Ethnic Minority Employment Stakeholder Group \ Who we are \ EMESG Members

EMESG Members

We are please to announce the appointment of the Chair and members of the Ethnic Minority Employment Stakeholder Group (EMESG).

Chair

• Sandra Kerr, OBE, National Campaign Director, Race for Opportunity, Business in the Community

Members

• Mohammed Ali (OBE), QED
• Atiha Chaudry (JP, LL), MBMEN Chair
• Collette Cork-Hurst, UNITE the Union
• Jeremy Crook (OBE), BTEG
• Terry Day, Greater London Authority
• Cecil Edey, Minority Share Ltd
• Raj Jalota, Connexions
• Dr Omar Khan, Runnymede Trust
• Yvonne MacNamara, Irish Traveller Movement in Britain
• Professor Monder Ram OBE, De Montfort University
• Wilf Sullivan, TUC
• Dr Kathlyn Wilson, University of Bedfordshire Business School

Sandra Kerr, OBE, National Campaign Director, Race for Opportunity, Business in the Community

Sandra is the National Campaign Director for Business in the Community’s Race for Opportunity business led network of organisations from the private and public sector working and committed to race equality as part of their good business practice. Sandra works together with the Race for Opportunity board to set the agenda for race diversity in the UK as a business imperative.

Sandra strongly believes there is a need for wider business engagement to promote best practice for recruiting and developing ethnic minority individuals, marketing to ethnic minority people as profitable consumers, including diverse communities within Responsible Business action and including ethnic minority businesses and entrepreneurs in supply chains and networks. Sandra is particularly passionate about inclusive leaders and raising the profile of senior role models from diverse backgrounds to inspire the next generation and creating an inclusive environment through mentoring and sponsorship.

Before joining Race for Opportunity Sandra worked in the Cabinet Office advising on diversity and policies on race, disability, gender, and work life balance across Whitehall. Sandra has also managed very large teams in a frontline delivery role and also spent some years as a personal development and IT skills trainer.

Key pieces of research reports from Race for Opportunity include:

• "Race to the Top" – looking at ethnic minorities and leadership in the UK
• "Race into Higher Education, Aspiration and Frustration" – looking at race and the Professions,
• "Race to Progress: Breaking down Barriers"
• "Race and Recruitment: Exposing the Barriers".

In January 2012, Sandra was awarded an OBE in the Queens New Year’s honours list for services to Black and Minority Ethnic People.

In July 2012, Sandra was shortlisted for the European Diversity Awards in the "Campaigner of the Year" category.

In October 2012, Sandra was appointed Chair of the Ethnic Minority Employment Stakeholder Group (EMESG) sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions. The Ethnic Minority Employment Stakeholder Group (EMESG) provides advice to Government on issues related to the disadvantaged individuals from ethnic minority backgrounds face in relation to the labour market.

Mohammed Ali (OBE), QED

Mohammed Ali came to live in Bradford at the age of 13. He studied at Huddersfield Polytechnic and Bradford University School of Management. He then worked for ten years with Glaxo Pharmaceuticals, Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, Sheffield City Council, Bradford Community Relations Council and Fullemploy Group (a national BME focused economic development charity).

He is founder and chief executive of QED Foundation, minority ethnic community economic development agency set up in 1990. He has experience of working with diverse communities throughout the UK and participated as speaker on seminars in Europe, USA, Canada and Asia on ethnic minority issues. He won Professor Handy's Alchemist Award, an honorary doctorate from Bradford University, an OBE in 2001 and was a finalist in the Personality of the Year, Lifetime Achievement and Principal of the Year categories of the UK Charity Awards. He was one the judges on the Guardian Public Sector Awards 2012.

He is currently a board member of ACEVO North Advisory Board; Autism Plus, European Integration Forum and Third Sector Consortium. He has held many other appointments in the past 20 years including PCT, West Yorkshire Learning and Skills Council, National Consumer Council Advisory Group, Bradford University Council, Bradford School of Management, Institute Of Directors (Yorkshire Region) and the BBC Northern Region Forum.

Atiha Chaudry (JP, LL), MBMEN Chair

Atiha Chaudry has over 20 years of experience within the public, voluntary and community sectors and has worked for a range of organisations including the National Association of Local Government Women’s’ Committees, Newcastle City Council, the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES), and since setting up her consultancy company, Equal Access Consultancy she has worked on many commissions locally, nationally and at an international level.

She has lived and worked in Manchester for 25 years and has a great deal of knowledge of the area and its needs both at the local level and across the region. She has spent some of the time living and working abroad and had the experience of working for the Brunei Civil Service institute delivering training on a Women and Leadership programme.

Atiha was born and brought up in Kenya and undertook her early schooling in Nairobi. She then moved to the North East of England where she completed her further education. She graduated in Public Administration and has pursued a successful career in the public sector.

