Shortlisted Nominees 2023

Donna Briscoe-Greene

I’m Donna Briscoe-Greene newly appointed CEO of EMCCAN (East Midlands Caribbean Carnival Arts Network) and Award winner of the 2019 Black Achievers Award for Culture, Media and the Arts. 

I have recently been a Landlady of Pub Theatre The Maypole Cafe Bar and Theatre www.themaypolebarandtheatre.co.uk The only Black Woman in the UK to do so, and I am super proud to have been spearheading this type of space in Derby.

And through the company I founded EMBAA CIC (East Midlands Black Arts Associated) I was able to work at supporting the decolonisation of the Arts scene locally through consultancy, performance, and audience development, as well as training and or mentoring.

Moreso I love to sing so I am honored when invited to perform in new spaces which for me also ensures African and Caribbean Arts and Culture continue to be explored, reframed, re-evaluated, and seen.

Elena Davies

Experienced in Digital Marketing, photography, and videography with extensive experience building, maintaining, and running successful digital marketing campaigns from founding and running my own company to freelancing for various businesses. Bringing forth broad team management knowledge, coupled with focused campaign experience.

Adept at creating and implementing client-centred, successful campaigns, aimed at improving brand awareness and presence. Equipped with a diverse and promising skill set, including a background in a retail and sales environment, conducive to adhering to marketing principles and best practices.

I try to create impact with everything I put out and make sure I’m contributing something meaningful to the creative space.

When Kerry moved from Cross to take up a role in PR, her confidence was nearly destroyed whilst at the company seeing her eventually let go of. Whilst devastated, she didn’t take a moment to stop and contacted LeicestershireLive immediately. To get her foot in the door, she asked to join their week-long university work experience programme after which she was asked to join the team as a freelance reporter.

When promoted to head of department, Kerry looked after two team members. She had to get organised to be able to efficiently manage her workload as well as her team’s. From myself and a series of online research, she learnt how to conduct performance reviews, and was pushed out of her comfort zone minimizing her imposter syndrome for the good of her team members. She had to find the balance between being an approachable friend and being respected as a leader. The team now successfully and impressively juggles three magazine titles (Niche, Real Entrepreneurs’, and She Inspires), and numerous in-house and client campaigns all at once. She learnt how and why to delegate and never to assume that others understand why something is done a certain way – seeing her continuously take the time to share her knowledge and processes whilst never patronising or micromanaging. She has created a positive culture within the team that radiates into the wider company.

Megan Lupton is a PhD candidate, creative freelancer, and co-founder of the Great Central Gazette, Leicester’s first co-operative newspaper. 

She is an award-winning PhD researcher and is investigating the ethics of true crime content, to protect victims from re-traumatisation and equip practitioners with the knowledge needed to ethically empower peoples’ voices. 

In March 2022, she launched a new independent newspaper in Leicester to rival the existing press. The Gazette has since received thousands of readers and continues to offer exciting opportunities for young professionals. 

Mentoring is Megan’s passion, particularly when she can use her experience as a professional creative to inspire and empower the next generation. 

Today, Megan splits her time between researching for her PhD, writing for the Great Central Gazette, and volunteering for a fundraising and events committee. 

Ruma Ali

My name is Ruma Ali, I am a local Community Leader in Leicester. I support many local, national, and international charities. I have been actively involved in Politics, Community Development, Diversity, and Interfaith Work. I want to lead the way for more BAME women.

Gina Samuel-Richards

Gina Samuel-Richards is a solicitor-director of award-winning AGR Law and is President of Leicestershire Law Society.

Well-respected in the legal field, Gina has been practicing Family Law for over fifteen years and co-founded AGR Law in 2016.

During her Presidency Gina will use her wealth of experience to encourage young people in Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland to consider a career in law and to help build on inclusivity in the legal profession.

