As Pro Vice-Chancellor (Social Justice and Equity) at the University of Salford, Dr Pradeep Passi provides strategic leadership in institutional efforts to embed social justice and equity across its domains of education, research, enterprise, and people. Over the past eighteen years, Dr Passi has occupied a number of academic leadership positions at the Universities of Lancashire and Salford with areas of expertise relating to student experience, success, equality, diversity, inclusion (EDI), and pedagogical advancement.

His scholarly interests centre on the development and implementation of intentionally inclusive frameworks within higher education, leveraging co-creation methodologies to advance organisational transformation, mitigate inequity and advance social justice. Dr Passi’s research focusses on a long-standing commitment to the eradication of degree awarding gaps, exemplified by his co-leadership of the UK Higher Education Awards Gap Group from 2019 to 2023.

Currently, Dr Passi is a member of Advance HE’s EDI committee and serves as co-chair of the Race Equality Charter Governance Committee, contributing to the formulation and oversight of sector-wide race equality frameworks within UK higher education. His expertise is further informed by extensive cross-sector experience, including senior roles within the National Health Service and work with criminal justice agencies, and local government, which underpin his holistic approach to advancing social justice in academic and public sector settings.

Professor Graeme Atherton is the founder of AccessHE and NEON. NEON supports those involved in widening access to HE, with a vision that access to and success in HE should not be related to social background but based on ability and willingness to participate.

Professor Allán Laville is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. He is a member of the Scientific Programme Advisory Group for the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies, contributing to national CPD for psychological practitioners.

In 2019, Allán won the Reading University Student Union Award for Diverse and Inclusive Teaching Excellence and in 2020 he was awarded a University Teaching Fellowship. Allán was a finalist in the British Psychological Society and Oxford University Press Higher Education Psychology Teacher of the Year 2020 and 2022 competition. In 2023, Allan was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship by Advance HE.

Aranee is a committed advocate for equity, inclusion, and social mobility, having contributed for nearly 20 years on issues impacting ethnic minority & refugee communities in the areas of human rights, health, social care, and education. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, specialising in inclusive curriculum design that not only supports attainment but also enables all students to develop the knowledge, skills, and experiences to successfully navigate their lives and careers beyond university. Having contributed to and led the Race Equality Charter since 2016, she serves as an Athena SWAN panellist and sits on a range of EDI advisory groups within the HE sector. In addition to her role at King’s College London, Aranee is also the Director of her own education consultancy that specialises in equitable & inclusive practice across the university landscape, including leadership & management development, student services design, and widening participation into postgraduate research.

Rebecca has dedicated her career to equality and diversity and particularly widening access.

Rebecca grew up in one of the most deprived areas in the country and attended a school in special measures. Experiencing significant mental ill health, she was off-rolled by her school and received limited GCSE teaching. Rebecca managed to access a good sixth form college where she learned about university and decided to take a leap of faith. This leap of faith changed the trajectory of her life, opened up doors she never knew existed and revealed a career path she would become devoted to.

Having worked across the 24 Russell Group universities, with expertise in programme development, contextualised admissions and teacher CPD, Rebecca provides strategic direction for the widening access and outreach work at York. Rebecca strives to push the boundaries of widening access across the sector and works closely with the University’s senior executive team who are equally committed to widening participation. She believes strongly in putting the voices of children, students and families at the heart of this work, building strong relationships with key partners to deliver truly transformative initiatives.

Gorm is the CEO of StudentPulse, a leading provider of data-driven solutions for educational institutions worldwide. With a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities in Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI), Gorm is dedicated to empowering universities to enhance student well-being, engagement, and retention. His commitment to supporting young people extends beyond his professional life; as a foster parent for many years, Gorm has firsthand experience of the transformative power of education and support. Under his leadership, StudentPulse harnesses the power of technology to deliver anonymous and accessible check-ins, providing actionable data that helps institutions address the specific needs of diverse student populations. Gorm’s blend of personal commitment and professional expertise makes him a key figure in the drive to create inclusive and thriving educational environments.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gormerik/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/studentpulse-io

Piers Wilkinson is the former NUS Disabled Students’ Officer before the role was defunded in 2020, and now supports D&A’s work within the Inclusive Education Team as their Policy and Campaigns Lead. Piers has been deeply involved in disabled student representation at all levels for over 8 years, culminating in their election to national representative positions during the last 6 years, and in March 2020 was appointed to the Disabled Students’ Commission as a Student Voice Commissioner.

