Bio
Naheed Nazir is a nationally recognised, multi award-winning Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) leader and currently serves as Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at Manchester Metropolitan University.
With extensive experience across the public, voluntary and higher education sectors, Naheed has established herself as a transformative leader committed to advancing equity, social justice and inclusive culture change. Her leadership journey has been featured in the Still I Rise campaign exhibited at The Lowry, Salford, and she has been recognised as one of the Top 50 Influential Muslim Leaders in Europe by EqualityX.
Throughout her career, Naheed has received significant recognition for her impact on inclusive leadership and organisational culture. Her achievements include receiving the UHR Inclusion Award, the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter Inclusion Award, and the prestigious Aziz Foundation Inclusion Award, recognising her outstanding contribution to advancing equality, diversity, inclusion and social mobility across communities and institutions.
Naheed is widely known for her ability to translate inclusion strategies into measurable institutional change. She has led major programmes focused on closing equality gaps, increasing representation, embedding inclusive leadership, strengthening accountability and creating environments where staff and students feel a genuine sense of belonging and can thrive.
As Director of EDI, she has spearheaded the development and implementation of Manchester Metropolitan University’s Inclusive and Diverse Culture (IDC) Strategy, a bold institutional commitment to creating an intentionally inclusive culture that promotes equity, celebrates diversity and ensures every member of the University community has the opportunity to flourish. The strategy is underpinned by four strategic pillars: Leadership, Culture and Governance; Inclusive Employee Lifecycle; Inclusive Student Experience; and Celebrating Diversity, positioning inclusion as a shared responsibility across the institution.
Beyond her institutional role, Naheed is a respected national voice in the EDI sector, regularly contributing to conferences, leadership forums and sector-wide initiatives, sharing best practice on culture change, race equity, inclusive leadership and belonging. Through her work, she continues to influence policy, practice and thinking across higher education and beyond.
Provide in-depth information about you and your current job role
As Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, I provide strategic leadership for equality, diversity, inclusion and belonging across Manchester Metropolitan University. My role is responsible for shaping institutional culture, influencing strategic priorities, ensuring compliance with equality legislation and driving transformational change that improves outcomes for both staff and students.
I lead the delivery of the University’s Inclusive and Diverse Culture Strategy. The strategy is focused on four key pillars:
- Leadership, Culture and Governance
- Inclusive Employee Lifecycle
- Inclusive Student Experience
- Celebrating Diversity
These pillars support the University’s ambition to create a culture where everyone takes responsibility for fairness, equity and respect while ensuring that diversity is recognised as a strategic strength.
My responsibilities include:
- Developing and implementing institution-wide EDI strategies.
- Leading equality charter mark activity and external accreditation programmes.
- Influencing executive and governing body decision-making.
- Driving action to reduce awarding, progression and representation gaps.
- Strengthening inclusive recruitment and career progression practices.
- Working collaboratively with staff networks, students, senior leaders and external partners to create sustainable culture change.
- Embedding equity and inclusion across all aspects of organisational life.
My approach combines data-informed decision-making with lived experience, ensuring people remain at the centre of change. I believe that inclusion is not an initiative but a leadership responsibility that must be embedded across every part of an organisation.
Why do you feel you have been selected for the Head of Diversity & Inclusion Award?
I believe I have been selected because I have consistently demonstrated strategic, values-led leadership that has delivered measurable impact and lasting culture change.
Throughout my career, I have moved the conversation beyond compliance and representation towards true inclusion, belonging and equity. I have influenced institutional strategies, improved outcomes for underrepresented communities and created sustainable structures that ensure accountability for progress. I have taken the personal lived experience coupled with data to ensure that I continuously provide and deliver an evidence-based approach. I truly believe in ensuring that I follow through on my principles of Enable (enabling people to understand and gain awareness and knowledge), Empower (skilling people with the right tools and resources) and Embed (through enabling and empowering people will then be able to deliver EDI in everything they do hence embedding).
At Manchester Metropolitan University, I have led the development and delivery of a comprehensive Inclusive and Diverse Culture Strategy designed to embed inclusion into every aspect of organisational life. This work supports the University’s ambition to be recognised externally for its equality commitments while creating an environment where staff and students can flourish.
I have championed initiatives that have:
- Improved representation across leadership and governance.
- Enhanced support for racially minoritised staff and students.
- Advanced disability inclusion and neurodiversity awareness.
- Strengthened LGBT+ visibility and allyship.
- Promoted faith inclusion and intercultural understanding.
- Created opportunities for staff development, progression and belonging.