Deepa Mistry

Deepa is a Senior Finance professional and NED, STEM role model, mother of 3, and a leaseholder affected by dangerous cladding as found on Grenfell. As CEO of Building Safety Crisis LTD Deepa is heavily involved in the Polluter Pays legislation with Government and winner of the Women in Fire Safety Awards 2022 for Education.

She was Finalist for Brunel University’s Alumni of the Year 2023 and Highly Commended Fire Industry Woman of the Year 2023.

Her aim is to make the residential environment safer for all; regardless of race, gender and social background.

Amelia Benskin

Prior to founding Quality Life UK – a local, friendly home care agency supporting families in Leicestershire and beyond – Amelia Benskin had a very different career. 

She worked in television before returning home to Leicestershire and working for a local marketing and branding agency.  After a conversation with her husband, an elderly client solicitor, and whilst on maternity leave Amelia began work on founding Quality Life UK, registering the business in 2014, and gaining CQC accreditation in 2015. 

Amelia has run the business ever since developing a reputation for providing exceptional local care and support.

Linda Neville

I am Linda Neville, the founder of SanaMente, and my passion lies in unlocking the full potential of individuals in their personal and professional lives.

With 26 years of experience in the NHS, I understand the intricacies of leadership and delivering top-notch care. At SanaMente, we create a safe space where individuals can connect with themselves, develop self-awareness, and build strong
coping strategies. Through a blend of therapy and hypnosis, we empower our clients to make meaningful changes and live more fulfilling lives. Beyond our flagship service, Hypnotherapy, we
provide the Strive Community—a transformative online platform that equips individuals with the tools, resources, and support needed to actively work on their mental fitness. The Strive Corporate Solution helps organisations proactively address and improve the mental fitness of their workforce.

I firmly believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to live their best life and I am committed to helping people achieve that.

Amanda Leandro

Amanda Leandro was an art director in the TV and film industry, working on Emmerdale, Casualty, Twentieth Century Fox films, Channel 4, head of design for regional programming at Yorkshire TV amongst many other programmes, many short films she worked on won an award at Cannes and Edinburgh film festivals. 

After having her daughter Amanda taught at Coventry University, Leicester College, North Warwickshire and Hinckley College and also was a project manager and lead tutor for Creative Partnerships work in schools regionally   

Amanda set up her business in 2011 to save the Manor House Community Centre from threatened closure as under utilised and did the first-ever Cosmopolitan Arts festival to celebrate cultural diversity in the city.

Coming originally from Leeds Amanda noticed that Leicester was very culturally diverse, but also very segregated and wanted to promote understanding and integration. This was a huge success and became too big for the Manor House, so moved to the city centre in 2014, this has continued during the lockdown digitally online and in the city centre using creativity and digital technology

All Cosmopolitan Arts work is focused around anti-racism and celebration of cultural diversity, to break down barriers and promote better understanding

Deborah Knight

Deborah Knight is CEO of Quetzal, a charity that focuses on providing support and healing for survivors of childhood sexual abuse.  Deborah’s commitment to creating a safe and nurturing environment for survivors drives her to build Quetzal into a place where solace, support, and empowerment flourish.

Beyond her professional responsibilities, Deborah is a volunteer at youth and emotional support charities. Through these roles she has the opportunity to give her time and expertise to make a positive impact on the lives of young individuals facing hardship, fostering healing, resilience, and growth within vulnerable communities.

In addition to her work and volunteering, Deborah embraces the role of mother to three teenage boys. Her varied experience has enabled her to foster a supportive work environment, navigate challenges and inspire teams through uncertain times to create impactful community interventions.

Emma Sharpe

Emma is the Head of Services for Menphys, a local Leicestershire charity that supports children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.

She has always been passionate and enthusiastic about impacting people’s lives positively. 

Emma is proud to have been nominated for this award for the impact she has had on multiple communities across the East Midlands in her career to date.

