Welcome to our newest IoD branch
My name is Sarah Canning, and I am chair of IoD Leicestershire and South East Midlands.
Did you know that this branch is one of the youngest in the IoD family?
The branch was created in 2020 when I was appointed as chair. Since then we have been restructuring, reshaping and gathering some fantastic ambassadors across our region.
In this blog, I want to introduce myself – along with our vice-chair Dr Shamir Ghumra – and encourage you, as a director, to get the very best out of your membership.
Meet your leadership team
In my day job, I am an accredited mediator certified by the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) and The School of Psychology and Psychotherapy, Regent’s University, London. I have more than 25 years’ experience as a former dispute resolution/litigation solicitor and partner in a law firm.
My enthusiasm to support business and the local economy led to the award of Solicitor of the Year from the Northamptonshire Law Society.
I chaired the IoD Northamptonshire branch prior to a regional reorganisation and was instrumental in the development of IoD East Midlands’ Young Directors’ Forum.
Our vice-chair Shamir is a sustainability professional specialising in the built environment with an engineering doctorate from Loughborough University, where he is also a visiting professor. He has more than 18 years’ experience working in the built environment within the UK and overseas.
Shamir has particular experience on modern slavery policy and has interacted with the UK Government on such matters. He has lived in Leicestershire for 15 years and grew up in Kettering, Northamptonshire. His dedication to local business and supporting stronger governance from an ESG perspective will help him serve IoD members in the region.
Join our team as an ambassador
Together with our team of ambassadors, our aim is to give you a voice and influence and raise the profile of the region.
Our branch membership reflects the wide range of sectors across our region from textile manufacturing to high performance engineering, food and drink to all service sectors.
We have, over the past year, stepped away from sector specialists to establish ambassador leads that have commonality to all in business thereby increasing our relevance and ability to support all our members.
We continue to strengthen our team. The voluntary ambassador roles provide an opportunity to engage and support businesses to be more productive, innovative and resilient.
What’s in it for me?
These voluntary positions are great opportunities to build your profile and be part of the voice of the IoD. If you are a pragmatic director who is passionate about business, we want to hear from you.
In return, there are fantastic opportunities to grow your network, be at the heart of our local events and influence IoD operations.
Interested? Please get in touch to discuss these opportunities.
