The scholarships were presented to Leanne Lashley, Owner of the Miswits Comedy Club, who was granted the Miranda Brawn Diversity Leadership Scholarship for The Prince’s Trust; Suffian Hussain from The University of Birmingham, presented with the Miranda Brawn Diversity Leadership Scholarship for Hogan Lovells’ Law; and Jacqueline Gomes-Neves (Lambeth Young resident of the year 2016) from New College of the Humanities who won the Miranda Brawn Diversity Leadership Scholarship for Multi Sector. They each received £1,000, mentoring and work experience.
Additional Miranda Brawn Diversity Leadership Scholarships were awarded to Zahra Haque from The Tiffin Girls School, Kingston; Mobeen Salih from the University of Oxford; Imani Jeffers from University of Cambridge; and Savannah Odeyemi from Walthamstow School for Girls.
Miranda Brawn, set up her eponymous foundation, The Miranda Brawn Diversity Leadership Foundation, to provide the next generation of BAME future leaders with opportunities for success via diversity lectures and scholarships which include funding, mentoring and work experience. This year, Miranda has also teamed up with Black Cultural Archives aiming to preserve and celebrate the heritage of black people in Britain and The Prince’s Trust, youth charity that helps young people aged 13 to 30 get into jobs, education and training founded by Charles, Prince of Wales.
Miranda Brawn has also launched the UK’s first diversity lecture which is called” The Miranda Brawn Diversity Leadership Annual Lecture”. This was attended by around one hundred 14 to 21 year old Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) future leaders and hosted by the UK’s leading law school, The University of Law on Saturday, 15th October 2016. Some of the best BAME talent from across the UK attended the trailblazing diversity lecture. This is the first time that a diversity lecture has taken place in the UK to include the 14 to 18 year old age group. The diversity lecture raised awareness about the importance of incorporating a broader representation of backgrounds in the workplace, both from a moral and business perspective.
Miranda Brawn said:“I am delighted that history has been made during UK Black History Month 2016 as the Miranda Brawn Diversity Leadership Annual Lecture is the first diversity lecture to be held in the UK for 14-21 year old young leaders from a Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority (BAME) background. The young people who attended the event are just so inspiring and committed to their own careers and diversity. My main focus has been to educate and inspire others on the benefits of diversity and help to drive all forms of diversity, especially race and gender to the forefront.