Emma Shipstone

In the past 12 months, Emma has been made redundant due to becoming a single mum who couldn’t travel to London regularly, started her own Education Consultancy business, and then designed and started her own Not for Profit business, Gifts from Fairies, whilst being a solo parent to a 3-year-old. The level of adversity and resilience shown has been extreme.
When most people would have been thankful for a few spare hours in the week, not Emma, she started another business just to help other people and in particular parents who are struggling!
Gifts from Fairies is designed to help young children in need, with the aim to spread a little happiness to those who need it most with gifts and presents (of useful and often essential items). Utilising donations of pre-loved (and sometimes new) clothes, books, toys, etc.; we are instilling the Pay-it-Forward principle into young children, not to throw away but to help someone less fortunate and bring a smile to their faces, whilst supporting the environment.

Rehan Sidat

I gain immense pleasure from making a difference to the lives of others through sharing my learning and learning from others.

Specialties: Management, Training, Education, Public Speaking. Disability including Learning Disabilities, Mental Health, Autism & Dyslexia. Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, BAME Communities, Carers, Volunteering, Coaching, Mentoring, Advice, Advocacy & Consultancy.

Jamila’s Legacy is a non-profit organisation that offers advice, advocacy, support, a listening service, self-care activities and training to individuals interested in maintaining their own mental health well-being and supporting others.

Susan McEniff

Susan is a dedicated professional with a passion for innovation and social impact. Following a background in the commercial sector, she joined Charity Link in 2008 as Fundraising Manager, and promoted to CEO in 2022.

Susan has spearheaded sustainability through income generation expansion and social enterprise development. She has been instrumental in driving growth and fostering collaboration across the private, public and charitable sector.

Susan’s impact on Charity Link’s success cannot be overstated. Her strategic leadership and innovative thinking have helped raise millions of pounds, to expand the organisational capacity to provide vital support to individuals and families in need.

Tracey Voss

I am Trace Voss, Corporate and Events Manager at Hope Against Cancer a charity that provides funding for research and the Hope Clinical Trials Centre. My role involves me building relationships and working in partnership with businesses and hosting events to raise funds to support this valuable work.

My passion is to ‘make a difference’.  My beliefs and values include, everybody deserves to be offered the same experiences in life, some may need a bit more support than others, to achieve and be the best of themselves.  To enable me to fulfil this further I have become an Enterprise Advisor.

Ameena Muflihi

Since starting Let’s Talk Hope I have seen the importance of making sure there is access to all information in all languages so no one has to face cancer alone. I took this idea to Ovacome (an ovarian cancer charity) and worked with them to produce 6 videos and hotlines in Arabic, Bengali, Gujarati, Polish, Punjabi and Urdu. These resources were shared through social media and have reached all around the world.

Let’s Talk Hope, supports, signposts, and raises awareness. In 2018 Let’s Talk Hope started with one face-to-face support group, the last Saturday of the month in West Bromwich, then I started the Facebook group that now has over 500 members. And last year Let’s Talk Hope started another face-to-face session in Smethwick.

Veronica Kumeta

Co-Founder & Trustee of LFBC since 2000 supporting men & women in the Midlands with Breast Cancer.

Marguerite Haye

Marguerite Haye is the founder of The Big e, which was born out of her passion and frustration for disabled children not receiving the provision they are entitled to.

Marguerite has a thorough knowledge of SEND (Special Education Needs and Disability) legislation and embraces its ethos at the heart of everything she does. She has adopted a child-centred approach to ensure every child receives the appropriate provision.

Marguerite is a mother of three, children one of her children is partially deaf and received very little support throughout their education, and the other suffers from a chronic illness, which meant frequent hospital admissions.

Marguerite is the Associate Editor for Special Needs Jungle and contributes voluntarily. She is a volunteer for IPSEA providing legally based advice to families, a Trustee for the Charity Disability Direct as well as Raising Awareness Development Language Disorder (RADLD). 

