Meet Our 2023 Judges

 

 

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Our judges for The Black Owned Birmingham Awards 2023 are a diverse and accomplished group of individuals with a deep commitment to promoting and recognising the contributions of Black-owned businesses and entrepreneurs in the Birmingham community. We are honoured to have these esteemed individuals as part of our judging panel, and we are confident that their expertise and experience will help us identify the most exceptional businesses and entrepreneurs in the region.

Our judges bring a wealth of knowledge, experience, and diverse perspectives to the selection process. They are passionate about promoting diversity and inclusion in the Birmingham community, and they are committed to identifying and recognising the most outstanding Black-owned businesses and entrepreneurs.

The selection process is rigorous and thorough, and our judges will evaluate each nomination based on a range of criteria, including business success, innovation, community involvement, and impact. We are confident that the selection process will be fair, transparent, and based on the highest standards of excellence.

We are grateful to our judges for their dedication and commitment to this important initiative, and we look forward to working with them to celebrate the achievements of Birmingham’s Black-owned businesses and entrepreneurs.

Solicitor, Director

Sana Saddique

Sana is a lawyer specialising in family law and the Director of Collective Law Solicitors. Sana is passionate about effecting change within the legal professional and inspiring and encouraging others.

As a private family lawyer and Court advocate, Sana undertakes work on divorce matters, financial proceedings and children act matters in addition to various other aspects of family law.

Sana has worked on several high profile cases within the High Court relating to extremism, child abuse and international surrogacy matters and have been a finalist for two legal awards as, Legal Professional of the Year and Individual showing Excellence in legal services.

Sana has been accredited by the Law Society as an expert within the field of family law.

CEO, Founder, Legal Consultant

Nadine Bila

Nadine Bila is the Director and Legal Consultant at Bila Legal Services Ltd.

Nadine won the Diversity Champion Awards 2022 at the Birmingham Black Lawyers Excellence Awards.

Bila Legal Services is a Legal Consultancy Firm founded by Nadine Bila, a Legal Consultant with 14 years of experience in the legal sector, specifically within the Family Law Jurisdiction. Nadine has worked for a decade at the Ministry of Justice within HM Courts & Tribunal Service and in the private legal sector.

CEO, Founder, Social Entrepreneur

Avril Grant

Avril formed her organisation AVision for Empowerment in 2012, a social enterprise which delivers holistic empowerment interventions that supports people to overcome personal challenges so they can achieve sustainable career success. Avril and her teams work within the Criminal Justice Sector delivering bespoke accredited empowerment courses to over 26 prisons across the UK in partnership with many large prime organisations, transforming attitudes and leading over 5000 delegates including those with serious violence convictions, along the road to desistence and to achieve long term employment and entrepreneurship.

Avril is a firm believer that everyone has the ability to achieve success regardless of their past.

As a Master NLP and Life coach, Avril is a champion for change supporting mental health resilience and people achieving their best performance so they may live a life they can be truly proud of.

Avril has worked with individuals, teams and organisations and delivers dynamic training that achieves objectives and inspires lasting change. Her love for human potential has led her to design and deliver bespoke training for various companies in different sectors. Attending her workshops and accredited programmes inspires others to believe in themselves, overcome challenges and to pluck up the courage to improve personal performance and take action.

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CEO, Founder, Director, Social Activist

Daniel Maynard

Daniel Maynard is the CEO and Founder of Hands of Infinity CIC and a Director for KapsOffMedia. He’s been a qualified mentor for over 20 years and still enjoy’s supporting young and vulnerable people to develop confidence, skills and self determined futures.

The brilliant team at Hands of Infinity CIC champion a person centred approach to working with community members. Utilising the expertise of our team and resources; local residents have been able to develop ideas, start business and find the camaraderie to help them overcome obstacles to success.

KapsOffMedia raises awareness and shines a light on those marginalised in society. Providing them with a platform and the support to voice their untold experiences, whilst creating a safe environment where they can relax, find support and take their Kap Off and be real.

As part of the Management Committee for Nightlife Outreach, a community safe space supporting women, young people, the LGBTQ+ Community, people struggling with mental health and drug addictions and those experiencing homelessness.

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