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UCL Inclusion Awards - Award winners 2024

UCL’s annual Inclusion Awards took place on 16 July 2024 and saw staff and students being recognised for the fantastic equality, diversity and inclusion related work happening across the institution.

UCL’s annual Inclusion Awards 2024 took place on Tuesday 16 July 2024 and saw UCL staff and students being recognised and celebrated for the fantastic equality, diversity and inclusion related work happening across the institution.

The Inclusion Awards are a way of highlighting people who are making a difference to equity, diversity and inclusion at UCL, in addition to their day jobs, and a chance to recognise what our staff and students have achieved over the academic year.

Award recipients were honoured at the ceremony, with awards presented by President and & Provost Professor Michael Spence, Sir Stephen Wall, former Chair of UCL Council, Indie Beedie, Disability Equality Envoy, Donna Dalrymple, Chief People Officer, Max Hill, Director of Workplace Health and Sara Shafiei, Vice-Dean of EDI.

The evening itself celebrated the achievements of over 100 nominated colleagues, teams, and students from across the institution. Professor Alison Koslowski, Pro-Provost Equity & Inclusion, welcomed the attendees, Dr Xine Yao gave a keynote speech, Provost shared his reflections on the evening and Lesley Houfe, Interim Director of EDI provided the closing remarks.

Photographic image of UCL's Inclusion Awards 2024

Award winners

Winners were announced in six award categories:

1. Provost’s award for Embedding Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (staff only)

This award recognises an individual or team’s effort to embed EDI into mainstream work through their approach and undertaking of tasks, be it day-to-day tasks or larger projects.

Award Winner: Eshka Chuck, Estates Division

Nominated by: Emilia Olsen

Watch a video of Eshka highlighting some of the EDI work they have undertaken

MediaCentral Widget Placeholderhttps://mediacentral.ucl.ac.uk/Player/Fa7Hb0ab

Highly Commended Award: Molly Lavendar-Rose
 
Photographic image of Molly Lavendar-Rose accepting her award from Dr Michael Spence, UCL President & Provost
Nominated by: Helen Bhandari

Watch a video of Molly, highlighting some of the EDI work they have undertaken
MediaCentral Widget Placeholderhttps://mediacentral.ucl.ac.uk/Player/b8JCdBFf
 
2.  Sarah Guise award for Catalyst for Change (open to staff and students)

This award recognises a person or a team doing things differently by incorporating EDI values into the way they work, resulting in a positive shift in UCL culture.

Award Winners

Photographic image of Vanessa Puetz and Lily Li

Staff category: The Staff-Student Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (SSEDI) team at the Anna Freud Centre - led by Vanessa Puetz & Lili Ly, Faculty of Brain Sciences

Nominated by: Elizabeth Li

Watch a video of Vanessa and Lili highlighting some of the EDI work they have undertaken.

MediaCentral Widget Placeholderhttps://mediacentral.ucl.ac.uk/Player/jH9b9Idj

Student category: UCL Medical School student EDI committee co-chairs, Shem Braithwaite and Beth Hayes, Faculty of Medical Sciences

Photographic image of Shem and Beth, holding their award

Nominated by: Jayne Kavanagh

Watch a video of Shem and Beth highlighting some of the EDI work they have undertaken:

MediaCentral Widget Placeholderhttps://mediacentral.ucl.ac.uk/Player/DaJ0CBb7

 
3. Sir Stephen Wall award: Inspiring Role Model (open to staff and students)

This award recognises a person who has taken the opportunity to engage with members of our community, speaking openly about their personal experiences in a visible forum that encourages and champions diversity and inclusion in a way that our students and staff can relate to. 

Award Winners

Photographic image of Ram accepting his award from Sir Stephen Wall

Staff category: Ram Sabaratnam, Faculty of Laws

Nominated by: Shiva Riahi

Watch a video of Ram highlighting some of the EDI work they have undertaken.

MediaCentral Widget Placeholderhttps://mediacentral.ucl.ac.uk/Player/jJFed9fb

 

Student category: Puja Mehta, Faculty of Medical Sciences

Nominated by: Connar Mawer

Watch a video of Puja highlighting some of the EDI work she has undertaken.