Nicole Martin

I set up Core Aquatics after achieving a first-class honours degree in business and management in 2015 which combined my desire for owning my own business and my experience in the leisure industry. Specialists in the Midlands for swimmers with other abilities.

I am also an IQA, Trainer, Tutor, and Assessor for lifeguard and swimming teacher qualifications. I continue to lecture for Universities and support the student community. 

Jayne Townley

Jayne has a hereditary condition called spastic paraplegia. When volunteers were wanted for Coventry City of Culture she put her name forward as it gave her an opportunity to represent her hometown and to demonstrate disability is no barrier. 

After acceptance and training Jayne’s early baptism was to feature on the promotional video and recruitment material.

Anuradha Rani Upplauri

Dr. Anuradha Rani Upplauri is a dentist by profession, now a full-time carer for her autistic son and she is continually striving to promote Autism awareness among the South Indian population in the UK. She does this awareness campaign through a Charity event held every April in Birmingham.

Humera Hodgkinson

Managing services and programmes that provide a diverse range of students with equip students towards success in their career. 

Nusrat Hathiari

I am an experienced leader in the adult and community education sector, dedicated to collaborating with a variety of stakeholders to provide quality education in communities to improve lives, support social mobility, and integration.

I am passionate about staff and learner success and driven to make their experience the best it can be. I have the ability to motivate staff, solve problems, and effectively manage performance to create a high-performing team.

Anastacia Cooper

My approach to education is to show learners that they can embrace their character, quirks and potentials. Ensuring a warm, supportive environment in which they can feel free to ask for support at any time. I am passionate about empowering learners and their skills whilst still maintaining a level of fun to boost engagement with the curriculum.

I pride myself on inclusivity within my classroom by showcasing the fact that having difficulties cannot stop you from your goals and aspirations. I find being transparent about my own adversities allows learners to feel safe and see me as a real-life human.

Clare King

After completing the N.N.E.B over 25 years ago I have had an incredibly varied career in numerous areas of Early Years Education. From private nanny, multicultural nurseries, child development centre, speech and language unit, family centre for children and families with additional needs.

After a long career break and a huge change in my personal circumstances I found myself 200 miles away from my home and my own children having to re-enter the job market. 

3 and a half years ago I joined The Old Rectory Nursery using Montessori Methods, the scariest but best decision I have ever made and a place I will be at until I retire.

The next questions are very difficult for me to answer in the respect of I honestly feel I am just doing my job that I am incredibly passionate about and always give my all to.

As Deputy Manager a significant aspect of my role is to support, develop and nature our staff team in order to provide outstanding care and educational provision for all of our children.

Rebecca Richardson

Assistant Head Teacher for Inclusion, very passionate about the ‘More Able’ students in Education and for students from economically deprived backgrounds to have every opportunity in life. Qualified SENCo and passionate about ASD and Dyslexia. Active member of the RSA

Meena Kumari

Meena Kumari is the Founder & Director of H.O.P.E Training & Consultancy. An award winning training company specialising in Safeguarding. domestic abuse, anti racist practice and sexual violence training. Meena is based in Leicester but has clients all over the UK and in 2022 deliver the first ever national leadership programme for staff from Black and Minority ethnic communities working within the Violence against Women and Girls Sector (VAWG). Meena has worked on independent campaigns raising awareness of forced marriages and so called honour abuse this social media campaign called Change the channel attracted over 50’000 views on twitter and enabled Meena to follow up with sessions in schools and colleges. Meena writes the national H.O.P.E Blogs and recently was commended for her work in raising awareness around artificial intelligence and VAWG this blog attracted the likes of academics and now Meena is leading on round table events with other professionals looking at VAWG and  AI.

In 2008 Meena was awarded the Leicester Young Achiever Award (part of women of achievement awards) and in 2015 Meena was shortlisted as a finalist as part of the Iranian & Kurdish Women’s Rights organisation IKWRO Awards for her work in combating Honour Abuse and Forced Marriages. In October 2020 Meena was shortlisted for the Emma Humphreys Memorial Prize. In 2021 Meena was awarded Thought Leader Award part of the Baton Awards. In 2022 Meena was awarded a High Sheriff of Leicestershire award for her work with women and girls and shortlisted in the Women of East Midlands awards in the category of Community Impact.

