Halima has led the Runnymede Trust since 2020. She began her career as a researcher on the influential Commission on the Future of a Multi-Ethnic Britain before going on to fulfil senior roles in the UK Department for International Development, the British Council and LEGO Foundation. She has spent much of her career on overseas posting and headed major development, research and policy programs in fields including human rights, food insecurity, gender equality, poverty reduction, public health and post-conflict reconstruction.