Sumanjit Gill | UCL & NHS
I completed my training in general medicine, stroke and geriatrics in 2013 and have been working as a consultant in stroke medicine since then. I went to medical school at Barts and the London Medical School and did the majority of my training in North East London. I am also a committed educator and have recently been award an MA in Clinical Education from UCL. 3 years ago I took on the role of teaching fellow at UCL where I have designed and developed a Stroke Msc programme which is aimed at the multidisciplinary team. The majority of the students are from international backgrounds and it is my hope that they will be able to go on and have an impact on the stroke burden in countries in the developing world. I have also published a book of case studies, the proceeds of which I donate to a Sikh charity to help build schools in India. I have recently become an ambassador in the City Sikhs organisation which I hope to use as a vehicle to help young Sikhs into higher education. I am also a mentor with the Refugee Support Organisation mentoring unaccompanied children to the UK obtain qualifications in English and Maths.
Paige Morgan | Transport for London
When I was in year 10 I became a member of the Enfield Youth Parliament (EYP). Being a member of the EYP meant that I could attend official meetings with The Mayor Of Enfield, Metropolitan Police and the Director of The NHS. Attending these engagements helped me to be the voice of many young people in the area. Being apart of that committee was a honour and one of my greatest achievements. It also helped me to become the Head Girl of my school in year 11 which was a great experience as I was able to be the voice for my peers in my school.
Experiencing these life achievements helped me to prepare for my career.
When I was 15 years old I started my first job in a designer retail store. I then proceeded to work in Mothercare during my A-Level. I received A's and Distinctions* in all of my A-Level courses which enabled me to start my career in an accountancy firm studying Business and Admin with BBP university.
I now currently work for Transport For London as a degree apprentice studying Business Management at Pearson Business School.
Being a degree apprentice, means that I have to work full time and attend university one day a week. My tuition fees are paid for by Transport For London and I also receive a salary. This is a new scheme for Transport For London and I am one of the first apprentices to be selected, which is a privilege and honour. Being a degree apprentice is an amazing life achievement for me as I am able to work towards gaining a degree without any debt, whilst gaining experience in different working environments across the network.
Alongside these great achievements I also have my own business in photography. Running my own business whilst working and studying can be challenging sometimes but I enjoy every second of it as I enjoy overcoming challenges.
Cathy Mitchell | Scottish Funding Council
Cathy Mitchell is a Senior Data/Policy Officer who works in further and higher education data at the Scottish Funding Council (SFC). Cathy believes that more advanced use of data and qualitative research is key to improving the student experience, and is motivated to deliver this in the Scottish sector. Cathy works directly with colleges and universities, the Scottish government and related agencies in pursuing these aims.
Cathy authors National and Official Statistics publications and has strengthened links between qualitative research in education and students in the sector by beginning an internship programme opportunity at SFC for undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Cathy has an LLB in Law and an MSc in both Criminology and in Social Research, all from the University of Edinburgh. Cathy is pursing further professional qualifications in Statistics, Data Science and Strategic Management.
Paige Thomas | Transport for London
My first official job was working at Marks and Spencer during my A-levels and what an eye opener this was for me! I was the youngest member of staff to be offered a permanent role within 3 months after joining as a Christmas temp and this really again highlighted my passion and drive. Following this I then broaden my understanding within the transport sector and worked for Norwegian Airlines during my summer, I cannot emphasise how much I loved this job and I think it primarily stems from my love and passion for aviation.
Once completing my A-levels I then started my first full time job with Transport for London as a General Manager Degree Apprentice. This role involves studying one day a week at University and working for four days. As stressful as this was in the beginning and I commonly refer to it as I was drowning! I thoroughly enjoined it and the adrenalin that comes with it!
I am helping others via external channels as I actively seek out to secondary schools, requesting to speak with pupils about apprenticeships and higher education. This has really helped me as an individual see the barriers that are present behind apprenticeships. Furthermore it helps pupils by instilling confidence within their decision about going to University or choosing an Apprenticeship by having someone to speak with. Furthermore I am actively seeking new ways to communicate to students about becoming a leader and overcoming harsh barriers through a YouTube channel which is still currently in progress.
