Leeds City Region Powerlist representatives

There is strong representation from Leeds City Region in the Northern Asian Powerlist, including five category winners. These exceptional business and cultural leaders are driving innovation and economic growth and making a significant contribution to their local community.

28 July 2020

There is strong representation from Leeds City Region in the Northern Asian Powerlist, including five category winners. These exceptional business and cultural leaders are driving innovation and economic growth and making a significant contribution to their local community.

Winner: Cultural Icons

Kully Thiarai

Chief of Leeds 2023 cultural festival

“I am thrilled to have been selected as the winner in the Cultural Icon Category of the Northern Asian Powerlist. Leeds and Bradford have played such an important part in enabling me to make a career in the arts and I am grateful for all the support and inspiration I have received over the years. The north is rich with talent and creativity. I am delighted to be able to play my part in nurturing talent and unlocking opportunities for others, celebrating the vitality of our diverse cultural heritage across the UK and the Northern Powerhouse”. 

 

Winner: Emerging Talent, Emerging Leader

Amir Hussain

Chief Executive, Yeme Architects

“As founder of Yeme Architects, I have developed it into a critical-thinking, multifaceted and multiple award-winning design practice. Combining an acute understanding of aspirational and communicative design with a strong focus on social/tech trends has led to incredible outcomes, growth and involvement in nationally significant projects. Furthermore, having operated extensively in challenging regeneration areas, Yeme Architects has successfully raised aspirations, engagement and long-term consequences. Applying visionary, creative parameters to commercial projects has subtly (yet profoundly) altered results, leading to improved social and viability outcomes.” 

 

Winner: Emerging Talent, Emerging Entrepreneurs

Sonya Bachra-Byrne

Co-founder and Creative Director, AVIE

“I am humbled and shocked to receive such a prestigious award as Emerging Entrepreneur of 2020! It is wonderful to receive such an acknowledgement, especially during these unprecedented times that we are all navigating. I am honoured to be part of Northern Asian Powerlist. A huge thank you to the Northern Powerhouse Community and the supporting partners that have made this happen.” 

 

Winner: Inspiring Professionals

Syima Aslam

MD & Artistic Director, Bradford Literature Festival

“Being named the Inspiring Professional in the Northern Asian Powerlist 2020 is a huge honour, for which I thank the judges sincerely. Inspiration is what drives me, in my professional and personal life; when I founded Bradford Literature Festival in 2014, inspiring children, young people and diverse, socioeconomically disadvantaged communities through the written and spoken word was, and remains, my ultimate ambition. As a mother, showing my teenage daughter that Asian women are in professional leadership roles, influencing and having a positive impact on our communities and in our region, has been one of the great motivators of my life for the last 17 years. I am proud to be included in a list that includes so many exceptional and, themselves, inspirational peers who offer such a strong collective proof – particularly to young people like my daughter – of our community’s power, influence and achievements.”

 

Winner: Social Changemakers

Hanif Malik OBE and Rifhat Malik MBE

“We are absolutely delighted and honoured to have been selected as the winners of the Social Change-makers category. So many people of an Asian background play such a vital role in their communities, which goes unrecognised. The Northern Asian Powerlist is a fantastic initiative to acknowledge this unheralded work and we sincerely hope that our success can inspire others in the community to keep striving to make a difference.”

 

Other representatives from Leeds City Region in the Powerlist include:

  • The Rt. Hon. Baroness Warsi of Dewsbury, Member of the House of Lords
  • Ashwain Rayit, Director, and Raj Rayit, Technical Director, SARAS Technology
  • Gurdip Singh, Founder, and Harjit Moore, Chief Executive, Freeze Debt
  • Usha Parmer, Chief Executive, Sunrise Radio
  • Fara Butt, Sales and Marketing Director, The Shire Bed Company
  • Munir Mamujee, Managing Director, m2R education
  • Zeb Pervaiz, Managing Director, SKA Developments
  • Sasha Bhat, Head of Commissioning – Mental Wellbeing, NHS Bradford
  • Zahra Niazi, Programme Lead, Bradford For Everyone
  • Omar Bahadur, Chief Executive and Co-founder, Faraday drinks
  • Luxmy Gopal, Presenter, Reporter, and Video Journalist, BBC Look North
  • Qari Asim, MBE, Senior Imam, Makkah Mosque Leeds
  • Rashik Parmar MBE, IBM Fellow and Vice President Technology – Europe, and Leeds City Region LEP Board Member
  • Amarjit Singh, Founder, Yorkshire Asian Business Association
  • Shanaz Gulzar, Artist and Producer
  • Nick Ahad, Journalist
  • Asghar Ali, Chief Executive and Shakoor Ahmed, Managing Director, MyLahore
  • Bobby Patel, Owner, Prashad
  • Mohammed Aslam MBE, Managing Director, Aagrah
  • Younis Chaudhry, Owner, Regal Food Products
  • Adeem Younis, Founder, SingleMuslim.com
  • Professor Zahir Irani, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic, Innovation and Quality), University of Bradford
  • Jasvinder Sanghera, Founder of Karma Nirvana