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Glyn Aikins, Shabs Jobanputra and Bre McDermott-King make EMpower’s Ethnic Minority Role Models lists 2021
We’re delighted to announce that Glyn Aikins, Shabs Jobanputra and Bre McDermott-King have made EMpower’s Ethnic Minority Role Models lists 2021.
Created by diversity and inclusion membership organisation INvolve and supported by Yahoo Finance, the lists celebrate role models in business who are driving the charge for inclusion. All the executives featured were nominated by peers and employees, with nominations then reviewed by EMpower’s judging panel. Each person was scored on the influence of their role, their impact on ethnic minority inclusion inside and outside the workplace, and their business achievements.
The 2021 EMpower Ethnic Minority Executives list, which features Aikins and Jobanputra, celebrates senior people of colour who are leading by example and removing barriers on the pathway to success for ethnic minority employees.
Aikins is co-president of Since ’93, where he is responsible for a diverse roster of British artists including Fredo and British-Somali singer-songwriter Amun. He sponsors Sony Music UK’s internal diversity group Helping Unite Everyone (HUE), which was formed in February 2020 with a mission to promote equity and inclusion.
As well as using his position to spearhead diversity committees, Aikins has worked with a diversity expert to manage and deliver key agenda points, such as rolling out mandatory diversity and unconscious bias training to all employees.
He has also facilitated the sharing of positive experiences through events, activities and celebrations, to promote a culture of inclusivity so that all employees feel respected and represented.
In 2020, Aikins was appointed as a ‘Diversity in Music Champion’ to a board at the Southbank Centre, designed to bring together a new generation of audiences after COVID-19 closures.
Jobanputra is the founder and MD of Relentless Records. As a Ugandan refugee during the Idi Amin era, moving continents not only ensured his safety but also allowed him to get his big breakthrough DJing at house parties and club nights. He now serves as an empowering voice that champions diversity, whether through talent and music or through his efforts to recruit and retain a workforce that is inclusive.
In 2020, Jobanputra was involved in Sony Music’s company celebrations for South Asian Heritage Month. He also co-owns the Notting Hill Arts Club: an academy that aims to showcase young local talent and create a space for future creative pioneers, entrepreneurs, innovators and leaders within the music industry.
The academy offers vocational courses to get young people into the sector, supporting them to learn all the elements of the fast-changing music industry, to receive professional advice and mentoring, and to make contacts.
The 2021 EMpower 100 Ethnic Minority Future Leaders list, which features Bre McDermott-King, celebrates inspirational people of colour who are not at the very top of their organisations but are making a significant contribution to ethnic minority people at work.
International Marketing Assistant McDermott-King is the diversity lead for HUE. This role sees her driving change within the company and ensuring all staff feel seen, heard and supported in all things related to diversity and inclusion.
Within HUE, McDermott-King has worked with HR to roll out diversity and unconscious bias training across the company, as well as creating partnerships between HR, managers and employees to improve cultural competency through educational events and communication initiatives.
She also co-founded and runs a collective called Women Connect, which specialises in creating a safe space and promoting equal opportunities for women, non-binary people and gender-fluid people working in the creative industries and beyond.
Congratulations to Aikins, Jobanputra and McDermott-King on this well-deserved recognition of their achievements.