Alongside all of this I also have my own cupcake business that I started at the age of 15 with my twin sister - so I guess you could say that I am a bit busy with everything but I think what's most important is that I am passionate about every bit of it.
Sweta Raghavan | Scientists & Co
I was born and raised in Bangalore, India. After I finished my schooling, I decided to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in pure sciences, a decision that was strangely opposed by my teachers, guides and peers. I was told it would be an uphill battle to find a job or pursue a scientific career in India. Unfazed, I stuck with my decision but knew that I would need make an individual effort to train myself for research career without any support from my university. In a country where there is a constant dearth of opportunities, I knocked on many doors and spoke to countless people before I landed an internship at a diagnostic centre hidden at the back of a building in a nondescript street of Bangalore. I was ecstatic. To my teenage mind managing some simple pathology protocols felt as if I had officially become a scientist. It wasn’t long after that I joined Prof. Hittalmani’s group at the University of Agriculture in Bangalore to work on my first independent research project that involved validation a novel draught-resistant hybrid variety of rice using genetic markers. Following this experience I never wanted to look back. I relished the intellectual freedom and was empowered with the realisation that every discovery impacts life as we know it.
I moved to the United Kingdom in 2011 to purse a Master’s degree in Biomedical Sciences Research, which I passed with a distinction. Following this, I was awarded a graduate studentship at King’s College London to pursue my doctoral study in molecular and cell biology, which I recently completed. The bulk of my study involved validating and characterising a novel protein-protein interaction in the lung epithelial layer that controlled epithelial cell adhesion and migration, both of which are crucial to maintaining homeostasis in the lungs. My work has paved way to study inflammatory response in the lung during cancer and asthma.
Alongside my doctoral study, I founded a non-profit social enterprise called Scientists & Co. in 2016. It was borne out of a sense of responsibility I felt towards the U.K. and its people. In other words, it was my way of humbly giving back to a society who funded my study and warmly embraced me. This enterprise aims to increase the social mobility of pupils from low socio-economic backgrounds in higher education. I designed a university boot camp styled work experience called Shadow A Scientist. It also offers a range of workshops to develop skills that helps pupils gain confidence tin themselves. To date, 98 pupils from white working class and BAME backgrounds have been offered one-to-one support through this programme. Nine out of ten of them are now enrolled in a university, 63 percent of whom have received offers from a Russell Group university. I also rolled out another programme called Science Without Borders in order to reach pupils in cold spots in the U.K. and abroad. This programme has reached over 300 students across 35 schools and entails conducting workshops and offering mentoring or career counselling at the schools.
I was also selected as the President of the Global Health Policy Centre at Europe’s largest student-led policy association, the King's Think Tank between 2016 and 2017. I had the herculean task of engaging policy-averse health students and developing innovative policy ideas. I recruited and lead a team of four to host high quality events, conceptualised innovative ways to engage healthcare workers and students, and mostly importantly, published the first ever collection of policy ideas and research in Global Health titled Breaking down Bureaucracy, Boundaries and Barriers in Health. From healthcare issues plaguing both developed and developing countries to laying the foundation for strengthening healthcare innovation in post-Brexit U.K, the publication covers topics that we have extensively lobbied to relevant decision makers. Also, for the first time at King's Think Tank, I lead a lobby-trip for heath students to the World Health Organisation at Geneva, where my white paper on Let’s Talk, Young People’s Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing in England was discussed at length.
Another hat I donned between 2015 and 2017 was as an elected student officer at the King's College London's Students' Union. I successfully lobbied for student rights, conceptualised and implemented a number of schemes and policies to improve student experience at King's. I established UK’s representative body for postgraduate research students to improve student life and achieve research excellence. This model is now being used by other Students’ Unions in the country. I created the popular Thesis Writing Up Spaces at King's College London, set up the King's Doctoral Students Association and led campaigns to increase pay for student-teachers, to provide more work stations for research students and championed for greater mental health awareness and support. My work was widely recognised by both the Union and the College and I was consequently appointed as the official Student Ambassador of King's Vision 2029 strategy.