MediaCentral Widget Placeholderhttps://mediacentral.ucl.ac.uk/Player/BGAJIGd5

 
4. Championing Disability Inclusion (staff and students)

This award recognises an individual or team’s effort to champion disability inclusion into mainstream work, delivering a more inclusive experience for Disabled staff and students.

Award Winners

Photographic image of Georgia accepting her award from Indie Beedie

Staff category: Georgia Pavlopoulou, Faculty of Brain Sciences

Nominated by: Beverley Isibor

Watch a video of Georgia highlighting some of the EDI work they have undertaken.

MediaCentral Widget Placeholderhttps://mediacentral.ucl.ac.uk/Player/CdcHI71h

 

Student category: Connar Mawer, Faculty of Medical Sciences

Nominated by: Puja Mehta

Sadly, Connar was unable to attend the Inclusion Awards or participate in filming but shared the following words:

As the FMS PGR Representative and a member of the AdvancedHE Disabled Student Advisory Group, I take pride in advocating for students with learning differences both locally and nationally. 

My UCL ChangeMakers team and I are currently developing a guide to assist students with learning differences transition to PGR, empowering them with knowledge about research culture and the Equality Act 2010. 

Thank you to those who have supported these efforts! 

5. Award for EDI Excellence

This award recognises a UCL department or division (including Professional Services) that has demonstrated the most EDI commitment and impact over the past year 

Award Winner: The Bartlett Architecture Outreach Team, Faculty of the Built Environment

Photographic image of Desart and Nell accepting their team award from Donna Dalrymple

Nominated by: Sarah Rolph

Watch a video of Desart & Ayla highlighting some of the EDI work they have undertaken.

MediaCentral Widget Placeholderhttps://mediacentral.ucl.ac.uk/Player/iIC5F39G

6. Intersectional Impact Award (staff only)

The Intersectional Impact award recognises a person, group or team who have made it a priority to integrate intersectional advocacy into their EDI work. They model best practice as they address the overlapping needs and identities of UCL’s diverse community.  

Award Winner: Lo Marshall, Faculty of the Built Environment

Photographic image of Lo accepting their award from Sara Shafiei

Nominated by: Ben Campkin

Watch a video of Lo highlighting some of the EDI work they have undertaken.

MediaCentral Widget Placeholderhttps://mediacentral.ucl.ac.uk/Player/fCFGcI2A

 

Thank you

Photographic image of members of UCL's EDI team at the Inclusion Awards 2024
Thank you to each of you who took the time to recognise colleagues and students by making a nomination. It’s difficult to be able to recognise everyone, but with the number of nominations received this year, it shows just how much great work is going on across UCL, even if we don’t always hear about it or see it.

We'd also like to thank the following for making the evening really special:

The panel members for their time and consideration reviewing all of the nominations:

  • Nick Achilleos, Professor of Planetary Physics and Vice-Dean of EDI (MAPS)
  • Talia Bijwe-Alexander, Head of Intercultural Engagement
  • Jayne Flowers, Equity and Inclusion Unit Coordinator, Students Union
  • Zoe Gallant, Lecturer in Psychology, IOE
  • Gerard Jones, Senior Alumni and Supporter Programme Manager
  • Luther Mayers, Student Success Manager
  • Sudax Murdan, Associate Professor, School of Pharmacy
  • Seema Walker, Student Support and Wellbeing Coordinator
  • Ben Watson, Head of Digital Accessibility

Other special mentions:

  • Colleagues from Woburn House for their on hand support
  • Phil Mason and Ash Johnson from UCL’s Media team
  • The interpreters (Sharan Thind and Karen Houlihan) and the remote captioner
  • Rianna Walcott and their fantastic band!
  • Photographer / Image credits: Lucy Pope

Finally, a special thanks to the following EDI team members:

  • Sonal Bharadva (lead organiser)
  • Adwoa Darko
  • Kae Ohene-Yeboah
  • Lizzy Allman
  • Jo Peres
  • Keisha Bruce
  • Lacara Barnes-Rowe
  • Linda Lam.

Missed the awards night?

Watch the Inclusion Awards 2024 ceremony:

MediaCentral Widget Placeholderhttps://mediacentral.ucl.ac.uk/Player/Gj0hfbF4