Yasmeen Akhtar is the founding Chief-Executive of Inchange, a cutting-edge agency that cultivates new ways of promoting inclusion and equality in the workplace. With 15 years of leadership in the charity sector, Akhtar is an expert in facilitation, consultancy and coaching.
Akhtar has coordinated high level UN award-winning programmes in community dialogue, peacebuilding and reconciliation. She has also worked with senior politicians, civil servants, artists, academics, religious leaders and diplomats.
Yasmeen Akhtar makes a career out of inclusion
Akhtar began her career working as a programme executive for the Lokahi Foundation, facilitating multi-faith inclusion on university campuses. She then worked at Three Faiths Forum, the UK’s leading interfaith and intercultural provider of expert services. Akhtar led award-winning programmes there, before working as a leadership executive at Aston-Mansfield, working with youth poverty-alleviation initiatives in East London.
After acting as Director at the historical Alexander Haus, Akhtar started her own independent practice in consultancy, bringing together her years of expertise. Her focus lies in building bridges between communities, with critical approaches to diversity and inclusion.
Akhtar launched the TrustLab in 2017. Alongside this, she co-chairs the Social Justice Collective, committed to advancing the leadership of women and non-binary people of colour. She also sits on the board for Muslim Women Connect, a learning and mentoring charity which helps young girls and working class women with early career support.
Yasmeen Akhtar studied law
Born in Kashmir, Akhtar grew up in the UK where her family settled in the early 60s. She studied Law at the University of Westminster, before devoting herself to inclusion and equality in the workplace.
Akhtar’s passion for her work is the product of her own personal experiences. Her own marginalisation at the intersection of racism, sexism and classism has given her insight into the subtle and corrosive dynamics of oppression. This experience has enabled her to come up with creative insights and solutions to combatting workplace aggression and discrimination.
Yasmeen Akhtar: TrustLab
Akhtar co-founded TrustLab with Debbie Danon in 2017. It’s a diversity and inclusion consultancy that aims to build cultures of inclusion by enabling individuals and organizations to develop courageous inclusive leadership.
Their services include strategic consulting, inclusive leadership development and thought leadership & communication. Hosting their own training and peer-coaching programmes, they aim to build a community of leaders grounded in principles of anti-oppression.
Find out more about Yasmeen Akhtar’s work at the Social Justice Collective here.
