The National Centre for Diversity has announced the judging panel for the nominated award categories for the FE Sector Awards 2016.
The inaugural FE Sector Awards is being held in Birmingham on 15th November 2016, and gives Further Education organisations a much needed opportunity to recognise, celebrate and reward the dedication of the people and teams who continue to make a significant contribution to improving the skill levels of young people and adult learners.
The judging panel members have been announced as: Graham Hasting-Evans, MD of NOCN, Nicola Hosty, Arriva Rail North’s HR Manager, Antony Pearce, Head of Performance at Prospects, Neil Callen, Resource and Training Manager at Pearson Education, Chief Executive of the National Centre for Diversity, Solat Chaudhry.
Antony Pearce said “There is lots of great work taking place in the FE sector around equality, diversity and inclusion. This is important because future generations of leaders need to be aware and empowered to make the world a fairer place. The NCFD FE Sector Awards are a great way to celebrate the outstanding work and success across the sector. I am thrilled to be part of the judging panel and look forward to receiving the nominations.”
The panel will be independently judging the following categories: FE Sector Employee of the Year, FE Sector EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) Lead of the Year, Corporation Board Member of the Year, Learner of the Year.
Nominations for the four judge categories are now open for submission on the NCFD website or they can be emailed directly to events@iiduk.org – so celebrate the achievements of inspirational FE staff, management and students by nominating them for a National Centre for Diversity FE Sector Award.
Nicola Hosty added “I am so proud to be part of the judging panel for the NCFD FE Sector Awards because these awards celebrate that if you get Equality, Diversity and Inclusion practices right your return will be good business results. Everyone who has been nominated is making a difference in the public sector and I’m sure it will be really hard to produce a shortlist because each nomination deserves recognition”
Issues surrounding Equality, Diversity and Inclusion are very topical in the FE Sector, with the introduction of the latest Ofsted Common Inspection framework of 2015; and a new duty on Schools to “Prevent persons from becoming involved in terrorism”. The duty was enshrined within the Counter-terrorism and Security Act 2015.
The National Centre for Diversity FE Awards event is a celebration of the fantastic work done by the FE sector in equality, diversity and inclusion. The Sector has been hit hard by austerity, mergers and restructuring and the event gives the brilliant individuals and organisations across the FE sector the chance to showcase their achievements.