Julie Clark

Julie Clark is the Managing Director of Savage Lighting. As director of the company, she has decades of experience in lighting design and in managing complex lighting systems projects.

A lighting problem solver and innovator, Julie specialises in marine lighting solutions. She expertly leads the Savage Lighting team in delivering bespoke lighting solutions to clients across the globe.

Linda Neville

I am Linda Neville, the founder of SanaMente, and my passion lies in unlocking the full potential of individuals in their personal and professional lives. With 26 years of experience in the NHS, I understand the intricacies of leadership and delivering top-notch care. At SanaMente, we create a safe space where individuals can connect with themselves, develop self-awareness, and build strong coping strategies.

Through a blend of therapy and hypnosis, we empower our clients to make meaningful changes and live more fulfilling lives. Beyond our flagship service, Hypnotherapy, we provide the Strive Community—a transformative online platform that equips individuals with the tools, resources, and support needed to actively work on their mental fitness.

The Strive Corporate Solution helps organisations proactively address and improve the mental fitness of their workforce. I firmly believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to live their best life and I am committed to helping people achieve that.

Estelle Keeber

Estelle Keeber is a dynamic and accomplished female entrepreneur, renowned for her expertise in Instagram marketing. As an author and speaker, Estelle has revolutionized the way businesses leverage the power of social media to achieve their goals with her company Immortal Monkey.

Her extensive knowledge has guided countless individuals and companies to phenomenal success. With a passion for empowering others, Estelle’s engaging speaking engagements and insightful books have inspired audiences worldwide.

Through her innovative strategies and actionable advice, she continues to shape the landscape of online marketing, earning her a well-deserved nomination for her outstanding contributions to the industry.

Fahimah Adam

The innovative and heart-led legal practice, No7 Legal Services Ltd was established in 2019 by Fahimah Adam, a Commercial Contracts Lawyer with over ten years’ experience. Called to the Bar in 2008, Fahimah has worked with a broad spectrum of clients from small, start-up businesses to large multinationals on a wide variety of contractual matters. Her experience together with her passion for creating a stress-free, approachable, personal alternative to traditional legal support for businesses
has been the driving force behind the establishment and continued success of No7 Legal Services.
With exciting plans for growth in the year ahead, Fahimah is enthused and excited about the future of contracts for small businesses and underrepresented groups.

Bhumika Parmar

Bhumika Parmar the Founder and Director of BP Legal Solicitors, establishing the firm in 2009. Prior to launching her own legal firm, Bhumika gained a wealth of experience working for top legal solicitors in the area, where her knowledge and determination to provide the best outcome for her clients lead her to setting up her own practice. With her entrepreneurial skills and motivation, the firm has expanded over the years into a reputable and dynamic practice. Through her hard work and determination, Bhumika has earned herself a remarkable reputation as a leading, forward-thinking solicitor in Leicester.

Bhumika has a number of achievements that have helped to build her reputation; she has over 24 years of experience in Conveyancing and Commercial Property matters, has lead high profile cases regarding immigration matters with worldwide media coverage and sets an example for trainee solicitors as one of her cases brought to the High Court is now a leading precedent used by training establishments. Most recently, Bhumika won the “Outstanding Women In Professional Services 2020 Award” at the East Midlands Women’s Awards and Boutique Conveyancing Firm of the Year at the British Conveyancing Awards 2023.

Laura Till

AMBITION developed based on my own personal experiences, as someone who used to live with mental health difficulties, I always thought that my dream of owning and running a business would remain just a dream. Until October 2019, when I was in a serious car accident. I was hit by a lorry on the M1, spun in front of the lorry, across all four lanes of the motorway and I found myself stuck in the fast lane facing the oncoming traffic. Life flashed before my eyes and I realised that life is too short, to chase after dreams and make them happen. So, that is what I did. 

