Bushra Ali of Bushra Ali Solicitors has been appointed the first Chair of the newly created Equality & Diversity Sub-group at the Cheshire and North Wales Law Society.
The CEO of The Bushra Ali Group, which runs various community projects focused on diversity and inclusion, and the owner of Bushra Ali Solicitors, a practice that specialises in family, immigration, and employment law was appointed after the President’s proposal for the formation of the Group was accepted by the committee.
The Bushra Ali Group was launched in January 2021 with its work spanning Bushra Ali Solicitors and four other organisations founded by Bushra including Empowered Women Empowering Women Global, the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Network, The Good Lawyers Project, and Network 2 Konnect, which has been running since 2019.
Over the last 12 months, the Group’s work has included hosting events and initiatives including Bushra speaking on various diversity and inclusion topics including tackling menopause discrimination at work.
Ali said: “I’m delighted and would like to thank my fellow members of the Cheshire and North Wales Law Society for the appointment. It was a particularly poignant moment given that at the meeting we were honoured to be joined by Stephanie Boyce, the first Black President of The Law Society of England and Wales. Stephanie addressed us on her desire to see a more diverse profession that champions equal opportunities for all.
“Equality and diversity are subjects that are incredibly important to me and form the backbone not only of our work at Bushra Ali Solicitors but also of our Corporate Social Responsibility work which, most recently, led to my appointing Aisha Seedat as our Disability, Diversity and Inclusion Champion – a first for a UK-based law firm.
“At Cheshire and North Wales Law Society we are keen to continue to promote a diverse profession for all, but also to recognise where there remain huge gaps for positive change including tackling the gender pay gap and encouraging applications for senior posts in law firms from diverse groups. We want to encourage students to stop being limited by their own fears and have the ambition and courage to achieve regardless of social status, class, educational background, or connections.
“Becoming Chair of the Equality & Diversity Sub-group is perfectly aligned to my own equality and diversity work and I’m looking forward very much to rolling my sleeves up and getting started on driving the conversation on all issues diversity, social mobility, and inclusion.”
Freddie Storrar, President of the Cheshire and North Wales Law Society said: “I am so pleased that the Cheshire and North Wales Law Society has made the decision to form the Equality & Diversity Sub-group. Whilst great steps have been made in recent years to promote a diverse legal profession, there is still an enormous amount of work to be done to promote diversity and equal opportunity across the board. I know that Bushra will thrive in her position as the first Chair of the Equality & Diversity Sub-group. I am very much looking forward to working with and supporting Bushra with this great and vital initiative.”
