‘Free to be me’: Celebrating this South Asian Heritage Month

Getting ready to Celebrate South Asian Heritage Month? Our upcoming webinar celebrates this South Asian Heritage Month’s theme – ‘Free to be me’. During this session we will be joined by our esteemed facilitator Laks Mann, accompanied by 3 dynamic panellists

who will share their personal journeys of bringing their authentic self to, and beyond the workplace. Together, we’ll delve into the heart of inclusivity, drawing inspiration from direct experiences to pave the way for a more inclusive future not just during SAHM but year-round. This event is a great chance to celebrate the essence of what it means to be and work alongside individuals with South Asian Heritage.

Facilitated by Laks Mann

Laks Mann is a Creative Strategist and an award-winning Diversity and Inclusion Champion with a career spanning the corporate, charitable, and public sectors.

Laks currently works with the College of Policing building its first-ever National Talent Development Strategy.  Laks previously qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PwC before joining JLL and Deutsche Bank, later moving to the charity sector to work in sustainability, before embarking on a career in policing.

Laks is a Mayor of London appointed Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Advisor to City Hall, a Trustee and LGBTQ+ Lead for South Asian Heritage Month, a Trustee for global wellbeing charity caba, and is the Founder of Gaysians UK.

Laks is a British LGBT+ Awards 2024 Finalist, was named in the inaugural Diversity Power List 2022/23 honouring the UK’s Top 50 D&I changemakers, and is the Winner of the LGBT+ Positive Role Model 2020 Award at the prestigious National Diversity Awards.  Laks was a Finalist at the Rainbow Honours 2022 and the British Diversity Awards 2020, and was also listed in the Top 30 BAME Leaders of 2020 by the University of Oxford and House of Commons.

Panellists

Anna Dilku

Anna Dilku leads Aviva’s corporate social media, having gained diverse experience across multiple communications disciplines since starting her career at the world’s largest media agency, WPP. She was the founding co-chair of Aviva Balance and has since co-chaired the organisation’s award-winning multicultural network, Aviva Origins. She has represented UN Women UK at the Commission on the Status of Women for the last 4 years and her work in inclusion has earned her Women in Finance’s Outstanding Contribution Award, Advertising Week’s Future is Female Award and CommsHero’s EDI Award. Anna is listed 8th globally in YouTube’s EMpower top 100 role models and features in the Media Leader’s Future 100 Club.

Tokeer Ahmed

Tokeer Ahmed has been working within the IT industry for nearly 20 years. He helps clients with their digital transformations by delivering and implementing customer relationship management solutions using Salesforce. Since 2012, he has been a consultant at Capgemini where he currently leads a team of over 150 consultants.

Tokeer is also very passionate about diversity and inclusion. He embodies a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion through his multifaceted roles. As Chair of the Race & Equality Network (REN) at Capgemini UK since 2021, he has spearheaded initiatives to foster a more inclusive workplace. Under his leadership, REN expanded to include five sub-networks for various faith communities, facilitating understanding and unity. Tokeer played a pivotal role in creating an anti-racism toolkit and organized workshops addressing career challenges faced by people of colour. His impact extends beyond Capgemini, supporting mentoring schemes for young Black women and delivering inspirational talks for organisations like The Prince’s Trust.

In 2023 and 2024 he made it on the Empower Top 100 Role Model List, as well as the Global Diversity List 2023. He was also nominated for Inspirational Role Model at the European Diversity Awards. He has been nominated for Ally of the Year at the Black Tech Achievement Awards and most recently became the winner of Diversity Ally of the Year at the Digital Revolution Awards 2024.

Pepi Sappal

Founder and Director of Fair Play Talks and the Head of PR & Communications at myGwork, Pepi Sappal has a long history of writing on diversity, equity, inclusion and wellbeing issues, as well as HR, business, marketing and international management, spanning more than two decades for publications, such as the Wall St Journal (WSJ), Dow Jones and Edge Magazine. She was also the diversity columnist for the WSJ for a number of years, and the former editor of several business magazines such as the British Chambers of Commerce’s National Review and HR publications  Global HR, HR World and Human Resources Magazine. Pepi is also a judge for the Inclusive Awards.