, Holloway Road, making 1,000 coffees a day and mentoring her team. By 2019, she returned to Well Grounded as a coffee trainer and became the UK’s first Muslim woman to earn accreditation as a Speciality Coffee Association trainer.

Hussain has since trained more than 400 adults facing barriers to employment and supported them to overcome their challenges, as well as designed new education pathways and launched successful career accelerator and leadership programmes. Her results speak volumes – 90% of employment programme graduates earn accreditation, and 87% sustain long-term roles.

She’s a trusted mentor for learners with complex needs and has spearheaded the charity’s expansion beyond London by piloting its first Bristol course. Her work was central to Well Grounded’s Department for Education Matrix Standard and Greater London Authority funding success.

Beyond training, Hussain is a vocal advocate for diversity in hospitality, speaking at major industry events and sitting on advisory boards, including GirlDreamer, a non-profit organisation that supports the personal and professional development of young women of colour, and the Natural History Museum. While her impact has also earned her a place on Be Inclusive Hospitality’s Rising Star shortlist, she can now proudly add Acorn Award winner to her accolades.