TOP 8 - FUTURE LEADERS
AISHA SULEIMAN
SENIOR RECRUITMENT COORDINATOR, AMAZON
Aisha is originally from Nigeria and she works in the Talent Acquisition Team for Amazon Web Services. She is the Co-founder and Chair of the Black Employee Network (BEN) at Amazon in the UK. One of BEN’s goals is to promote the diverse perspectives of people of African and Caribbean descent. She has worked on a range of diversity and inclusion initiatives at Amazon. She is a feminist and very passionate about approaching D&I from an intersectional perspective.
AJI AYORINDE
ASSOCIATE, ASHURST
Aji is a social entrepreneur with several years of experience dealing directly with multi-national clients. A qualified lawyer specialising in finance law, Aji has also carved out a niche advising on business development with a specific focus on Africa, advising on diversity issues, assisting with creative events and supporting start-ups and founders.
Aji is also the founder and creative director of an ethical family business and fashion tech company named MIA London, a franchise which both collaborates with tailors based across Africa to make formalwear and streetwear and connects brands and businesses with a network of African-based creatives.
Aji is also the co-chair of a social enterprise named The Law Collective which has been responsible for helping hundreds of Black students secure jobs within the legal profession by connecting them with their network of young Black lawyers, a committee member of the British Nigeria Law Forum and co-head of their junior lawyers’ division, a board member of London-based start-up community organisation ‘YSYS’, a member of the RemitFund Technical Working Group, and a key member of the Black British City Group.
AMANI KIFLEMARIAM
VICE PRESIDENT – RISK MANAGEMENT, CREDIT SUISSE
Amani is a Vice President of Credit Suisse in the COO division based in London. She is a multi-asset Risk Manager covering front to back areas. Prior to joining Credit Suisse in July 2015, Amani worked in Risk Management at Barclays Investment Bank and the CEO Office at Wells Fargo.
Amani sits on the EMEA Credit Suisse Black, Asian, and Multi Ethnic (BAME) Advisory Committee and the LGBT Ally Working Group. She co -founded the BAME Network in March 2018 with the aim of creating an empowering environment for professional development for those of BAME background. She championed the vision (initiatives to attract, develop and retain BAME talent) and business case , gaining momentum. As co-chair, Amani introduced a robust governance structure, including a clear vision and deliverables, building credibility for the Network. She engaged senior stakeholders across the bank and secured Executive Sponsors to be the voice for the Network. Amani actively recruited passionate individuals to form what is now an active Working Group to deliver the vision.
Amani holds an LLB Law degree and completed the Legal Practice Course, before moving to Finance.
She is an active supporter of ethnic diversity and social mobility initiatives including the Black Lawyers Directory charity, often participating in panel discussions and mentoring initiatives.
Outside of Credit Suisse, Amani is the founder and CEO of Amatte. Amatte is a luxury coffee brand that celebrates Africa’s rich culture and history of storytelling. The brand partners directly with small-lot, African female farmers across the continent to ethically source the finest Arabica beans and create delicious single origin coffees. Amatte is the culmination of a life’s passion that aims to empower African female farmers.
She’s involved in 2 orphanages in Ethiopia and Eritrea that aim to eradicate poverty and provide protections to orphans.
CHINWE ODIMBA-CHAPMAN
PARTNER, CLIFFORD CHANCE
Chinwe co-founded the Clifford Chance BAME network in 2015 with the primary aim of making BAME issues a business priority at Clifford Chance. As co-chair, she has been instrumental in raising awareness of the network, both within the firm and externally. Key initiatives of the network include arranging a bespoke three part coaching programme for network members, hosting annual Black History Month events, spearheading a collective voice campaign (focused on improving the collective voice of network members) and a cultivating champions campaign (aimed at educating the most senior leaders of the firm on ethnic minority issues, improving the visibility of the network and identifying senior allies for the network).
Most recently Chinwe has been instrumental in establishing a BAME reverse mentoring programme which has enabled members to connect with the most senior partners and business services staff within the firm.
JUSTIN ONUEKWUSI
MULTI ASSET FUND MANAGER, LGIM
Justin is a multi-asset fund manager working at Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM). He is a CFA charterholder sitting within a wider investment team that manages near to £50 billion for pension funds and savers across the world.
Throughout his career Justin has been active in joining and contributing to diversity and inclusion initiatives at the companies in which he has worked. He currently co-chairs the Investment Diversity Working Group for LGIM, which has set about making change in five key areas for the investment floor: recruitment and retention (including mentoring), culture/cognitive diversity, agile working, barriers to diversity and inclusion and understanding the business risks stemming from a lack of diversity. Due to the successes of the initiatives that have been put in place, he was asked to join the diversity and inclusion team at group level (L&G).
Outside of LGIM, Justin has recently featured in the 2018 EMpower Ethnic Minority Future Leaders List. He is adviser to the board of City Hive Ltd, which focuses on driving diversity initiatives throughout the asset management industry, including gender, ethnicity and LGBT. Justin has also taken the role as Diversity Lead on the Association of Professional Fund Investors (APFI) to help drive diversity across the industry.
Finally, Justin sits on the ethnicity workstream of the industry-wide Diversity project, established by Dame Helena Morrissey. His focus on the workstream is the representation of BAME and in particular, the severe underrepresentation of black people at senior levels within the asset management industry..
KEON STEWART
TRAINEE SOLICITOR, FIELDFISHER
Keon co-founded Fieldfisher’s first employee group for staff belonging to an underrepresented ethnicity, ‘the network’. As part of ‘the network’, Keon set up a reverse mentoring programme within the firm allowing business managers to be mentored with a focus on department culture and recruitment. She has also overseen the discussion events held at the firm, including e-Race which was a discussion on diversity in the tech sector and hosted a talk with the CLO of S&P Global Platts based on mixed race identity. Separately, Keon is also a keen mentor and has been a panellist for a number of events and discussions on the topic of diversity.
MUSHTAQ RAJ MBE
PEOPLE LEAD, UK HOME OFFICE
Mushtaq has excellent leadership and communication skills and has championed diversity and inclusivity in the workplace by making significant positive changes in the working environment. Mushtaq has campaigned tirelessly for race equality with moral courage and strength, supporting the Home Office and Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Agenda He has broken down barriers by leading on interventions on unconscious bias, bullying, harassment and discrimination/recruitment and selection and talent management.
Mushtaq was recognised in the 2016 Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Awards for “Championing Minority Ethnic People”. Awarded an MBE in 2018 for Services to Race Equality- Diversity and Inclusion.
NINA BHAGWAT
OFF-SCREEN DIVERSITY EXECUTIVE, CHANNEL 4
Nina Bhagwat has been on secondment working as Change Lead for the BAME Action Plan. Leading on the BAME agenda at C4 she has responsibility for devising and delivering the broadcaster’s new BAME strategy. In her substantive role as Off Screen Diversity Executive within the Creative Diversity team at Channel 4, her focus in on delivering on the commitments in C4’s 360˚ Diversity Charter.
Working in partnership with Commissioning at C4, the independent sector and talent, her job is to ensure the best people are being recruited from the widest possible pool.
Prior to joining Channel 4 she headed up the Short Course Unit at the NFTS. An experienced Talent and Training Manager, specialising in diversity initiatives, she has over ten years’ experience in TV production.
She has experience of working across a broad range of programmes and genres, from serious social documentary through to factual-entertainment. Credits include Modern Times, Police 2001 and Last White Kids.