Atiha has extensive community and voluntary sector experience gained over many years of voluntary work in the community. She is passionate and committed to the community and voluntary sector and over the years has given her time generously to the sector. She has been a Board member for the Progress Trust (Manchester), the Women’s Action Forum (Manchester), Saheli (Newcastle ) the DfES National Steering Group on ICT and BME Communities ,the Manchester Council for Community Relations , the Urban Forum (National) , the Asian Parent Carer project (Manchester), Rafiki Women’s group (Manchester) which she helped set up, and the Community Foundation for Greater Manchester.

Atiha is currently Chair of the Manchester BME network, the GM BME Network project and the Manchester Equalities Hub. She is a board member for the Manchester Settlement; the Centre for Local Economic Strategies and The Manchester Partnership. She has served as a Justice of the Peace at the Stockport Magistrates Court since 2001 and was, this year, appointed as a DL for Greater Manchester.

Collette Cork-Hurst, UNITE the Union

Collette Cork-Hurst is the National Officer for Equalities in Unite the Union, advising and assisting officers, union representatives, members, staff and the union's Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority Committees on all areas of race equality.

Specifically, she has been working on negotiating to tackle racism and promote race equality in the workplace; training others on Race Awareness/meeting the needs of black, Asian and ethnic minority workers and increasing the participation and involvement of black, Asian and ethnic minority members. She has spearheaded the Unite Race Forward Campaign, a 5-point action plan on 8 key race equality priorities at work, including reducing the employment and pay gap, supporting career progression and challenging racial bullying, harassment and discrimination.

She is currently an elected member of the TUC Race Relations Committee and has attended TUC Black Workers Conference as a delegate since 1995 and chaired this conference in 2010. She has been an active member of the trade union and labour movement since 1983 and has worked on Race Equality in Unite the union for 16 years.

Jeremy Crook OBE, Black Training and Enterprise Group (BTEG)

Jeremy Crook OBE is the Director of the Black Training and Enterprise Group, a national charity that works to improve education, skills, employment and entrepreneurship outcomes for black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. He has over 25 years experience of promoting diversity and developing practical solutions in the public, private and voluntary and community sector.

Jeremy is also a member of the Department for Work and Pensions Equalities Reference Group, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills Equalities Advisory Group, a non-executive board member of Greater London Enterprise and a member of the Assessment Committee for the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.

Terry Day, Greater London Authority

Terry has been leading on diversity and social policy at the Greater London Authority since January 2010, covering a wide range of policy issues for the Mayor of London, including migration policy, refugee integration, equality and diversity, child poverty, and the Mayor’s Diversity Works for London programme for business. 

Her career spans a range of influential positions working on diversity and equality in the public sector: Head of Equality and Inclusion at the Olympic Delivery Authority; Head of Equality, Diversity and Human Rights at the Healthcare Commission; Equality Champion at London Underground and Head of Equality at Manchester City Council.

She was a Non-Executive Director of Whipps Cross Hospital until April 2012, and has run her own company. She was also Chief Executive of Age Concern Liverpool for 4 years and started her career as a speech and language therapist specialising in language disorders in bi- and multi-lingual children.

Cecil Edey, Minority Share Ltd

Cecil is Managing Director of Minority Share Limited, a business service company, delivering business improvement, change management, and programme and project management services to large and small businesses across the country, including ethnic minority businesses. Minority Share also provides policy, strategy and programme support services to public bodies responsible for economic development.

Prior to his current role, Cecil was Chief Executive of the Orvia Group, which delivered growth finance, executive development, business start-up, and property services to nascent and growing businesses, predominately across the North West.

Before moving to the Orvia Group, Cecil was Head of Enterprise at the New Economy, the economic development agency for the Manchester City Region, where he was responsible for developing and implementing enterprise policy and strategy, and related programmes. In addition, Cecil had lead responsibility for developing the city region’s strategic framework for addressing key ethnic minority enterprise, skills and employment issues.

Raj Jalota, Connexions

Raj Jalota is an experienced Operational Manager, who has over 20 years of experience in working with ethnic minority people accessing Education Employment and Training in the London Boroughs of Islington and Hackney and Leicester.

This has provided him with a real insight into the issues faced by vulnerable members of society and the barriers they face. He regularly acts as an interface between unemployed people and those in positions of power and influence.

Raj is accustomed to dealing with people from all walks of life, and committed to achieving equality of opportunity.

He has developed excellent relationships with key partner organisations such as Jobcentre Plus, employers, the Benefits Agency and the National Apprenticeship Service.

Raj is an Executive Board Member of the Education Bursary Scheme, National Space Centre Leicester and a School Governor at Alderman Richard Hallam Primary School.

Dr Omar Khan, Runnymede Trust

Omar is Runnymede's head of policy research and, among other projects, leads the financial inclusion programme. Omar is also a 2012 Clore Social Leadership Fellow.

