In alphabetical order
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This category is judged based on evidence provided according to the british lgbt awards criteria.
BHAVIK PANCHOLI
TSB
Bhavik is the co-chair of TSB’s LGBT+ network. In this role, he has overseen a three-fold increase in active network members, and has significantly grown the number of followers on internal social channels. Bhavik has been tireless in his efforts to raise awareness for the LGBT+ agenda: after ensuring that all TSB Partners were supplied with rainbow lanyards for National Coming Out Day in 2017, Bhavik developed an acclaimed short film of TSB Partners sharing their ‘coming out’ experiences in 2018. Externally, Bhavik has increased TSB’s presence at Pride events and has led the development of TSB’s Pride merchandise.
BRIAN KENNEDY
DENTONS
Brian is a senior lawyer specialising in real estate and is the co-chair/co-founder of Dentons’ UK LGBT+ and allies network, GLOW. Since creating GLOW, Brian has overseen a programme of awareness-raising events/initiatives and engagement with senior leaders designed to transform LGBT+ visibility within Dentons. He leads Dentons’ LGBT+ client outreach programme, mentors colleagues, shares expertise with other organisations and has organised events in support of both LGBT+ and non-LGBT+ charities. Brian is passionate about all D&I strands, serving on the firm’s regional D&I committee and last year leading GLOW’s first event in collaboration with Dentons’ women’s network. He is also a steering committee member for the LeGal BesT network of law firms.
JEMMA KAMEEN
SAINSBURY’S
Jemma Kameen is the store manager at Otley store in Leeds and is co-chair and original member of the company’s LGBTA employee network, Proud@Sainsbury’s, which she has held for the last three years. Jemma is the Group’s most visible lesbian role model and is hugely influential in Sainsbury’s success in Pride across the UK, empowering, educating and inspiring colleagues to turn their cities and towns orange and red.
KAREN FLYNN-MACFARLANE
RBS
After studying for a period of time and achieving a Biochemistry degree and PgDip in Forensic Science, Karen started working for the RBS 12 years ago. Having held a variety of different roles, she now works as an Inclusion manager focussing on the Ethnicity Agenda pan bank. Karen was the RBS Rainbow Network Co-Chair for 4.5 years. Karen’s focus during this time was working to support RBS one of her key activities was leading on the Global Pride activity, heading up a group of local volunteers to deliver the best entries possible across our locations and encourage as many colleagues as possible to attend.
LIEUTENANT COMMANDER GORDON JONES
ROYAL NAVY
Lieutenant Commander Gordon Jones has worked for the Royal Navy for over 17 years, initially joining as a Warfare Officer before specialising as a hydrographic, meteorological and oceanographic officer. In this time, he has served in submarines, patrol boats and the former Fleet Flagship, HMS Ocean; Operating around the world, including the Falklands, the high Arctic and supporting disaster relief in the British Overseas Territories following hurricanes Irma and Maria. Gordon has been a member of Compass, the Navy’s sexual orientation and identity network since 2016 and became the sexual orientation representative to the network in 2018.
MANDY RAYMENT
DENTSU AEGIS NETWORK
Alongside her day job as UK Head of Communications at marketing services group Dentsu, Mandy is founder and co-Chair of its LGBT+ network, &PROUD. She leads a team across group’s 22 companies to drive LGBT+ awareness and champion diversity through UK-wide events, campaigns and training for all 4000 employees across 16 offices. Mandy uses her comms expertise to raise the profile of &PROUD at all levels of the business and within the industry. She regularly shares her personal story of coming out and becoming a parent at internal and external events to help other LGBT+ couples start a family.
MARION BENTATA
STATE STREET
Marion works as a Senior Credit Officer for State Street, heading a team of analysts covering a global portfolio of financial institutions. She also acts as Co-Chair of the State Street’s UK Pride Network and Co-Chair of Interbank, the network of LGBT networks for financial services firms in London. Marion strongly believes in the power of education when it comes to making the workplace more inclusive. To this end, she’s appeared on a number of panels with a view to educate the ally population around the specific issues faced by the LGBT+ community. She’s also organised a number of events on various topics ranging from the intersectionality between mental health and LGBT+ to the specific issues faced by LGBTQ women around the double-glass ceiling. Marion is also a visible lesbian role model. Since she’s joined the State Street UK Pride Network, the number of active females within the committee has increased fourfold. Within Interbank, where she acts as the second only female co-chair, she’s set up a sub-committee dedicated to women focused initiatives, organising a number of events with the goal to empower LGBT+ women. So far, she’s managed to increase female representation by +20%.
NADINE RAE
TSSA
Mother/lesbian/union leader, Nadine is a dynamic attitude transformer. For two decades, she has campaigned for better workplaces in New Zealand, India, Switzerland and now in the UK. Nadine developed a TSSA Equality Standard as a collaborative benchmark to enable rail employers to create inclusive workplaces for LGBT+. In 2017 her work won Stonewall’s partnership and TSSA became its first trade union Diversity Champion. She harnessed Parliamentary support for a high profile launch of TSSA Role Model Posters, featuring LGBT+ rail industry staff whose stereotype busting images currently hang in rail offices UK wide. She now leads Inclusive Rail, the campaign to make the railway inclusive for LGBT+ by 2025.
OLIVER HOLMES
ACCENTURE
Oliver Holmes is an Inclusion & Diversity Specialist that sits within Accenture’s Human Capital & Diversity practice driving initiatives around Gender, LGBT+ Ethnicity, Enablement, Mental Health & Social Mobility. An active and visible part of the Pride at Accenture (LGBT+) network and, Holmes has sat on their committee since 2014, undertaking various roles. One of his proudest moments was driving launch of Accenture’s Transgender Healthcare provision in 2018 in the UK, which is due to replicated in Accenture offices globally around the world.
Holmes has supported clients in the UK and Europe wishing to establish LGBT networks and enjoy mentoring as part of Accenture’s LGBT+ reverse-mentoring programme and also works with universities on their inclusion strategies, and regularly present at new joiner inductions on LGBT+ to help educate new employees and recruit LGBT+ allies – which is currently c.30% UK workforce.
TIM EVANS
GOWLING WLG
Tim found his “LGBT+ voice” when the law in the UK changed to legalise same-sex marriage. He had been with my partner for 8 years but was not out to his employer; he left work on Friday – single and straight – and came into the office on Monday gay and engaged. Tim helped co-found an LGBT network for real-estate professionals in the Midlands, with the likes of Ben Cohen giving speeches at their events. He also organises Gowling’ floats at national Prides and assists in creating an inclusive workplace and being a role model to others. Outside of work, Tim is a chair of the Birmingham Law Society’s D&I Committee.