Piers’ previous work includes the 2016 UNCRPD inquiry, as a commissioner for the Arriving at Thriving report on disabled student experiences, and providing expert advice on various liberation and social justice projects such as Student Minds’ Mental Health Charter, and the 2019 Phase-out of Plastic Pollution Bill. Whilst with D&A, Piers has led their partnership with Health Education England (HEE) on the lived experience toolkit for disabled health professionals and learners, championing disabled people’s access to education, health, and belonging.

Professor Janice Kay is the Provost and Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Exeter. Prior to her role as Provost, Janice spent 10 years as Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Education. She is a Professor of Cognitive Neuropsychology, first appointed to Exeter through a Wellcome Trust University Lectureship. Her research, funded most recently by ESRC as well as Wellcome and MRC, is concerned with theoretical modelling, assessment and rehabilitation of disorders of perception, speech, language and memory.

Janice’s external commitments reflect her extensive experience and passion for higher education. Janice is Deputy Chair of the panel assessing the Teaching Excellence Framework exercise, and is Former Chair of the TEF Subject Level Pilot which began in 2017. Janice is also a Board Member of Advance HE and member of the Advance HE Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee. For six years Janice chaired the UK 1994 Group Student Experience Policy Group

Janice has been prominent in widening access initiatives, nationally and regionally. She was instrumental in the establishment of the highly successful Exeter Mathematics School (one of only two in the country) and is now championing the further development of the mathematics school model in the UK with the Department for Education. Janice was a driving force behind the new Education Campus at Cranbrook, Exeter and the South Devon University Technical College. Taking the regional skills development agenda to the next level, Janice championed successful proposals for a new South West Institute of Technology as part of a ‘skills escalator’ approach for the region and is now Co-Chair of the committee overseeing its implementation. Janice has held numerous external positions linked to health sciences, further to her integral role in creating the University of Exeter Medical School. She is currently a non-executive director of the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust.

Janice was recognised in the 2017 Queen’s New Year honours with a CBE for services to Higher Education.

Judith Rankin was appointed as the first Dean of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) at Newcastle University in 2015. She leads the strategic development of EDI, working towards creating an inclusive environment for everyone. NU holds an Institutional Silver Athena Swan award since 2016 recognising and celebrating good practices to advance gender equality. NU was awarded a bronze award from Advance HE’s Race Equality Charter for its work to improve the representation, progression and success of colleagues and students from minoritised ethnic groups. NU was awarded University of Sanctuary status in 2021 recognising NU as a welcoming place for refugees. Judith co-chairs the National EDI Academic Network (NEDIAL), a network of University senior academic EDI leaders. Judith is also Professor of Maternal and Child Health within the Newcastle University (NU) Population Health Sciences Institute.

Dr Victoria Showunmi is an Associate Professor at University College London in the Faculty of Institute of Education. Her interests are gender, identity, and race through the lens of intersectionality, focusing on leadership and the lived experience of Black women and girls.
She develops fresh conceptual frameworks focusing on equity and social justice, especially the interplay between people and the sophistication of behaviours which lead to disengagement with the promotion of equality. Her work shows how culture and cultural background have the potential to disrupt power structures and lead to transformational change. She is a member of the Gender and Education Executive, Conference Chair for British Educational Leadership Management and Administration Society, Chair of the International studies SIG, American Educational Research Association, and co-convenor, Gender Network, European Educational Research Association. She is on the editorial board of Bloomsbury Educational Leadership: Innovative Critical and Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Transforming Education through `Critical Educational Leadership, Policy and Practice’ (Emerald) as well as assistant editor for the International Journal of Leadership in Education.
She has an international profile based on the dissemination of her research through publication and teaching. Her scholarly work is acclaimed nationally and internationally.

Yu-Chu Kathy is a BA Psychology graduate and MSc Business and Management student at the University of Strathclyde. After five years of studying, she was elected Vice President Inclusion for the 2022/23 Academic Year at Strathclyde Students’ Union. As an international, Asian, mature female student, her work is significantly influenced by her lived experience and her year abroad study in Mississippi, USA. Her role ranged from ground-level student engagement and support to high-level decision-making and representations of marginalised students on University committees and strategy establishments.
Yu-Chu Kathy leads campaigns and organises events for the marginalised student at Strathclyde, focusing on BAME groups, the LGBT+ community, disabled students and women and how these identities intersect. Some campaigns she led are Black History Month, 16 Days of Action, LGBT+ History Month, Anti-bullying Awareness Week and Accessible Campus. She also engages and supports the diverse cultural groups at Strathclyde to ensure student voices are heard and reflected in the high-level University committees. She was re-elected and will continue the same role in 2023/24.