I set up AMBITION as a way of showing children and young people the opportunities that are really out there for them and to prove that no matter what challenges you face, if you have a dream, never give up.AMBITION Sports Coaching Ltd specialises in but is not limited to Special Educational Needs/Social, Emotional and Mental Health. AMBITIONs primary focus is encouraging children and young people to engage more in sport and physical activity, helping them to discover their potential and recognise their successes.

Ellie Wilson

In 2014, Ellie co-founded Virtalent, aged 22, having graduated from university with five figures worth of debt and no job prospects. Now, Virtalent has grown to become a leading virtual assistant (VA) platform that provides personal assistant support to business owners.

Over the past 3 years, we’ve experienced exponential growth, as world events provided a huge uptick in demand and businesses looking for flexible support solutions. 

Virtalent is a company that champions women with 99% of the team being female. We recognised that there are incredibly talented individuals out there who don’t have the same opportunities they once did, for example they are a military wife often relocating or they’ve started a family and need flexibility. The philosophy is opportunity, excellence and continual development.

Faye Speedie

Beauty Bulb is a leading multi-platform sales growth consultancy for beauty and wellness brands. We support brands, who are at any stage of their journey, with sales and stockist growth in a flexible and dynamic way.

There is no one-size-fits-all model to the work that we do and our whole ethos is to create a form of support that fits with each brand. We take each brand as an individual and support them via The Brand Book, Consultancy or Workshops.

Dawn Edwards

Managing Director of Challenge Consulting for Leadership Development, and an advocate for business in Nottinghamshire & the wider East Midlands.

Lucienne Shakir

Lucienne Coaching aims to empower female founders to build brilliant businesses – to succeed with strength, confidence and sheer self-belief in their abilities. 

Sensi Walters

Introduction: I am a compassionate and dedicated counselor specializing in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), committed to helping individuals transform their lives and overcome challenges.

With a strong foundation in psychology and extensive training in CBT techniques.Specializations: I specialize in assisting individuals struggling with anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, stress management, self-esteem issues, and relationship challenges. My approach involves tailoring CBT techniques to meet the unique needs and goals of each client, ensuring a personalized and effective treatment plan.

Reena Bhalla

Reena is Director and Solicitor at TML Solicitors, a vibrant and forward-thinking law firm, based in Leicestershire. With a passion for making a positive impact, she has dedicated over two decades to mastering the legal profession and serving clients with exceptional care.

Fahimah Adam

The innovative and heart-led legal practice, No7 Legal Services Ltd was established in 2019 by Fahimah Adam, a Commercial Contracts Lawyer with over ten years’ experience. Called to the Bar in 2008, Fahimah has worked with a broad spectrum of clients from small, start-up businesses to large multinationals on a wide variety of contractual matters. Her experience together with her passion for creating a stress-free, approachable, personal alternative to traditional legal support for businesses
has been the driving force behind the establishment and continued success of No7 Legal Services.
With exciting plans for growth in the year ahead, Fahimah is enthused and excited about the future of contracts for small businesses and underrepresented groups.

Debbie Moore

Debbie Moore MSc CFCIPD – is an inspiring transformational coach, mentor, leader, and conscious entrepreneur. With a mission to empower young professionals, leaders, and entrepreneurs typically in their 30s, supporting them to tap into their authentic talents, gifts, and brilliance. Debbie guides individuals over limiting beliefs and potential burnout, enabling them to reach their full potential personally, professionally, and powerfully. 

Through her expertise in somatics, working with the nervous system incorporating core principles from neuroscience, mindfulness, and martial arts, she equips her clients with tools to respond resourcefully when under pressure. Debbie’s work inspires others to embrace their true potential and thrive.

