TOP 8 - BAME WORKPLACE HEROES 2018
ASIF SADIQ MBE
HEAD OF DIVERSITY AND INCLUSIVENESS FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES, EY
Asif is the Head of Diversity and Inclusiveness for EY (Ernst and Young) Financial Services UK, he joined EY as an Assistant Director for UK &I and was previously the Head of the Equality, Diversity and Human Rights Unit for the City of London Police. Asif is currently a Special Sergeant within the City of London Police.
Asif is a leading Diversity and Inclusion expert with a proven track record in achieving operational and strategic targets, managing quality, performance, risk and change through promoting equal opportunities and diverse cultures. He is a passionate and inspirational leader with the ability to empower individuals and create a truly inclusive environment for all. He is highly knowledgeable and pragmatic in making strategic and evaluated diversity management decisions based on valuable experience and practical competence.
Asif has received a number of accolades for his professional and volunteering work that include the Mosaic (Prince’s Trust) Award for mentoring, the highly commended European Diversity Award, the Civil Servant of the Year Award and the prestigious Asian Professional Award. Asif was honoured last year in the Queen’s birthday honours list with an MBE for his services to Policing and the Communities. He is a Freeman of the City of London and a member of the HR Guild of Professionals.
He is currently the Chair of the London Hate Crime Board, an Ambassador for Remembering Srebrenica, Member of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Hate Crime, Special Advisor to the charity Penny Appeal, a trainer for the OSCE (Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights) and a Special Sergeant with the City of London Police.
KENE EJIKEME
MANAGING DIRECTOR, GOLDMAN SACHS
Kene Ejikeme is a Head of the EMEA Global Institutions business and Emerging market execution at Goldman Sachs. He joined the firm in 2004 as an analyst in the Listed Derivatives business, where he worked for three years before moving to GI to cover global equity hedge funds across products. Kene was named Managing Director in 2013. He plays an active role in championing the BAME population at Goldman Sachs. His BAME-related leadership roles include Advisor to SEO London, Co-Head of Goldman Sachs’ Firmwide Black Network and Co-Founder of the firm’s “Africa Recruitment Programme”. Additionally, Kene devotes his time to nurture his mentoring relationships as well as speaking and leading in the BAME community, which resulted in being recognized by Green Park’s BAME 100 Board Talent Index. Prior to joining the firm, Kene was a professional Rugby player.
MOHAMMED KEBBAY
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION MANAGER, TSB
Mohamed Kebbay is the Diversity and Inclusion Manager for TSB and is responsible for developing, delivering and embedding the diversity strategy at the bank.
Mohamed has worked tirelessly to raise awareness of the importance of inclusion in the workplace and the business benefits of having a diverse and included workforce. Mohamed acts as a cultural intelligence advocate raising awareness among senior leaders of the need to broaden the talent pool.
He has provided insightful (thought) leadership and has been instrumental in helping TSB’s four affinity network’s take a holistic approach to inclusion, both for Partners and for customers.
PAULETTE MASTIN
COUNSEL, LINKLATERS LLP
Paulette Mastin is Counsel in the Capital Markets practice at Linklaters LLP, where she advises financial institutions, corporate trustees and multinationals on a wide spectrum of capital market transactions, structured finance products, infrastructure/project financing, renewable deals and Islamic finance.
Paulette is co-Sponsor of Linklaters’ BAME Network, and Chair of the Black Solicitors Network (BSN), an award winning not-for-profit organisation committed to achieving equality of access, retention and promotion across the profession, with a current membership of over 4,000 members. Paulette is also a BAME/BSN representative Council Member of The Law Society.
In 2015, Paulette won the Champion and Executive Sponsor Award presented by BITC’s Race for Opportunity for her work on improving diversity both within her firm and externally. In 2017, Paulette received the Outstanding Woman in Professional Services Award at the 11th Precious Awards ceremony.
PRISCILLA BAFFOUR
HEAD OF DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION, ITN
Priscilla joined ITN in 2017 and heads up the company’s diversity & Inclusion strategy. She has worked with the executive team to set transparent targets and a host of initiatives aimed at increasing representation at all levels of the company, driving an inclusive culture of progression and a new generation of diverse role models. Some of these initiatives include publishing ITN’s BAME Pay Gap and launching a cross-company Reverse Mentoring Programme.
Prior to joining ITN Priscilla spent five years at Channel 4 as their Industry Talent & Diversity Specialist, where she developed and ran 4talent, the Broadcasters outreach and talent programme. After implementing a successful strategy to tackle social mobility in 2013 she won the Deputy Prime Minister’s Excellence Award. Priscilla also played a key role implementing and delivering on a number of commitments in 360 Diversity Charter.
Priscilla has great knowledge and expertise of reaching out to diverse talent and her notable achievements have been managing and delivering successful talent and diversity programmes. Over the past 10 years she has project managed several diversity initiatives with a variety of youth organisations and media companies including BBC, Media Trust, News International, ITV and many more.
