PROFESSIONAL BIO

Linda’s EDI experience includes the private sector, regulatory sector and public sector.

Her work, (18 years police work and 14 years Local Authority), included advocating at ministerial
level post MacPherson, looking at over representation of BAME, bias, differential
progression and professionalism within the force.

She specialises in improvement, relationships, systems change, management and
leadership.

For example, she is currently designing and developing the Corporate Equalities
Commission’s model, and terms of reference, working with cross party elected members,
political leaders, communities and key stakeholders.

She harnesses and uses a strength-based approach coupled with strong systems leadership
style, to bring about effective and equalising changes between communities. She is
developing a £500,000.000 engagement strategy for community champions, which focuses
on building trust and confidence., using an EDI perspective.

She unpacks the health inequalities presented as a result of COVID, to provide a targeted response to
underrepresented people, focusing on EDI, vulnerability and issues around poverty.

Her unique and authentic perspective gives her immediate credibility, as a critical friend, EDI
expert and leadership consultant. Linda’s peer review experience includes:
 peer reviewing for the police, in particular the National Police Improvement Agency,
providing a critical EDI perspective and feedback on a number of issues like
operational strategies, stop and search and hate crimes,
 peer reviewing multi-agencies in children services, looking at issues like child
protection as part of their sustainability and improvement plans, and,
 peer reviewing for a private consultancy on EDI, reviewing EDI issues like
transgender, intersectional identities and challenging the actions and behaviours of
consultant trainers.

Linda provides EDI solutions tailored to meet specific organisational challenges and achieves
outcomes that allow people to overcome barriers and maximise their full potential.

Her strength is her ability to work with a wide range of clients and organisations that are going
through complex changes, particularly local authorities and marginalised, isolated and
underrepresented groups. She supports them with improvements to their processes, people
and partners in a way that empowers them to succeed.
She has a good appreciation of the nuances involved when encouraging

PERSONAL BIO

Linda comes from a family of community leadership in Huddersfield her father was
one of the first black magistrates and business owners of Silver Sands/Cleopatra’s
nightclub aka “Venn Street” in the 1970 & 80’s in Huddersfield. Business and
community are her blood.

She spent 18 years working in the criminal justice system and the first woman to
be chair of the National Black Police Association 2009. Linda held a portfolio
around, gun & knife crime, stop and search and advocated not only for serving
black police officers but also the community at ministerial level post MacPherson.

She is an experienced and qualified trainer delivering training internationally on
black history, leadership, diversity, advocacy and safeguarding.
She is a fellow of the School for Social Entrepreneurs SSE 2017 and has an active
social enterprise Young Gifted & Black Enterprises which offers training,
workshops, event management and education for the benefit of the black
community.

She has worked in many public sector roles and currently holds portfolios around
Housing, Employment, children & young people and health and wellbeing.
She has been recognised her public roles and community activities to name a few
– Outstanding contribution to vulnerable victims of crime
– NBPA best community engagement programme Natural born Leaders for 3
consecutive years 2006-2009.
– Awarded for outstanding contribution to effective change in housing sector
– Shortlisted for European Diversity Award 2021 for best community project
Iroko

Linda was the founding Director and education lead for Young Gifted & black
supplementary school a montly Saturday school for children from the African &
Caribbean community teaching STEAM subjects and black history based at the
University of Huddersfield.

YGB does not accept any formal funding or grants and as such can remain authentic and genuine in the focus on the progression of black children.
That said most importantly Linda is the mother of two gifted black children who
has the battle scars from fighting the system to ensure they are the best that they
can be.
She describes herself as a Pan Africanist activist and self determination in the
community and calls upon the wisdom of our great ancestors like John Henrik
Clarke historian and educator who said, “We have been educated into believing someone else’s concept of the deity, and someone else’s standard of beauty. You have the right to practice any religion and politics in a way that best suits your freedom, your dignity, and your understanding. And once you do that, you don’t apologize”

Linda believes that education, unity, empowerment and black on black solutions are the
only way we can move forward as a people.