Inclusion Advisory Group
The NCCPE is delighted to announce the Inclusion Advisory Group - Race Equity, a new group, aimed at accelerating inclusion within engagement with research in the UK.
The group formed in June 2023 and will work with the NCCPE over the next two years to challenge, support and problem solve as we work with others in the sector to enhance race equity and inclusive public participation in, and engagement with, research.
Find out more about some of the NCCPE Inclusion Advisory Group members, learn who they are and what experiences they bring to the group.
Sadia Mir
Sadia Mir is a Muslim first and foremost, working to change the perception of Muslims, Muslim women and Muslim youth. Sadia is a proud public speaker, creative, and an equality, diversity and inclusion advocate. Sadia Mir started her career tackling what was unfairly blocked from her during her youth because of her skin colour, because of her religion, and because of her background. This included, and is not limited to; a safe space, disability guidance, sports, adequate prayer facilities (the corridor does not count!), education, creative opportunities and secure pathways to share instances of racism and islamophobia. Sadia now takes her passion for creating safe spaces into the realms of History, Heritage and Culture, Ethics, Creativity and Arts, Sports and Movement, Youth Inclusion and Youth Voice, and the Health sector.
Niyah Campbell
Niyah Campbell is a Public Involvement and Engagement Professional who has worked at the University of Birmingham since 2018. In his role, Niyah supports the involvement of experts by experience in the design, delivery and governance of health and social care research. He currently supports this activity at the Institute for Mental Health and the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration West Midlands.
Natalie Wall
Natalie is currently the Research Impact Lead (Social Sciences) at King's College London. She provides external impact training and advice through the Association of Research Managers and Administrators (ARMA). Natalie is also an interdisciplinary anti-racist researcher with a PhD in black Caribbean Canadian women's performance and peer-reviewed publications in EDI, dub theatre, and mixed-race literature. Natalie has experience giving invited talks and conference papers across a range of topics in both her professional and research fields. She is also a member of the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Peer Review College and on the Board of Trustees for Lambeth Carers' Hub.
Mai Musié
Mai is an ancient historian and a public engagement professional. She has been a key voice in the UK for engagement with the humanities for over a decade. Her research explores race and ethnicity in the ancient world; she investigates how the ‘other’ is represented in ancient Greek and Roman literary sources. Mai is passionate about exploring the interconnectivity between the ancient Mediterranean world and North-East Africa. Mai has managed a diverse range of access and outreach programmes, organised and consulted on history and heritage projects that foster co-curation, co-production, and building equitable relationships between communities and researchers.
Krishna Mooroogen
Dr Krishna Mooroogen is a research consultant and a public engagement professional. Originally from an astrophysics background, Krishna has spent several years researching and developing innovation technologies in a plethora of cross disciplinary roles. His work is concerned with providing robust measurement for high impact technologies for the public good.
As a public engagement professional, Krishna's interests lie in the support of educational projects for students and the general public of all ages either as a delivery partner, resource manager or policy advisor. Krishna is passionate about ensuring that all people have equal access to education beyond the curriculum and that opportunities are equitable across demographics.
Katia Chornik
Katia Chornik is Impact Development Manager at Kingston University and Research Associate at Cambridge University’s Centre of Latin American Studies. She has extensive experience of developing, managing and conducting research, public engagement, and impact in the HE, public and cultural sectors. Her own research focuses on Latin American cultural history. She is the author of Alejo Carpentier and the Musical Text (Routledge, 2015) and Captive Songs: Music and Political Detention in Pinochet’s Chile (OUP, forthcoming), and the editor of the digital project Cantos Cautivos, compiling testimonies of music experiences under political detention. Since 2022, she has been an advisor to Rambert, a world-leading dance company, on their “Decolonising Dance” programme. As a woman of mixed background, as a mother, migrant, and daughter and great-granddaughter of refugees, she has personal experience of a range of EDI matters.
Fola Afolabi
Fola Afolabi (she/her) is passionate about promoting health equity for communities racialised as minorities and young people, through fostering innovative and equitable patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE). She is the Founder of the Youth Involvement and Engagement Lab and currently works as the EDI in Science Business Manager at the Wellcome Trust. She holds various public partner roles at Imperial College London, UCLPartners, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and an NHS Trust. Her prior roles include leading the Preventative Health strand at Impact on Urban Health and co-producing PPIE initiatives within Imperial College's Patient Experience Research Centre.
Berenice Golding
Berenice Golding holds two part-time roles in the School of Human and Health Sciences, University of Huddersfield. She is a Senior Lecturer in Social Sciences and the School Director for Equality, Diversity.
Berenice joined the University in 2001, as a mature student, before going on to complete her Undergraduate degree and Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE). She embarked on a 1 +3 ESRC funded studentship. Berenice was awarded her PhD in 2011 for her research: Exploring the lived experiences of egg share donors: can women consent to share their eggs? She developed an interest in public engagement whilst doing her PhD.
Her research interests are eclectic and include diversity, equality, health and well-being, inclusivity, and social justice. Berenice has recently been involved in a multi-disciplinary project that explored representations of dementia in children’s picturebooks.
Ahmina Akhtar
Co-chair
Ahmina is passionate about equality, diversity and inclusion both personally and professionally. She grew up in a racially segregated town and felt the impact of racism from an early age. She therefore volunteered at a local youth club as a teenager and served as a regional youth councillor to promote equality, diversity, and inclusion. It was these early experiences, and her desire for greater social justice, which ultimately led to her becoming a social worker.
Promoting equality, diversity and inclusion has been central in all her roles. She is currently the Head of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion at Social Work England, the specialist regulator for social workers in England and she also supports several charities both strategically and operationally.
Sophie Duncan
Co-chair
Sophie oversees the work of the centre including communications, partnerships and externally-funded NCCPE projects. She develops and manages key NCCPE programmes to embed engagement into the higher education sector, including the Watermark, and co-edits Research for All. A physicist by training, Sophie has worked in engagement all her career, including at the Science Museum in London; Science Year; and the BBC, where she managed the creation and delivery of national engagement campaigns
Please note that this page references group members who have opted into sharing their profiles. Read more about the aims of this group and the ways they will work:
If you have any questions about this group or their work, email Alyssa Chafee.