2011 shortlist


Asian Women of Achievement Awards Winners & shortlist 2011
The accomplishments of ten pioneering Asian women were celebrated the 2011 Awards attended by the Home Secretary Theresa May, entrepreneur James Caan and wife of deputy prime minister, Miriam Clegg.
Asian Women of Achievement Awards
Arts & Culture
Winner
Anusha Subramanyam
artistic director, Beeja
Director of Beeja Dance Company, Anusha is a dancer, choreographer, teacher and dance movement therapist. In 2010, Anusha was presented with a UK New Choreography Award in recognition of the overwhelming potential of her innovative choreographic abilities.
Anjali Bulley
Managing Editor, V&A Publishing
Kishwar Desai
Author
Kanika Kapoor Chandok
Singer/Designer/Model
Mina Bint Muhammad
Writer, Urbantopia Books
Shalina Taneja
Photographer
Asian Women of Achievement Awards
Business
Winner
Noor Ali
ethnicbuyer, Asda
Noor joined Asda in 2000 as a checkout operator. Within six months, she was promoted to an HR role at head office. From there, she’s gone from marketing to merchandising and eventually to trading, where she became an ethnic buyer. She has taken the ethnic range from a few lines to 15,000. Noor is also a member of EMAG (Ethnic Minority Advisory Group), lead mentor for Race for Opportunity and lead mentor for the Mosaic Group.
Sophia Ahmad
Head of Finance, BSkyB
Sabrina Dar
Head of Marketing, London 2012, Cisco
Jyoti Deshpande
Group CEO & Managing Director, Eros International
Sangeeta Desai
COO, Hit Entertainment
Asian Women of Achievement Awards
Entrepreneur
Winner
Kamal Basran
founder, The Authentic Food Company
From helping her parents prepare samosas for the English pub they ran, to setting up her own food business in 1985, Kamal has always had a keen interest in ethnic food. Twenty-five years later, The Authentic Food Company has 230 employees, boasts a £31m turnover, and runs its own factory, supplying many of the UK’s hotels, pub chains, restaurants and retail outlets with quality international food.
Dr Rabinder Buttar
CEO & President, ClinTec International
Leyla Edwards
Managing Director, KK Fine Foods
Poonam Gupta
Founder and Managing Director, PG Paper Company
Rita Sharma
Founder, BestAtTravel
Asian Women of Achievement Awards
Media Professional
Joint winner
Yasmin Diamond CB
director of communications, Home Office
Having worked in both the public and private sectors, Yasmin is now responsible for the strategic development of all Home Office external and internal communications. She works directly with the Home Secretary, home office ministers and senior officials to develop and implement a communication strategy to deliver the departments objectives.
Joint winner
Ritula Shah
presenter, The World Tonight, BBC
A self-confessed “anorak”, Ritula has been listening to Radio 4 ever since she can remember. After a spell in regional TV news, she joined the Today programme in1991. Seven years and many night shifts later, Ritula made the short journey across London to Bush House, where she became one of the presenters of the daily news show The World Today. Ritula is now back at Radio 4 as a regular presenter of The World Tonight, Saturday PM and Woman’s Hour.
Samana Haq
Westminster News Editor, ITV News
Ching-He Huang
Cook/Author/Presenter
Angela Saini
Science Journalist and Author
Asian Women of Achievement Awards
Professional
Winner
Dr Aisha K. Gill
senior lecturer in criminology, Roehampton University
Aisha is a senior lecturer in Criminology at Roehampton University, specialising in health and criminal justice responses to violence against black, ethnic minority and refugee women in the UK. Aisha has also served numerous government working parties on ‘honour’ killings and forced marriage, and written books on how victims of these atrocities experience the civil and criminal justice systems in the UK, India and Iraqi Kurdistan.
Su-Man Hsu
Skincare and Facialist, Su-Man Ltd.
Madhur Jha
Global Economist, HSBC
Pavani Reddy
Managing Partner, Zaiwalla & Co
Professor Meena Upadhyaya
Professor of Medical Genetics, Cardiff University
Nilufer von Bismarck
Partner, Slaughter and May
Asian Women of Achievement Awards
Public Sector
Winner
Khizra Dhindsa
police sergeant, West Midlands Police
Detective inspector Khizra has a formidable nine year record with West Midlands Police. She has recently won regional policing accolades for her life-saving bravery, and been selected as Mosaic’s Community Leader of the Year for spearheading the hugely successful Matchbox Estate project, which slashed crime by 42 per cent.
Rushanara Ali
MP Bethnal Green and Bow
Rekha Bhakoo CBE
Headteacher, Newton Farm School
Sherry Malik
Chair, Essex Cares
Amerdeep Somal
Commissioner, Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC)
Baroness Warsi
Cabinet Minister, Conservative Party
Asian Women of Achievement Awards
Social & Humanitarian
Winner
Shezmin Madhani
founder/trustee, Nia Children’s Foundation
At the age of just 24, Shezmin founded Nia Children’s Foundation – an international children’s charity supporting the education and health of underprivileged children in Africa – after a visit to the slums in Kenya, where she worked in a small non-government run nursery school for three months.
Zeenat Islam
Human Rights Research Associate, Warwick Centre for Human Rights
Andleen Razzaq
Senior Advisor, Department for Communities and Local Government
Faiza Seth
Founder, Soham For Kids HOPE School
Christine Yau
Managing Director, Y Ming
Asian Women of Achievement Awards
Young Achiever
Winner
Shireen Irani
executive director, i-ProBono
Shireen Irani is a UK qualified lawyer and founder of i-ProBono, a non-profit website connecting civil society organisations to lawyers and students who want to contribute to the public good. Prior to joining the legal profession, Shireen worked in the social sector in the UK, US and India.
Swati Bhargava
CEO & co-Founder, Pouring Pounds
Akanksha Hazari
MBA Student, University of Cambridge
Priya Lakhani
Managing Director, Masala Masala
Meheen Rangoonwala-Dalamal
Director, Trustee and Founder, MAITS
Divya Talwar
Broadcast Journalist, BBC Asian Network
Asian Women of Achievement Awards
Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets
Winner
Amerdeep Somal
commissioner, Independent Police Complaints Commission
Amerdeep serves as IPCC commissioner for Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire police forces. She has received several awards for her work in tackling domestic violence, including one from the attorney general for confronting the particular challenges affecting Asian communities in dealing with domestic violence and for her commitment to diversity.