Yemi Oluseun

I am the CEO/ Founder at ‘The Change Hive’, a venture building & business growth agency.  Over the last 14 years, I have helped my FinTech & SaaS clients automate their business processes, build rapid MVPs to test product ideas and execute go-to-market plans. I am actively involved with scaling social impact through entrepreneurship.

I am one of the directors of the newly formed, Founder Institute (FI) Impact chapter. FI is the world’s largest pre-seed accelerator. In addition to running the accelerator and speaking, I offer weekly office hours where I mentor an average of 10 early-stage founders across all industries – I help them with idea validation and business growth.

I also serve as a business consultant on the Stanford Seed where I help small business owners in emerging markets grow their businesses and implement best practices. I occasionally write a LinkedIn newsletter on Business Growth and Transformation with 600+ subscribers.

I led the digital transformation programme at EAB, a boutique Arab bank. I also previously delivered the key parts of the Brexit programme and the Ring-Fenced Bank project at Barclays.  Prior to joining Barclays, I started my career on the JP Morgan Graduate Programme and rapidly progressed through the ranks. I was promoted twice in the two years after the graduate programme.

Ellie Wilson

In 2014, Ellie co-founded Virtalent, aged 22, having graduated from university with five figures worth of debt and no job prospects. Now, Virtalent has grown to become a leading virtual assistant (VA) platform that provides personal assistant support to business owners.

Over the past 3 years, we’ve experienced exponential growth, as world events provided a huge uptick in demand and businesses looking for flexible support solutions. 

Virtalent is a company that champions women with 99% of the team being female. We recognised that there are incredibly talented individuals out there who don’t have the same opportunities they once did, for example they are a military wife often relocating or they’ve started a family and need flexibility. The philosophy is opportunity, excellence and continual development.

Xin Pan

Xin is passionate about making the lives of queer migrants of colour more full and supported, by developing place-based support systems that recognise and celebrate their identities. 

Her current research project examines the experiences of queer women or non-binary migrants of colour in the city of Leicester. She recognises that most of the scholarship in the field of queer migrants narrates from perspectives of white gay men in Metropolitan cities. Her research, however, situates itself with queer women or non-binary migrants to understand sexual politics and solidarity practices in this superdiverse yet longtime-taken-as-ethnically-segregated provincial city.

Katie Neeves

Katie Neeves came out publicly as being transgender after living for 48 years as a man.  She formed Cool2BTrans to support and inspire other trans people and also to educate others on trans issues, via trans awareness training and inspirational speaking. Katie is on both ITV’s and the BBC’s lists of experts.

Frankie Lewns

Bloomwise is a mental health consultancy business that provides B2B proactive workplace mental health solutions.  They aim to create a healthier, happier, and more productive workforce by tracking key mental health and workplace health metrics.  The workplace mental health app’s integration with artificial intelligence enables personalised content recommendations and helps pre-empt losses incurred by companies due to mental health, putting them at the forefront of the market.

They also provide awareness-raising workshops to help destigmatise conversations around mental health.  Their mental health plan allows businesses to set clear objectives, aims and goals, while their mental health workshops encourage open discussions about mental health.  By improving team morale, increasing productivity, and reducing staff turnover, Bloomwise transforms the workplace and mental health landscape.

I have known Alison since 2003, when we were colleagues in Rolls-Royce.  She has always been an outstanding professional, as her background and qualifications indicate.

She has always been very supportive of colleagues, myself included, and takes a very keen interest in supporting other women in the STEM sector and more broadly, as this recent example shows: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7054383499494981633/

She is an inspiring role model showing how women can achieve in the world of engineering and academia and, in my opinion, deserving of this award in recognition of her achievements and to provide encouragement to other women.

Sarah Blackwell

Sarah Blackwell has a strong background in leadership and talent acquisition. Starting in 2006 at Active Search as an Executive Director, they then moved on to roles at Holmes Noble, where they served as Divisional Director & Partner and later as Managing Director. In 2017, they became the Managing Director of Talent Services before joining PCE Limited in 2018 as the Business Support Director, leading their digital transformation efforts.