Beyond Manchester Met, I am recognised nationally as an EDI thought leader, keynote speaker and sector influencer. My work has been shared across higher education, public services and national equality forums, helping to shape wider conversations about equitable and inclusive leadership.
What diversity initiatives have you implemented within your workplace across the following diversity strands?
Age
- Developed intergenerational approaches to inclusion that recognise the value of diverse experiences and perspectives.
- Supported age-inclusive recruitment and development practices.
- Promoted lifelong learning and career development opportunities for staff at all career stages.
- Integrated age considerations into wider workforce and wellbeing strategies.
Disability
- Led work advancing disability inclusion through policy, culture and workplace adjustments.
- Supported initiatives improving accessibility for staff and students.
- Promoted awareness and understanding of neurodiversity through campaigns and storytelling.
- Championing programmes such as Bridging the Gap, which provides opportunities for young people with special educational needs and disabilities.
- Increased the visibility of disabled colleagues and their lived experiences through awareness campaigns and inclusive leadership practices.
Gender
- Embedded gender equality within institutional strategic priorities.
- Supported leadership development and progression opportunities for women.
- Strengthened initiatives focused on reducing barriers to advancement.
- Worked to improve representation across senior leadership and decision-making structures.
LGBT+
- Supported the development and visibility of LGBT+ staff networks.
- Led initiatives celebrating LGBT+ identities and experiences.
- Worked collaboratively with colleagues to support Manchester Pride activities and year-round inclusion programmes.
- Embedded LGBT+ inclusion within policy development, leadership expectations and staff engagement activities.
Race
- Led action to address racial inequities affecting staff and students.
- Developed programmes focused on reducing degree awarding gaps and improving progression outcomes.
- Supported race equality initiatives and strengthened institutional accountability for progress.
- Elevated conversations around anti-racism, representation and belonging.
- Partnered with staff networks and community groups to drive meaningful change and amplify lived experience.
Religion & Faith
- Strengthened religious literacy and faith inclusion across the University.
- Promoted understanding of key faith observances and cultural celebrations.
- Supported awareness initiatives covering Ramadan, Lent, Lunar New Year and other religious and cultural events to foster greater understanding and respect across communities.
- Ensured faith inclusion remained an important component of the University’s wider inclusion agenda.
I developed a programme to ensure that we have inclusive leadership at every level within the organisation which goes cross all the strands of diversity to develop into a globally inclusive institution that fosters a sense of belonging and ensures fairness in the workplace where all individuals can thrive.
Prior to the introduction of our “Intentional About Inclusive Leadership” programme, inclusive leadership training was not systematically embedded within the University’s leadership development framework. The initiative was therefore created to address the following key challenges:
- Inconsistent understanding and ways to address EDI challenges faced by colleagues.
- The need for a clear and structured approach to inclusive leadership development.
- Gaps in leadership representation and inclusive decision-making.
- Lack of inclusive career progression.
- A demand for practical tools and strategies to embed EDI in daily leadership practices.
- The opportunity to align staff development with institutional EDI objectives and sector-wide best practices.
- Need for physical spaces accommodating diverse requirements.
- Barriers for disabled/neurodivergent staff and students.
- Need for more data-driven interventions.
IAIL was originally targeted at leaders and managers but has since expanded to include all employees. The programme is designed to benefit the entire university community, ensuring that every staff member understands their role in fostering an inclusive culture. The training also supports student-facing roles, improving the student experience through informed and intentional inclusive practices.
By embedding inclusive leadership at all levels, Manchester Met continues to drive meaningful change, ensuring that diversity, equity, and inclusion are not only principles but integral aspects of everyday leadership practice; alongside embedding EDI through data-driven decision-making, policy frameworks, and network engagement.
Intentional about Inclusive Leadership (IAIL) is a pioneering training programme built on five principles: Empowerment, Authenticity, Collaboration, Fairness, and Valuing Diversity. Initially created for leadership, IAIL has since expanded to all employees, reinforcing a culture of inclusive leadership at every level.
IAIL was developed consultatively and collaboratively with EDI professionals, leadership experts, and colleagues. Content was informed by best practices, colleague feedback, and diversity, equity, and belonging data. Training materials were designed to be interactive, scenario-based, and hybrid delivery-friendly. The programme was piloted and refined based on feedback with the EDI team continuously improving it.
It is accompanied by the following (along with embedding EDI through data-driven decision-making, policy frameworks, and network engagement) to further support and sustain inclusive leadership:
- Campus enhancements include fully compliant Changing Places toilets, culturally inclusive shower toilet facilities, gender-neutral toilets, family friendly facilities, prayer spaces, and quiet spaces for neurodivergent individuals, Carers passport.
