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As general counsel and company secretary at the British Business Bank, Shanika was a founding member of the bank. She was the first ethnic minority member of the senior leadership team, was instrumental in establishing the organisation’s diversity & inclusion group. She has also ensured that as the bank has grown, the senior leadership team and board membership have good representation of individuals who are from an ethnic minority background. Shanika is spearheading a drive for suppliers to have to provide diversity data as part of their tender process, in particular in the area of suppliers of legal services who are currently under represented by ethnic minorities in senior positions. As a board member of the London Legacy Development Corporation and London Stadium, Shanika is responsible for ensuring that the legacy of the Olympic Park in East London and development which takes place within the park is inclusive of local communities, which is significantly represented by ethnic minorities. She frequently speaks at legal community events as a senior leader and an ethnic minority role model. Shanika also works with the law society’s D&I agenda, with the civil service recruitment team to encourage more EM applicants, with the Mayor of London’s D&I programme and with a number of Universities to promote graduates from ethnic minority and underprivileged backgrounds to progress into careers in financial services.

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