Women championing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Annette not only executes her role with excellence but goes above and beyond this in many ways. She is a member of the staff Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Council and is the Race Equality Council Chair as well as being the BME Staff Network Lead. Outside of Coventry she is the first and only International Board member of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE) in the United States as well as a local school governor and involved in the local theatre. She has been actively engaged in challenging inequality, especially systematic and racial injustices both within and outside Higher Education. The sheer scale of her dedication to such an important cause is inspiring in itself and the friendly, personable nature she does it with only adds to this inspiration.

Lydiah is an inspirational leader, activist and public speaker for race equality, diversity and belonging. She is an example of resilience, determination and what you can do if you put your mind to it. She is full of energy, and despite her hectic schedule, she always makes time for you. She is Chair of the Oxford Brookes University’s BAME Staff Network. She works tirelessly to reverse social and systematic prejudice and bridge the socio-economic gap for BAME colleagues within and outside of the University. As Director of Oxford Brookes Enterprise Support, she demonstrates an undeniable passion for supporting students, graduates and staff to make their ideas happen. She has kept the team motivated and engaged throughout this challenging pandemic and empowered us to deliver over 100 virtual events and workshops, including a two-week regional Entrepreneurship Festival, Thrive with over 2000 attendees and an International conference, Evolve on Inclusion and Diversity in Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Education. She is also a Trustee for the River Learning Trust, which demonstrates her commitment to supporting the next generation and giving back to her community.

In the Disability Service, we work with hundreds of students with a huge range of needs, across their whole university experience. Freya has the ability to hold all of these different threads in her mind, to think about the needs of all students, whilst always appreciating and respecting the unique situation and potential of every individual

Helen leads on hugely important work in race and equality and is an caring, compassionate ally and role model who inspires others within our institution and across the wider HE sector.

A passionate voice for promoting access to STEM subjects, Chrisina established a ‘Women in Engineering Group’ for female engineers at Teesside to help celebrate successes of female colleagues, provide a support network and inspire more girls to enter the engineering profession.