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Chair
Professor Michael Arthur, UCL President and Provost
A commitment to academic excellence is fundamental to the values of UCL. It’s clear that this commitment can only be fulfilled if all of the members of the UCL community are empowered to achieve their full potential, so that we can draw on the full range of talents and experience we have. This is why I have put equality and diversity front and centre as one of the top priorities for my Provostship. UCL has much to be proud of in its track record in race equality, but also there is very much more that needs to be done. My strong support for this agenda has led me to move the Equality Diversity and Inclusion team under my office so that I can give them my full support, and to put the full weight of my office behind initiatives to promote change. Achieving our objectives will involve fresh and radical thinking, and sometimes confronting issues that are challenging, but these are things that UCL does well when we are confident we are doing the right thing, as we clearly are in this case
Members
Nicola Brewer
I’ve been Vice Provost International at UCL since 2014, after a career in public service, including as CEO of the Equality and Human Rights Commission and in the Foreign Office and Department for International Development. I’m also the SMT Gender Champion. I’m an advocate for taking positive action to improve diversity in all its dimensions, including gender, race, sexuality, disability, faith and socioeconomic background – because it’s about fairness and talent. Different perspectives and experiences add value and help us avoid ‘group think’. I focus my efforts on gender because as a woman and a mother of a daughter (and also a son) who has worked in male dominated jobs - who hasn’t! – I want it to be easier for the next generation of women to have more equal opportunities. But I also believe that increasing gender diversity will open up opportunities for greater equality more widely. People in more privileged positions will see that diversity is not a threat and will join in the drive for much greater diversity – which is why I am keen to set up and expand a Male Allies network at UCL.
Alejandro Moreno
My name is Alejandro Moreno, I am the Strategic Data Manager in the Global Engagement Office in UCL. My career has been focused in data for the past 10 years. I’ve worked in the finance, telecom and higher education areas, also I hold a postgraduate in Economics from Edinburgh University.
I was born and raised in Mexico, been living in Britain for the past 8 years. The reason I decided to collaborate with Race Equality via data analysis is because I am passionate in analysing the different reasons why we have an unequal distribution in our society. I believe that bias in any form (race, gender, sexual preference, class) is a fundamental pillar on continuing the status-quo, thus I contribute with data analysis of the current scenario and how we can have a more diverse work-community in every level.
Kamna Patel
I'm a lecturer in development studies in the Bartlett and our faculty Vice-Dean for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. I identify as a cis woman of colour. I use she/her pronouns and 'Dr'. Growing up in inner London, I was always aware of the geographies of race which governed my movements and mindful of places where I felt valued and welcome (my ethnically and racially mixed neighbourhood of Kilburn) and places were I didn't. Universities can leave people like me feeling out of place. I am committed to championing actions that disrupt positively the status quo so that we broaden our ideas of merits and knowledges to value and welcome marginalised and minority staff and student, on their own terms.
Prince Saprai
I am an Associate Professor and BAME Faculty Attainment Lead in the Laws Faculty. My research focuses on the philosophy of contract law and the ethics of markets. I studied Law in London and Oxford, and before entering academia I worked for the Labour Party on the 2001 General Election. I am from a British-Indian background and I grew up in Handsworth in Birmingham – immortalized in Benjamin Zephaniah’s ‘Unite Handsworth’ and one of the most diverse, friendly, and wonderful places to live in Britain. I am not from an academic or intellectual background, and indeed I was the first person in my family to go to university. I have rarely experienced overt racism in academia, but there are many subtle and indirect ways in which people from minority ethnic backgrounds are made to feel like they don’t belong. This is not only of course an injustice, but it also tarnishes academic life. Inclusivity, fairness, openness, and diversity of insight are true academic ideals. I want to work with anyone from whatever background to help realize them.
Ijeoma Uchegbu
I am a Professor of Pharmaceutical Nanoscience at UCL and the Provost’s Envoy on Race Equality. I am also the Chief Scientific Officer of Nanomerics Ltd., a UCL spin out company. I have been an academic for many years and love my work. I am a Black woman, mother of 4 daughters and a grandmother. I am working to achieve race equality so that people like me will have an easier time than I had and will be allowed to achieve their full potential in all spaces. There are ample studies showing that societal inequalities harm all sectors of society, even the privileged. Ensuring that there is real equality of opportunity for is everyone’s business as everyone stands to gain.
Paulette Williams
I’ve been in my current role as Head of Student Success Projects since July 2018, working as co-lead on the BME Attainment project. Prior to that I worked in Access and Widening Participation and where I worked with current and prospective students. During my time in these roles, I have developed an interest in social justice issues and have seen how class and race have been a barrier for many students, particularly those from African Caribbean backgrounds. I run an initiative called Leading Routes which aims to prepare the next generation of black academics and I’m passionate about addressing the issues in education both at an institutional and grassroots level whilst celebrating the achievements of African Caribbean people in this field.