- EDI training includes EDI Essentials, Becoming Culturally Competent, Inclusive Recruitment, and Equality Impact Assessment workshops
- Talent development programmes e.g. Aurora and StellarHE provide structured pathways for underrepresented groups into senior leadership.
- EDI resources e.g., Building a Neuro-inclusive Workplace, Carers Passport, People Data Equality Framework (PDEF) Dashboard, Guidance for Disabled Staff and Line Managers, Five EDI Staff Networks, Inclusive Recruitment Toolkit, Ramadan Guidance for Staff & Managers, Respect at Work Advisors, Workplace Adjustments Form etc.
- Social responsibility initiatives such as Bridging the Gap to engage students and local communities in accessibility and higher education outreach.
What impact have these initiatives had on your workplace?
The impact has been significant at both an institutional and cultural level.
Key outcomes include:
- Greater visibility and representation of underrepresented groups.
- Increased staff engagement with equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives.
- Stronger staff and student sense of belonging.
- Improved accountability for EDI performance and outcomes.
- Enhanced leadership capability around inclusive practice.
- Better support for disability inclusion and neurodiversity.
- Increased awareness and celebration of diverse identities, cultures and faiths.
- Stronger collaboration between leadership, staff networks and student communities.
Importantly, these initiatives have helped shift inclusion from being viewed as the responsibility of a specialist team to becoming a shared organisational responsibility. This aligns directly with Manchester Metropolitan University’s ambition to create a culture where everyone is responsible for ensuring fairness, equity and respect.
Within the University, we’ve seen measurable cultural shifts:
- 80% of staff in 2025 (+7pp from 2022) agree the University is committed to EDI.
- 76% of staff in 2025 would recommend the University as a good place to work (+11pp compared to 2022), outperforming the HE sector benchmark.
- In 2025, 79% of staff feel respected at work; 70% feel a strong sense of community.
- The National Student Survey (NSS) in 2024 showed increased perceptions of belonging and inclusivity among students (+2.3pp) and student voice (+3.6pp).
We’ve seen increased representation across key colleague demographics:
- Doubling Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic representation at Professional Services senior level, with an increase across senior Academic roles
- Women had a higher promotion rate in 2024/25
- Gender Pay Gap of 7.5% remains significantly lower than the sector average
The work has also strengthened the University’s reputation as an institution committed to creating an intentionally inclusive culture of belonging for staff and students
Have you or your company received any accolades as a result of your work surrounding equality, diversity & inclusion?
Yes. Personally and institutionally, the impact of my work has been recognised through a number of prestigious awards, accolades and sector benchmarks that demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach to equality, diversity and inclusion.
Personal Recognition
I have been recognised as:
- One of the Top 50 Influential Muslim Leaders in Europe by EqualityX.
- A nationally recognised and multi award-winning Equality, Diversity and Inclusion leader.
- A featured inclusion leader in the Still I Rise exhibition at The Lowry, highlighting inspirational leadership journeys, resilience and social impact.
- A regular keynote speaker and contributor at national and sector-wide conferences, sharing best practice on inclusive leadership, belonging and culture change.
Organisational Recognition
Under my leadership and through the collective efforts of colleagues across Manchester Metropolitan University, the institution has received significant recognition for its commitment to creating an inclusive and diverse culture:
- Achieved the top position in the Higher Education Honordex Report (September 2024), recognising Manchester Met’s sector-leading commitment to inclusion and representation.
- Winner of the Aziz Foundation Inclusion Award 2024, recognising outstanding leadership and impact in advancing inclusion and equity.
- Winner of the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter Inclusion Award 2025, recognising our outstanding work in embedding inclusion and equity across the employee experience.
- Winner of the UHR Inclusion Award 2025, recognising transformational work to advance equality, diversity and inclusion within higher education.
- Finalist in the European Diversity Awards 2024 in the Diversity Team of the Year category.
- Finalist in the British Diversity Awards 2025 in the Diversity Team of the Year category.
- Continued progress towards achieving and maintaining recognised equality charter marks and external accreditations through the delivery of our Inclusive and Diverse Culture Strategy, which places inclusion, belonging and equity at the heart of institutional decision-making and culture.
The wider University EDI programme has also been recognised as best practice through accreditation boards such Athena Swan, Race Equality Charter, DWP Disability Confident Leader, and BDF Disability Smart.
These accolades reflect not only individual achievement but the success of a whole-institution approach to inclusion. They demonstrate the tangible impact of creating a culture where equity, respect and belonging are embedded into leadership, governance, the employee lifecycle, the student experience and the celebration of diversity across our University community
Naheed Nazir
Director EDI
