Shani Dhanda

With my passion for creating everyday equality, I'm a social entrepreneur, disability equality advocate, business and culture change agent. Listed as one of the UK's Most Influential Disabled People, I am the founder of three initiatives, all united by the common purpose of empowering underrepresented communities:
1. Diversability Card, 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.
2. Asian Woman Festival, the UK's first-of-it's kind event smashing stereotypes to empower and celebrate Asian women.
3. Asian Disability Network, an educational platform and support network for people who experience multiple types of stigma due to their ethnic and cultural identities.
Working with Virgin Media as a Workplace Adjustment Specialist, I help to transform the experience for their disabled employees. I'm also Leonard Cheshire Disability trustee and an Executive Committee member of the Asian Business Chamber of Commerce.

As a subject matter expert, I serve as a member of the Greater London Regional Stakeholder Network, bringing the voices of disabled people and their organisations to policy development for the Government’s Office for Disability Issues. I'm an ambassador at Valuable 500, Parallel London and advisory board member for UnLtd.

As a keynote speaker and press commentator on disability and inclusion matters, I am regularly featured for my work through the various topics I advocate for. I have been profiled in the UK’s first-ever LinkedIn Campaign, Financial Times, CNN, BBC, Sky News, Channel 4, The Guardian, HuffPost, Evening Standard, iNews, Stylist Magazine 'Woman of the Week' and many more.

My natural style and approach are described as 'a winning combination of authenticity and passion, helping to remove the awkwardness and fear of having confident conversations about disability within business and society.'

I'm driven by the undeniable impulse to challenge perceptions and change attitudes through my own experiences of feeling excluded and underrepresented in society.