Biography
Asif is Global Head of Diversity & Inclusion for Adidas. He was formerly the Head of Diversity and Inclusiveness for EY Financial Services and previously the Head of Equality, Diversity and Human Rights Unit for the City of London Police. He is a Multi-Award Winning Diversity and Inclusion expert with over 15 years experience and a proven track record in achieving operational and strategic targets, managing quality, performance, risk and change.
He is a passionate and inspirational Global Leader, co-author and a renowned keynote speaker with the ability to empower individuals and create a truly inclusive environment for all. Asif has been key in implementing D&I activities and programmes as well as connecting with stakeholders at all levels of organisations to build strong and influential relationships with influencers. Asif acts as a role model, providing governance across businesses on D&I and is committed to creating a strong sense of belonging for all.
Asif has received a number of accolades for his work that include the Mosaic (Prince’s Trust) Award for mentoring, Police Officer of the Year Award, the Civil Servant of the Year Award, the prestigious Asian Professional Award and the highly commended Head of Diversity Award at the European Diversity Awards. Asif was honoured in 2017 in the Queen’s birthday honours list with an MBE for his services to Policing and Communities and is a member of the HR Guild, The Worshipful Company of Security Professionals, a Leadership Fellow at St George's House and is a Freeman of the City.
He is currently the Chair of the London Hate Crime Board, a Judge for numerous Awards including the CIPD Awards, BIMA Awards, Personnel Today Awards and the Lord Mayor's Dragon Awards, an Ambassador for Remembering Srebrenica, Member of the APPG (All Party Parliamentary Group) on Hate Crime, Special Advisory to the charity Penny Appeal, a trainer for the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and a Special Sergeant with the City of London Police.
Presentation Outline
Diversity and Inclusion continues to be at the forefront of discussions at the top levels of many organisations and recent events have further highlighted the need to get it right. We are all aware of the work that is being done in this space and the developments in the area over the last ten years or so. But whilst we have achieved a lot and brought key challenges to the boardroom table, there is still something lacking.
The progress we have made so far in D&I has been through the support of people who have an affiliation to a diversity characteristic or believe that it is the right thing to do. But we have now started to stall, and I believe that we need the power of the majority if we are really going to move the dial on inclusion in the workplace.
This brings us onto Belonging and why it is such an important area of D&I. We have strengthened diversity to a certain extent by recognising that people are different and that individuals have protected characteristics. As organisations we have been working hard on creating a truly inclusive workplace that is reflective of the diversity we see, but how will we know when we are truly inclusive? That's where belonging comes in − the output of true inclusion is a sense of belonging for everyone.