Professor Adeeba Malik CBE DL has made history as West Yorkshire's first ethnic minority female High Sheriff. She took her oath in a ceremony led by High Court Judge Sir Nicholas Hilliard, marking a tradition dating back over 1,000 years. Ms Malik, from the QED Foundation, has dedicated over 32 years to community service, aiming to foster social and economic opportunities for disadvantaged groups. As High Sheriff, she pledges to support crime prevention efforts and acknowledge the positive impact of various sectors in the region. With a wealth of experience in public service, Ms. Malik's appointment symbolises progress toward inclusivity and representation. Here’s her exclusive interview with Asian Voice:
As a woman in leadership with over 32 years of experience at the QED Foundation, what strategies have you employed to navigate challenges and break barriers in your career?
Every person has their challenges. When they're trying to progress in their career, regardless of their background. What we know is that ethnic minority women have additional challenges in terms of their race, their ethnicity, their religious background, maybe. And so those challenges, you know, have surfaced on many occasions. I think you have to be very focused and have self-belief that, you know, it's about working hard. It's about having good support networks around you. Having people that have confidence in you, regardless of their background, to support you.
What have been some of the most rewarding aspects of your work in your career?
Actually, all of it. It's been extremely rewarding my work with QED. And it's a very, you know, groundbreaking charity in the UK, which has worked with ethnic minorities for 34 years, has had a huge impact on helping communities to progress. Working with fantastic organizations in terms of policy and strategy, and being able to influence them about social inclusion around diversity around engagement. All those things in whether it's health education, employment, regeneration, business universities, you know, it's been an array of opportunities. I've had to work with a range of bodies that will hopefully help communities to get to have a better lifestyle in the UK.
What advice do you have for aspiring leaders, particularly women from ethnic minority backgrounds, aiming to make a significant impact in their communities?
I think one of the things I would suggest is to find women like that, that they can talk to, who can advise them who can support them, who've done it. I think that's important to have some kind of mentor or supporter from those communities, who can give them that guidance. And just hear their stories. Because quite often, our stories are very similar. But it's also just getting some inspiration from them about how they've managed to do it. Because you have to accept that you have to accept unfortunately that there will be challenges. And then the question is you know, what do you do with that? You sometimes overcome those challenges, and sometimes you don't. Sometimes you have to look at other things to help you. But I think listening to women of those backgrounds is a good thing. To do that. I never had that because when I was going through my career, I live never came across ethnic minority women who were leaders. So the models I had were women of white background. And they were very good role models, but it's also about the character of yourself. Having a sense of determination, and I think, fundamentally, is if you believe in what you want to do, and you believe in it, you can make things happen.
What is the importance of the contribution of ethnic minority communities in Britain?
I'm a daughter of immigrants. I'm a second generation of somebody of Pakistani heritage in the UK. So I've lived my whole life here, and seen how the contribution of ethnic minorities has been made in this country. And I feel that those those things, those kinds of criticisms will always be there by certain people, not everybody though. And I think when we see more and more ethnic minorities in mainstream jobs, whether it's health education, politics, media, television, film, whatever it is, I think we're seeing that people genuinely make those contributions. What matters is what you're capable of doing and what is left is what you are achieving, and the change you're making. And then hopefully, colour or being an ethnic minority becomes not an issue for somebody who isn't of those backgrounds. So you, you've got to unfortunate that will be there. But I think as we are seeing more and more people from these communities contributing more hoping we time that becomes secondary.
