OUR FOUNDER
MALCOLM JOHN
He has been a trustee of St Christopher’s Fellowship, a social housing landlord, Vice-Chair of Nacro, the leading national crime reduction charity, trustee of Novas Scarman Group and Chair of PATH National which supported black and minority ethnic people into middle and senior management positions. He was also a member of the BBC Children in Need London and South East Advisory Committee.
Casey has a real passion for education, technology and community and loves to give back. He would like to see a fair world for his four children where everyone can live and let live. He does not ask for change, instead he brings change. Malcolm has championed for more diversity at the top of organisations, in particular the trustee boards and Casey believes this initiative will help usher in a better and fairer world for all due to a better understanding of all the different cultures we are lucky to have in the UK. Casey knows IT; ATRD needs someone technical and Casey loves to help. Nothing in this world is altruistic! Casey gets great satisfaction from knowing he is helping create a better world for his children, and by implication for all children.
Charlotte is a Senior UX Researcher working at Gumtree, who has previously worked as a researcher at South African tech organisation Geekulcha, social impact consultancy Rocket Science UK and the Commonwealth Foundation. She joined ATRD UK as one of its original volunteers as she believes there is a long way to go in terms of equality and representation in the UK and that increasing racial diversity among trustees in the charity sector (and beyond) will have great benefits for the people and communities it aims to support and society as a whole.
A first-generation Mauritian-British woman born and raised in Epsom, Kandia has a background in brand strategy, marketing and community engagement. With 15 years’ experience working across different sectors, she has spent the last few months volunteering with ATRD as part of their Changemakers programme, as well as working as a project manager on the BAFCA programme.
A financial service professional with vast experience in Payments, Fintech Business and Partnerships, Digital Platforms and Strategy. She currently serves as a volunteer with ATRD in the partnerships division, applying her experience to assist in finding black and asian finance professionals for trustee and chair roles. She holds certifications in digital transformation, innovation management and strategy and an MSc in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship. She is an ardent car enthusiast, loves to travel and read books.
My name is Oliver, currently volunteering with ATRD within the BAFCA Team, supporting Malcolm and the team in this ground breaking programme for Black & Asian Future Chairs within the charity sector.
I’m Rozena Nadeem (pronouns: she/her), one of two Network Engagement Volunteers, and one of two Co-Chairs of ATRD’s Advisory Board meetings. I’ve been part of ATRD for around two years, and have been volunteering for about a year and a half. I was a Trustee and part of a democratic governance committee in University, and am currently a School Governor. I aspire to be a Trustee again in future. I joined and volunteer for ATRD UK as like many others, I’d like to see increased racial diversity on UK Trustee Boards! I also have a general personal and professional interest in EDI, decolonisation, liberation campaigns, and governance, and enjoy meeting and networking with other Trustees of Black and Asian heritage! Outside of professional life, I have lots of hobbies, including creative hobbies, travelling and exercising.
A fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, Elsy is an experienced pharmacist who has more than twenty years of experience working for the National Health Service (NHS) and the Private Health Sector. Elsy is passionate about advancing the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion agenda in the NHS and society in general. Educated at Master’s level, she is an altruistic, self-starter and innovative leader, who has undertaken several leadership courses and founded social and professional organisations to encourage “public speaking”, “leadership” and “racial and social justice”. In 2018, Elsy founded the UK Black Pharmacist Association and in 2019, she founded “Romford Speakers” an affiliated club of Toastmasters International In December 2020, Elsy was elected as the first President of the BAME network of the Pharmacist Defence Association.
Freya’s background is in graduate recruitment and student employability. She currently works for Kingston University where she is developing employability and professional development throughout the curriculum, to maximise the impact for all students on their graduate prospects. She has been a volunteer with ATRD since its inception and strongly believes in the importance of inclusive recruitment practices and targeted efforts to diversify talent pipeline, ensuring organisations are representative of the communities they serve.
Lieneke has always been interested in people and cultures. She grew up in the Netherlands and worked in Ghana before coming to the UK in January 2019. Her work in community development has taught her a lot about inequalities and she is passionate to tackle these inequalities and help people to live a healthy and happy life where they reach their full potential. By volunteering for ATRD Lieneke hopes to help to increase the opportunities for people from Black and Asian backgrounds to be part of Trustee Boards.
Priya volunteered for ATRD because she truly believes in Diversity and Inclusion. It’s her strong desire to see more and more people from diverse backgrounds represent at leadership level, hence she is trying my best through this project to spread the word and make a difference.
Ruth is an Employer Brand and Recruitment Marketing specialist, with a strong interest and expertise in communications relating to equality of opportunity and diversity and inclusion in the workplace. She has worked across a range of business sectors, advising on employer brand awareness and how to increase employee engagement. Volunteering with ATRD gives Ruth the opportunity to use her experience and skills to support a campaign which strongly reflects her own values and beliefs.
Born in India, educated in the UK and now working in London, Shiva has much experience living in a multicultural environment and values the benefits it brings. He has brought this passion with him when he joined ATRD and combined it with his technical knowledge to suggest new ideas to help further ATRD’s causes and reach. In his full-time job, he works as a data engineer and he has brought this experience with him while volunteering with ATRD, where he has assisted in the transformation of the BANOs database onto the website, with a focus on maximising accessibility and productivity for the user.