Tina McDonald | Avalanche Coaching
During my 14 years as a Claims Manager I was introduced to Coaching and became fully qualified to support the companies vision of being a coaching culture. I was seconded over a 4 year period to run the intake training for the companies new trainees, each intake was approx 6 people and there was 2- 3 per year.
I have worked with graduates straight out of university and guided professional progression throughout my career to ensure my team members moved upwards in their careers and understood their opportunities. Providing learning opportunities and career advice and support to the team members who wanted to progress and performance management to those who were not performing in their roles so I could keep them my team and them not be lost.
After a car accident meant I was unable to return to work full-time in the role I was in, I decided to set up Avalanche Coaching and provide businesses with training in Leadership and soft skills and provide career advice, so I could continue what I enjoyed doing and ensure I was able to manage my health too. I have worked with students to help them see their abilities differently and find careers not just jobs and believe they have positive futures, regardless of the grades they get.
Saima Mehmood | We Engage
I am a mother of three beautiful children.
I was born and raised in Birmingham, United Kingdom.
I have always been very passionate about raising awareness for women’s rights and especially for encouraging women from ethnic minority backgrounds to come forward play a positive role in within society.
I sincerely believe that educated women are indeed empowered women which is why we arrange community awareness events and take the issues which affect us all, to the hard to reach areas where we find the most vulnerable women often are.
We not only raise awareness but also work with service providers already out there to aid women to make educated decisions regarding issues affecting them but most importantly make them aware of the services available to them which ofcourse in return make them stronger confident and more independent women.
Susie Wolstenholme | London South Bank University
I arrived at my current position by an unusual route having left school at sixteen with few academic qualifications. I worked as an Accounts Junior in a fabrication company and experienced a company going down. It was this company that gave me the opportunity to redeem my poor school performance and gave me day release to the college where I later taught. Discovering that I enjoyed learning if under my control I embarked on a full time degree in Business Information Technology, and in my third year took the opportunity to spend 15 months working in China. This gave me an exceptional opportunity to discover my potential at a young age and I ended the year as a successful manager where I lead, managed and trained a thriving team of Chinese staff in the front office of a large five star tourist hotel in Xian. On graduation I took a training job with a publicly funded private training company in the East End of London where alongside a team of four developed a set of NVQ programmes in IT for unemployed adults from ethnic minority backgrounds, with the long-term strategic aim of providing access and employability to a disadvantaged sector of the London community. On discovering I enjoying teaching and was good at it I then qualified to become a Lecturer in Further Education, where I conducted my second teaching practice at a School and University in Budapest, Hungary and on return became a Lecturer in an FE College. Since that time I have worked in two FE Colleges teaching FE and HE where I developed and managed a series of GNVQ / degrees courses and worked with employers to develop their NVQ provision. In my current role as a Senior Lecturer in MIS I wear a number of hats which include my role as Course Director across a number of UG and PG programmes in Business and Management, Dissertation Co-ordinator, Placement Lead, Erasmus and Study Abroad Co-ordinator and organiser of a series of extra-curricular activities across the School to ensure that our students are graduate career ready, with a breadth of experience and can compete against students from traditional universities.
Hardeep Kundan | EY
Diversity being the core of what I do in my role in recruitment and network lead, I am particularly passionate about gender and BME equality.
Core member of D&I for both recruitment and Data Analytics- leading on the BME workstreams to harness the relationship between recruitment and the various EY Networks.
Having full recruitment oversight over Data Analytics recruitment means I am in a position to have an impact on diversity and am able to influence this through building relationships and trust.
I have introduced a number of initiatives in the past year in an attempt to influence our gender & BME mix.