Other advisory positions include chair of Olmec (a social enterprise), the 2011 Census, the Household Longitudinal Survey, the Electoral Reform Society, the Payments Council, and as the UK representative on the European Commission’s Socio-economic network of experts.

Omar is the author of “A Sense of Place, Financial Inclusion and Ethnicity”; “Who Pays to Access Cash?”; “Why Do Assets Matter?”; and “The Costs of ‘Returning’ Home”.

Omar has also published many articles and reports on political theory and British political history for Runnymede over the past eight years and has spoken on topics including multiculturalism, integration, socio-economic disadvantage, and positive action. These include giving evidence to the United Nations in Geneva, the European Parliament in Strasbourg, on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, and academic and policy conferences across the UK and Europe.

Omar completed his DPhil in Political Theory from the University of Oxford, a Masters in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Masters in South Asian Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies.

Yvonne MacNamara -  Irish Traveller Movement in Britain (ITMB)

Yvonne is CEO of the Irish Traveller Movement in Britain a national charity working with the various Traveller communities of Britain.

Yvonne’s has worked within the voluntary and community sector on a wide range of issues concerning BAME communities and has over twenty years' experience. Most of this time has been spent working within in the field of Race Equality and Human Rights based work. She is a well-seasoned campaigner. She has overseen the development of a number of award winning capacity building projects for engaging and delivering services to BAME communities. An aspect of her current work through ITMB is ensuring economic inclusion for Traveller communities. To this end, she has developed along with her team a number of specifically tailored accredited skills development and training courses and an internship programme to create routs to employment for Traveller communities.

Professor Monder Ram OBE, Director, Centre for Research in Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship, De Montfort University

Monder Ram is Professor of Small Business and Director of CREME at De Montfort University. He has extensive experience of working in, researching and acting as a consultant to ethnic minority businesses. He is a leading authority on ethnic minority entrepreneurship research and has published widely on the subject. Professor Monder Ram’s work has been supported by grants from a full range of research funding bodies; including research councils, government departments, regional and local agencies and the private sector.

Professor Ram was responsible for initiating the annual Ethnic Minority Business Conference in 1998, which has developed into the most important event in the calendar for disseminating policy and research on ethnic minority firms.

Monder also holds the positions of Visiting Fellow at the Industrial Relations Research Unit at Warwick University, and the Herbert Felix Visiting Professor at Lund University in Sweden.

Monder served in the former Department of Trade and Industry’s Ethnic Minority Business Forum and Small Business Council. He was also named as one of the country’s most influential Asians by the Institute of Asian Professionals and was awarded an OBE in the 2004 New Year Honours List for his services to black and ethnic minority businesses.

Wilf Sullivan, TUC

Wilf Sullivan has worked for the TUC since December 2004, when he was appointed as TUC Race Equality Officer.

He worked in Local Government with young people involved with the criminal justice system for ten years and subsequently as a Principal Personnel Officer dealing with recruitment and equal opportunities monitoring.

As a lay trade unionist, Wilf held membership of NALGO (now UNISON), holding a range of posts including shop steward, social services convenor, branch secretary, negotiating committee chair, and branch president.

He was appointed by NALGO as a Regional full-time officer in 1990 and worked for ten years organising and representing members in health, local government and higher education. He worked as UNISON's National Black Members Officer from 2000 before moving to the TUC as the Race Equality Policy Officer.

He is active on race equality policy matters both inside and outside of the trade union movement is currently Vice-Chair of the UK Race and Europe Network, is a co-opted Executive Board member of the European Network Against Racism and sits on a number of race equality research academic advisory boards.

Dr Kathlyn Wilson, University of Bedfordshire Business School

Kathlyn is a Senior Lecturer at University of Bedforshire’s Business School and Co-Director of the Centre for Leadership Innovation. She has 16 years of multinational consulting experience in employee and organisation research.

Her experience includes research in organisation culture, and employee attitudes and work values as inputs to organisation change programmes.  She has significant experience in human resources management consultancy, specialising in the design and implementation of competency-based selection, performance appraisal and development processes. She has provided expert advice in equal opportunities to statutory bodies and has worked with a wide range of private and public sector clients. She was a senior consultant with Hay Management Consultants and an Associate with the Institute of Psychiatry’s Psychology at Work. She has worked with city government in the US and as a Personnel Research Intern with IBM in Armonk, New York.

Kathlyn’s research interests include the factors affecting the accuracy, fairness, and usefulness of assessment procedures; particularly the conceptualisation and measurement of employee performance. She has published and presented at international conferences in the area of bias in performance appraisals and managing a multicultural workforce.

Kathlyn received a Masters and a Ph.D. in Industrial and Organisational Psychology from The Ohio State University. She is a Chartered Psychologist (British Psychological Society).