Women dominate Asian Achievers Awards 2017
Women have dominated the 17th annual Asian Achievers Awards nominees list, with 22 of the 36 shortlisted contenders being female.
It is one of the few times that any awards event, Asian or otherwise,has women outnumbering male nominees. The shortlist includes inspirational female role models and rising stars, including Anuja Ravindra Dhir QC, the first non-white and youngest circuit judge to sit at the Old Bailey; Paralympian Tania Nadarajah; playwright Tanika Gupta MBE; Vanita Patel MBEof Anti-Slavery International and Lisa Sohanpal, Founder of Nom Noms World Food.
The 17th annual Asian Achievers Awards is returning on Friday 22nd September to celebrate South Asian excellence at the Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane. Bollywood singer, actress and model, Raageshwari will join former ‘Eastenders’ star actor Nitin Ganatra to host the glittering ceremony, which this year highlights the great strides made in the fields of Media, Art and Culture.
Mr. CB Patel, Publisher/Editor, ABPL Group says, “The Asian Achievers Awards has always recognized trailblazing women, but this is the first year in which over 60% of our finalists are female. It makes me incredibly proud to see so many women excelling in their respective fields, and I feel honoured to be able to acknowledge them. However, I feel we’ve only touched the tip of the iceberg and we look forward to highlighting many more achievers –both men and women –in the future.”
The variety, vibrancy and excellence of Asians, especially women, is truly inspiring. Our men and especially women now participate and excel in newer fields which were impossible just a few years ago. I believe that AAA 2017 has just uncovered the tip of the Iceberg. There are many unknown and unrecognised achievers who we hope to highlight in our future ventures.”
Since launching, The Asian Achievers Awards has helped to raise millions of pounds for various charities and this year, the chosen charity partner is the Akshaya Patra Foundation, which works to eradicate classroom hunger and facilitate childhood education by serving freshly cooked, nourishing lunches to 1.6 million school children across India every day. The Asian Achievers Awards is proud to announce EY,a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services,as its headline sponsor. Also sponsoring are Shanti Hospitality and Edwardian Hotels, with Colors TV on board as Media Partner.
Asian Achievers Awards 2017: Nominations list
Achievement in Community Service
Akeela Ahmed –Founder of She Speak We Hear
Davinder Kaur BEM -Chief Executive of SWEDA
Saba Nasim BEM -Cricket Coach/Lawyer
Vanita Patel MBE –Anti-Slavery International
Sports Personality of the Year
Haseeb Hameed – England Cricketer
Neethu Haridas – Footballer
Sivakumar Ramasamy – Taekwondo Coach
Tania Nadarajah – Paralympian
Business Person of the Year
Poonam Gupta OBE – PG Paper Company Ltd
Shahid Sheikh OBE – Clifton Packaging Group
Surinder Arora – Arora Group
Zuber Issa & Mohsin Issa – Euro Garages
Entrepreneur of the Year
Arjuna Gihan Fernando OBE – Founder, Freeformers
Alick Varma – CEO of Osper
Lisa Sohanpal – Founder of Nom Noms World Food
Madhuban Kumar – CEO of Metafused
Woman of the Year
Dr Faiza Shaheen – Director of CLASS
Jagdeep Rai – Head of Corporate Banking at Barclays
Shivvy Jervis – Digital Specialist
Dr Tara Swart – Neuroscientist
Professional of the Year
Fayyaz Afzal OBE – Barrister
Maneesh Juneja – Digital Health Futurist
Prof Sanjay Sharma – Cardiologist
Sir Shankar Balasubramanian FRS – Chemist
Achievement in Media
Angela Saini – Science Journalist & Author
Coco Khan – Journalist at The Guardian
Tanika Gupta MBE – Playwright
Tina Daheley – Broadcast/Journalist at BBC
Achievement in Arts & Culture
Amrit Kaur Lohaim – Sarangi Player
Nanita Desai – Composer
Paul Sinha – Comedian
Ryan Chetiyawardana – Internationally Acclaimed Bartender
Uniformed & Civil Service
Anuja Ravindra Dhir QC – Judge
Lieutenant Brijinder Singh Nijjar – Army
Kulbir Pasricha – Kent Police
Sharan Ghuman MBE – UK home Office