- Revamped interview matrix- to ensure that every BME/female candidate has one stage of their interviews with a BME/female interviewer.
- Worked with brand and marketing team to profile and curate case studies on role models within the Data Analytics team, to showcase how EY supports them via flexible working.
Result: Have been able to positively influence our Diversity mix from:
Gender hires- 24% last year to 50% this year.
BME hires- 32% last year to 50% this year
Chair one of the BME faith based networks at EY; EY Sikh Network
Integral role in planning, designing and executing activities which enhance EY’s market leadership.
I have arranged & executed a number of events which tie in to and have influenced our talent pipelines and attract female and BME candidates
Outside of work, Trustee and volunteer for a charity called Binti www.binti.co.uk
Binti promotes menstrual dignity through access to sanitary protection and education.
In many parts of the world, unfortunately menstruation is a huge cause of gender inequality. Binti enables women within these communities to produce and sell sanitary towels in a sustainable social enterprise model, empowering them to fight against social stigma and become more equal participants within society, whilst also providing an extra source of sustainable income.
I have ran and lead menstrual education classes in India and East Africa. Spending time with these young children, both girls and boys has been hugely rewarding for me.
Using my background and experience in recruitment, I am also involved in dealing with the large number of applications we receive as a charity from volunteers and ensuing their skills are utilised in the appropriate projects.
I am thrilled to be able to have an impact on diversity both at work and outside of work and would love to inspire others to do the same.
Emma Horsfall | Barclays
I started working for barclays back in 2007 after an accident that left me disabled, so I could no longer continue to work in the food industry.
After many years working as a cashier I applied for a promotion and my boss said he didn't see me in that role, he challenged me to become the digital eagle for Leeds as I believed I was destined for something more. Out of sheer grit and stubbornness, I threw myself into doing it and have done so for the past 2 years now. To my amazement my boss was right as being a digital eagle took me to projects that still amaze me and I pushed to do more in the way of helping people with disabilities, be them physical or learning.
I even went as far as approaching the BBC so that we could make a BBC microbit that would allow me to teach people with disabilities, something that awarded me the golden title. I then set up a work experience programme for people that again had disabilities, to great success, proving if you remove the DIS from disability you get ABILITY.
I was then asked to chair the reach group for Barclays world wide that helps it's staff member who have a physical or medical condition. Along side this I worked on a very small team of people to try and bring the focus of diversity and inclusion to the north. So much focus is placed on London but up north we are forgotten so I'm now working to have more things happen up here and we are doing it in conjunction with PWC.
I have done projects like national access day, completely taking over the branches and even had a flash mob, created by dance students and the participants were all from local charity groups all with physical or medical conditions.
I'm now working on a project to help transgender customers get a better banking experience all across Barclays and writing the training for our staff, teaching them about non binary, transgender and things that people don't want to ask about but in order to help our customers best, we need to understand our customers.
All of this I do while still being a full time cashier and having had a traumatic time with my family.
I've been married for 20 years now, with 2 wonderful daughter's, but my eldest has had issues over the last year and a bit and has tried to take her own life twice and I myself have had lots of medical issues and am currently awaiting a full radical hysterectomy for those conditions. But even though I've had lots of surgeries over the past few years and treatments and spent many hours in family councilling, I'm still trying to show my boss he should of promoted me! But when I was asked to go and speak at the houses of parliament in December about diversity and inclusion, to represent all of Barclays, my boss did tell me that's why I didn't promote you, so you can do all of this.
Some of my next projects going forward are to teach in job centres and to do digital and life skills classes with deaf children and adults. Years ago I went to night school to learn to sign so that I can help the deaf customers that come into branch, just because I felt rude writing on paper, it took me 2 years but I did it.
I also write for GLOBI, which was a huge dream of mine to write. It just shows if you have a passion to help others, you don't stop till you have made as much of a difference so that others join you and you can step back and breathe, I'm still trying to take that breath but I think soon enough I will have made enough of a difference to do that.