Her Mission is to break down barriers, engage with and develop the widest range of diverse talent.
ROB NEIL
LEAD OF PROJECT RACE AT THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE
MoJ’s Head of Project Race – Arms Length Bodies & Governance Division. Rob was born in Paddington, London and grew up in the London Borough of Brent. He joined the Ministry of Justice [then Lord Chancellors Department] in October 1983 – starting at Willesden County Court in North London.
Rob progressed to Deputy Court Manager before joining the South Eastern Circuit I.T. Team. In 1998 Rob landed his dream job with Corporate HR as a Development Trainer. Rob studied at the Civil Service College for two years, gaining a Certificate in Training Practice [CTP] and is now a member of CIPD.
Rob was a founding member of the MoJ’s BAME Staff network in 2001, namely P.R.O.U.D. Later in that same year, Rob became the first elected Chair of the Civil Service Race Equality Network [CSREN] – known today as CSRF – the Civil Service Race Forum.
Over the past fifteen years Rob has continued his MoJ career in HR. As an original member of the MoJ’s Employee Engagement Team, Rob led the design, recruitment and launch of the Engagement Champions Network in 2008. As MoJ’s Head of Engagement Networks Rob was responsible for the development of Employee Engagement Champions [EECs] across the MoJ. This pioneering network now boasts over x1000 people across the entire MoJ Family – including; Courts, Tribunals, Prisons and the Legal Aid Agency.
In the summer of 2015 Rob was invited to lead the MoJ’s Diversity & Inclusion Team over the summer as temporary cover for four months. During this period Rob led the delivery of key priorities, including the Department’s response to the Civil Service Talent Action Plan and renegotiating contracts with all Diversity Staff Networks.
In April 2016 Rob was included in the ‘New View 50’ which recognises influential Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) professionals in the public sector.
In May 2016 Rob was chosen to lead the MoJ’s Race Project – an inward facing programme of work aimed at supporting the MoJ’s published Diversity & Inclusion objectives and turning the dial on race equality.
In September 2016 Rob was elected Chair of the Civil Service Race Forum. The Civil Service Race Forum [CSRF] is an umbrella network of BAME Staff Networks across the civil service made up of over 30 Government departments, reaching in excess of 6,000 BAME civil servants working at all levels. Rob ended his one year tenure as Chair of CSRF in January 2018 and remains a member the CSRF Executive Committee as Non- Executive Director [NED]. Rob is also a member of the Civil Service Representational Leadership Group which supports delivery of the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.
Rob successfully applied for the Civil Service Future Leaders Scheme and is now an active member of the 2017-19 cohort which incorporates the META Programme.
Rob is a Trustee with RELATE and a volunteer Social Media Director with Reach Society.
Most recently, Rob was awarded an OBE in The Queen’s 2018 New Year’s Honours list for ‘Services to Race Equality in the workplace and the community’.
Rob lives with his wife and their two children in Harrow.
SANDRA CLOUGH
DATABASE MANAGER, BNP PARIBAS
Sandra Clough is a Database Manager at BNPParibas she is responsible for managing the data content, of the internal procurement, expense and people management systems.
In addition, Sandra has spent the last five years as the Co –Chair of the Banks’s Multicultural Network. Within this role she has spearheaded, many initiatives for the Banks BAME employees. She has also worked collaboratively with the other employee networks in an effort to support and promote the Bank’s Diversity and Inclusion Strategy
Sandra is a Fellow of the RSA and sits on the Board of an Educational Business Partnership.
She is a mother of one and in her spare time tries to emulate Mary Berry with varying degrees of success.
WINCIE KNIGHT
DIRECTOR GLOBAL INCLUSION STRATEGIES, VIACOM
Wincie Knight is Director of Global Inclusion Strategies at Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN), reporting to Marva Smalls, EVP, Global Head of Inclusion Strategies.
Fiercely passionate about the notion of diversity being less about filling quotas and more about creating a sense of belonging, Knight works collaboratively with all of VIMN’s Employee Resource Groups in offices in London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Budapest, Madrid, Milan and Warsaw. Under her strategic guidance, ERGs empower all employees to have a voice as they develop initiatives that positively impact the business and build a sense of community.
She played a key role in launching ViaYou…Getting To Know You, an employee survey focused on better understanding workforce demographics, and organised Unconscious Bias and Inclusive Leadership learning opportunities. Furthermore, Knight has been instrumental in Viacom’s participation in Project Diamond and regularly partners internally in articulating VIMN’s initiatives to Ofcom.
Knight holds an MSc in Organisational Behaviour from Birkbeck, University of London where she conducted research focused on BAME employees in media organisations. In addition, she recently completed an Executive Leadership Programme at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business in the United States.
Knight lives in north London with her family. Her free time is spent with her family and friends, cooking, or enjoying visits to the theatre.