Sarah Blackwell attended Arthur Terry Secondary School for an unknown period of time. The education history does not provide any information regarding the degree or field of study. Additionally, Sarah obtained a certification as an EU General Data Protection Regulation Practitioner in April 2018 from the institution IBITGQ. Prior to that, they obtained a Master Trainer certification in April 2017 from ILM.

Deepa Mistry

Deepa is a Senior Finance professional, Trustee and NED in the Not For Profit sector, STEM role model, mother of 3 and a leaseholder affected by dangerous cladding as found on Grenfell.

As CEO of Building Safety Crisis LTD Deepa is heavily involved in the Polluter Pays legislation with Government and winner of the Women in Fire Safety Awards 2022 for Education.

She was Finalist for Brunel University’s Alumni of the Year 2023 and Highly Commended Fire Industry Woman of the Year 2023. Her aim is to make the residential environment safer for all; regardless of race, gender and social background.

Kerry Law

Kerry Law is a highly accomplished senior marketing strategist, with over 20 years’ experience in Higher Education marketing leadership roles.

She is currently Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Professional Services) at the University of Leicester where she provides institution-wide leadership and is responsible for all professional services, leading over 14 teams comprising 2,360 staff.

I’ve invested my 41 years as a 26 year retail generalist, wife to Iain for 19, mum to Finlay for 12, dog servant to Hamish for 4. 

I’m a qualified coach, mentor, friend, lifelong learner and fan of books, personal development and writing. 

My career has been squiggly through UK and international grocery retail and now into DIY.

Starting on the shopfloor at 15, I haven’t looked back. I worked throughout university to fund my degree and secured an operations graduate job which led to promotions into commercial, central operations and procurement. After 12 years with ALDI, I had an incredible opportunity to move company and continent with Woolworths Australia where I led across store operations and transformation projects. During Covid I studied coaching and ventured abroad again where I led central operations for Walmart Canada. We’re delighted to be back home, and I’ve found my home in Wickes.

Though variety in roles, the connective tissue is always people. I love developing leaders, diverse high-performing teams and supporting people to reach whatever is their best.

Michelle Mills-Porter

Michelle Mills-Porter is a human behaviour and communication expert specialising in values and motivation. She is an International Speaker, and author and creator of the People reader Analysis tools.

This path came about through a change in trajectory after being caught in the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami when she decided to dedicate her life to sharing the lessons she learned. 

Michelle also works tirelessly for several organisations in a voluntary capacity such as the Professional Speaking Association, Employability UK and ISMA and describes herself as being in service to humanity.

Niven Whatley

Niven Whatley is a Trustee Ailsa’s Aim charity, a Director of Faculty Room Limited education business, a Doctor in Hispanic Studies – specialising in representations of marginalised females, and a loving husband and daddy of two strong females who have overcome illness and adversity.

He runs both the business and the charity with the express aims of providing bespoke care, support and life-improving services to those most in need and strives to promote serve yes for women and girls as a top priority within both. As an academic, a writer, a teacher and a researcher, he also specialises in promoting women’s and girls’ circumstances and accessibility to equality and success.

Arif Voraji

Arif started Help The Homeless by giving out clothing from the boot of his car in 2014 which has flourished into a fully registered charity which has helped thousands of people with accommodation, food, clothing and other support whilst also establishing working relationships with the local authority and other statutory organisations 

Martin Heatie

I am a CEO of a large family business – Smith Brothers (Leicester) Ltd which includes Smith Brothers Stores Ltd; Air Plants Dust Extraction Ltd and Talbotts Boilers. 

We have been around for 126 years and I have had the honour of leading the family business and its associated companies for the past 5 years.

I qualified as an accountant whilst working for Cable and Wireless over 20 years ago and held a number of roles as an accountant and Finance manager post-qualification.