12 & 19 August 18:30 | Zoom, tickets required

Brown Women Talk

hosted by South Asian Sisters Speak (SASS) & TWO-BROWNGIRLS

In these roundtable events, special guests will join South Asian Sisters Speak (SASS) and TWO-BROWNGIRLS to discuss the topics of resilience & community

BROWN WOMEN TALK: COMMUNITY

WEDNESDAY 12 AUGUST

What is the importance of community and solidarity for South Asian women? These are words that are often used, but what do they really mean? How important is it for us to support one another, as well as women of colour and women more widely in these times of online interaction and isolation?

In this roundtable event, special guests Haleema Bharoocha and Shani Dhanda will join the SASS and Two-Brown Girls’ teams to discuss the topic of community. The audience will have an opportunity to share their experiences and chat with others using the chat function - which will be led by SASS and Two-Brown Girls.

Special Guests

Haleema Bharoocha

Haleema Bharoocha is a first-gen South Asian American. Her roots trace to Gujrat, Surat, Chittagong, and Rangoon. She is committed to building a world free of gender-based violence and serves as the Advocacy Manager at Alliance for Girls where she leads community-led policy advocacy. Following the teachings of the Quran “stand firm in justice be it against yourselves or your parents,” Haleema is committed to examining her own privilege and supporting the Movement for Black Lives. Haleema graduated from Seattle U with a BA in Sociology where she founded the Gender Justice Center.

In her free time, she facilitates equity-focused workshops on topics including bystander intervention, Islamophobia, racial equity, and gender justice and has trained over 500 people. She is featured in Teen Vogue, Seattle Times, SF Chronicle, and LA Times.

Shani Dhanda

Shani Dhanda is an award-winning disability specialist, listed as one of the UK's Most Influential Disabled People.

As a keynote speaker and practitioner for inclusion across business, government, non-profit and wider society, Shani helps organisations break barriers and integrate inclusion into their business frameworks. She is the founder of three initiatives, all united by the common purpose of empowering underrepresented communities:

- Diversability, the UK’s first discount card for disabled people aimed at reducing the financial pressures from the unavoidable extra costs of living with a condition or impairment.

- Asian Woman Festival, the UK's first-of-its kind event smashing stereotypes to empower and celebrate Asian women.

- Asian Disability Network, an educational platform and support network for people who experience multiple types of stigma due to their ethnic and cultural identities

BROWN WOMEN TALK: RESILIENCE

WEDNESDAY 19 AUGUST

As South Asian women, we often have to manage many different cultural roles within the context of family, work and the wider community whilst trying to balance our own mental and physical health. This has developed our resilience to adapt and persist in the most challenging of circumstances. With the current COVID-19 pandemic, how do South Asian women continue to show resilience in these times?

In this roundtable event, special guests Poorna Bell and Leyya Sattar will join SASS and TWO-BROWNGIRLS to discuss the topic of resilience. The audience will have an opportunity to share their experiences and chat with others using the chat function - which will be led by SASS and Two-Brown Girls.

Special Guests

Poorna Bell: Journalist, Public Speaker, Author, Influencer

An award-winning journalist, charismatic public speaker, published author and influencer, Poorna Bell works extensively across several areas including women's journalism, women in business, fitness, body image, wellness, mental health and champions issues affecting the BAME community. The former UK Executive Editor and Global Lifestyle Head for HuffPost, Poorna now works as a freelance journalist and editor for titles including The Guardian, Red magazine, Stylist, Grazia, Women's Health, The Debrief and the Daily Telegraph. She is also the founder of Fix My Life Workshops and Events and a popular public speaker and event facilitator. Poorna also received Stylist magazine's Rising Star Award at their inaugural Remarkable Women Awards 2019.

Leyya Sattar: Co-Founder and Head of Partnerships, The Other Box

Leyya Sattar is the Co-Founder of The Other Box - an award-winning company on a mission to increase diversity and improve inclusion. TOB celebrates and champions people of colour, and people from other underrepresented backgrounds with a growing global community of over 3,500 people and works strategically with companies on D&I, unconscious bias and culture-change through training and courses, and with brands on partnerships, campaigns and custom strategies.

Leyya was recently featured as #Forbes100 women founders and Ad Age 'Women To Watch in Europe', and sits on the BIMA Creative Council. She is also part of the Fawcett Society: Race Disparity Unit exploring pay and progression for women of colour. Leyya is also studying a diploma with the Quest Institute and Regent’s College on Cognitive Hypnotherapy and Neuro-linguistic Programming.

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