TOP 10 - FUTURE LEADERS
Adam Malik
Adam is a Modern Workplace Consultant at Avanade UK and Ireland, having joined through the graduate programme in 2018. Shortly thereafter, he co-founded and now co-chairs Avanade UK’s first multicultural employee network, Beyond. This network, which has grown to more than 300 members, celebrates multiculturalism and fosters an inclusive workplace. Adam is dedicated to normalising conversations around race and ethnicity in the workplace. He leads educational initiatives for Beyond’s members and collaborates with Avanade’s global leadership to create safe spaces for colleagues from ethnic minority backgrounds, providing recommendations to senior leaders and diversity teams.
Adam is a Modern Workplace Consultant at Avanade UK and Ireland, having joined through the graduate programme in 2018. Shortly thereafter, he co-founded and now co-chairs Avanade UK’s first multicultural employee network, Beyond. This network, which has grown to more than 300 members, celebrates multiculturalism and fosters an inclusive workplace. Adam is dedicated to normalising conversations around race and ethnicity in the workplace. He leads educational initiatives for Beyond’s members and collaborates with Avanade’s global leadership to create safe spaces for colleagues from ethnic minority backgrounds, providing recommendations to senior leaders and diversity teams.
Adnan Anwar
Adnan is a senior associate in JLL’s client financial management team. He has been with JLL for seven years and has more than 15 years of finance and accounting management experience. He is experienced in a wide range of finance and accounting management, including financial reporting, budgeting, financial modelling and analysis, business planning and process improvement. He has used this experience to setup and launch the new funding accounting team in JLL. Adnan is a fellow member of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants and has a BSc in computing from Queen Mary University of London.
Alicia George
At Salesforce, Alicia has worked with charities, schools and social enterprises including Black Pharma, The Bloss.m Scholars and School 21 by producing fundraising and impactful events. As Events Chair on the BOLDforce Leadership team, a business resource group at Salesforce, Alicia regularly organises events on a voluntary basis such as the Black History Month event series and the Black Tech Sales Network. These events provide safe, inclusive and inspirational spaces for attendees of Black and diverse ethnic backgrounds. Alicia strives to ensure that Salesforce proactively works with independent Black-owned businesses and artists for events. She has worked with Guvna B, Chukus and Puff Puff Ministry.
Liam Obuobie
Since joining 2 years ago from university, Liam has been entrusted with a lead role as Deputy Co-Chair of ConnectRACE, Arup’s Race Employee Resource Group covering the UKIMEA region of 6000 members. Liam took the lead in shaping the Networks refreshed strategy, challenging board members and leaders to create a more racially equitable firm, and strengthening the community for racialised Arupians.
Liam has a lead role in the Black Engineering Network of Newcastle University; heads Oxford Scholastica Academy’s Online Engineering division as Lead Tutor, focussing on academic development programmes for diverse groups of students; and supports racialised student-athletes to excel academically.
Niki Lam
Niki Lam, co-lead of the Building Asian Leaders Takeda Resource Group, is a passionate advocate for DE&I at Takeda in the UK and Ireland. Niki has broadened the scope of many company initiatives, focusing on education, development and bringing impactful events to a large and engaged audience. This includes expanding the existing South Asian Heritage Month celebrations to include all Asian cultures, hosting the first allyship panel event in the Dublin office and creating a development workshop tailored to ethnic minority employees. She also showcases local initiatives to above-country teams and sharing best practices to drive positive change on a broader scale.
Olivia Grant
Olivia is an associate in the structured finance team at Reed Smith and is co-chair of Reed Smith’s Multicultural Network, and thus responsible for formulating and implementing the firm’s strategic plans in relation to the recruitment, retention and promotion of Black, Asian and ethnic minority talent.
Olivia also serves as the committee secretary of Noticed, the UK’s first inter-law firm diversity network, dedicated to improving ethnic minority representation and inclusion across the profession.
Additionally, Olivia leads a number of Reed Smith’s pro-bono partnerships, increasing access to commercial legal advice for those working to advance racial justice.
Ralph Aidoo
Ralph is a dedicated member of the Google Cloud team, working as a Business Excellence Associate to bridge the gap between strategy, operations and sales. He actively contributes to both EMEA and global initiatives, demonstrating his commitment to making a positive impact. Ralph is also a passionate advocate for DE&I, co-leading Google’s Black @ Cloud group to support and empower people of African and Caribbean descent in the workplace and in the wider community.
Renee Ramsay-Nicol
Ricca-Renée is a 25-year-old professional who has been working at Computacenter for the past three years. Passionate about languages, she holds a BSc in International Business, French and German from Aston University. Starting as a service associate, she now leads the UK educational and community outreach programme, Bright Futures. This initiative has reached more than 58,000 students, inspiring them to pursue careers in technology. As a young Black woman, she finds working at Computacenter rewarding, following the opportunity to run the Schools Outreach Programme and create opportunities for the next generation in the IT industry. The company’s supportive culture has empowered her to make a difference.
Rudhira Sambrey
Rudhira is enthusiastic about the intersectionality of DE&I initiatives in Arcadis and strives to spotlight them with her graphics skills. She has successfully promoted events hosted by the Ethnicity and Heritage Network by delivering visually striking outputs, operates in core teams to grow outreach and encourages colleagues with active allyship. Recently, she led a team managing communications for a flagship event across Arcadis UK. Notably, she highlights the profiles of Black and Minority Ethnic colleagues at these events using creative visuals as an impactful tool and embodying the people first goal at Arcadis. The support she receives is a testament to the increasing sense of community in the network.
Sana Butt
Sana has emerged as a formidable force, shaped by her tumultuous journey from a traditional Pakistani upbringing to her present role as a beacon of resilience and determination.
With almost seven years in the early careers industry, where she lives and breathes social equity daily, she is already a role model to many as she uses her voice to encourage inclusion and belonging wherever she goes. As the trailblazing first member of her family, a low-income household, to attend university, she uses her story to motivate the students she engages with on a day-to-day basis and works tirelessly to close the gap of inequity within early careers.