Imandeep Kaur
Born (1985-10-08) 8 October 1985
Birmingham, England
NationalityBritish
OccupationDirector of Civic Square

Dr Imandeep "Immy" Kaur (born 8 October 1985) is a British social and civil activist[1] and businesswoman[2] from Solihull.[3] She was the director of Impact Hub Birmingham[4][5] and is currently the co-founder and director of Civic Square.[6]

Early life and education

Kaur was born in Birmingham, England to parents of Indian origin. Her family originates from Punjab, India.

Kaur was educated at The Solihull School. On her first day at school, Kaur couldn't speak any English.[7] In 2004, she enrolled at the University of Cardiff and graduated with a BSc in physiology in 2007, achieving an Upper Second Class classification. In 2011, Kaur graduated from University of Birmingham, International Development Department, with a MSc in International Development.[8][9]

Career

In 2012, Kaur interned for a year with Christian youth charity The Feast as a part of their Fellowship with the Tony Blair Faith Foundation.[10]

Between 2015 and 2019, Kaur was a founding co-director of Impact Hub Birmingham,[11][12] a collaborative working space and social enterprise in Digbeth, used for building entrepreneurial communities.[13][14] The hub was established after Kaur and her co-founders created a Kickstarter crowd funder which raised £65,095 from 586 backers, exceeding its £50,000 target.[15]

In 2020, Kaur became co-founder and director of Civic Square,[16] a civic infrastructure project built on the ethos of Impact Hub Birmingham[17] and committed to investing in local communities and neighbourhoods.[18][19]

She was the director of Project 00, a collaborative studio of architects, strategic designers, social scientists, economists and urban designers[20] and is curator for TEDxBrum.[21][22][23]

In January 2020, Kaur backed the West Midlands Design Charter, a vision for the future for design and planning across the region launched by Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street and the West Midlands Combined Authority.[24]

Kaur also sits on the board of directors for BOM, a Birmingham-based centre for art, technology and science "dedicated to creative innovation with purpose".[25]

Kaur has contributed to the Huffington Post, where she is described as a "Sikh interfaith activist".[26]

Activism

Kaur has campaigned for the BBC to promote more diversity, engage better with ethnic minorities and invest more in Birmingham.[27]

She has spoken out against austerity cuts and closures of public libraries and youth centres.[28]

Politics

In June 2017, Kaur joined a rally in support of Jeremy Corbyn and expressed her support for the Labour Party in the 2017 United Kingdom General Election.[29][30]

In August 2019, Kaur spoke on a panel at left-wing political festival The World Transformed in Birmingham, billed alongside Jon Lansman, Keir Milburn, Huda Elmi and Grace Blakeley. The workshop and majority of the multi-day festival was held at Impact Hub Birmingham.[31][32][33]

In December 2019, Kaur told Sky News her 2019 United Kingdom General Election voting priorities were "immigration and Brexit" and that she was against the Home Office hostile environment policy, public cuts and the privatisation of the National Health Service.[34]

Personal life

Kaur is a keen cyclist,[35][36][37] and hockey player.[38] She identifies as Sikh.[39]

Awards

In April 2016, Kaur won the 2016 Asian Business Women of the Year award.[40]

In April 2016, Kaur was listed as one of the most influential people within the world of business lobbying within the West Midlands.[41][42]

In September 2017, Kaur was named in The Innovation 50 report published by law firm Mills & Reeve, in collaboration with TheBusinessDesk.com.[43]

In July 2019, Kaur received an honorary doctorate from the University of Aston.[44][45]

Kaur was a finalist in the English Women's Awards 2019, selected for the 'Woman of Influence' category.[46]

References

  1. R, Anna; le (2019-10-09). "Anna Randle: It's time to ask what future we want". Local Government Chronicle (LGC). Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  2. Brown, Graeme (2016-02-18). "A Birmingham BBC manifesto: Our city is the answer to your problems". BirminghamLive. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  3. Authi, Jasbir; Cannon, Matt (2018-03-08). "24 influential women who make you proud to be from the Midlands". BirminghamLive. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  4. Authi, Jasbir; Cannon, Matt (2018-03-08). "24 influential women who make you proud to be from the Midlands". BirminghamLive. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  5. "Birmingham's new-look New Street station welcomed by passengers". BBC News. 21 September 2015.
  6. "Team + Partners – CIVIC SQUARE". Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  7. "Birmingham and Brexit: How 2016 will shape the city's election result". Sky News. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  8. Kaur, Imandeep. "Imandeep Kaur". LinkedIn. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  9. "Immy Kaur". University of Birmingham. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  10. "Our history | The Feast". thefeast.org.uk. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  11. "Meet the Team - Birmingham". birmingham.impacthub.net. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  12. Young, Graham (2016-07-16). "How to improve New Street - YOUR suggestions". BirminghamLive. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  13. "Impact Hub Network - Building Communities for Impact". Impact Hub. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  14. "UnLtd Pioneers - Leaders of social change" (PDF). UnLtd. September 2019.
  15. Jones, Tamlyn (2015-01-06). "Digbeth Kickstarter project aims to raise £50,000". Business Live. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  16. Chamberlain, Zoe (2019-06-23). "Exciting new neighbourhood hub planned - and you can cook together". BirminghamLive. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  17. "From Impact Hub Birmingham to CIVIC SQUARE - Birmingham". birmingham.impacthub.net. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  18. "Introducing CIVIC SQUARE – CIVIC SQUARE". Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  19. Chamberlain, Zoe (2020-05-31). "5 new places to visit around Birmingham after lockdown". BirminghamLive. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  20. Authi, Jasbir; Cannon, Matt (2018-03-08). "24 influential women who make you proud to be from the Midlands". BirminghamLive. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  21. "Team". TEDxBrum. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  22. "Team 2017". TEDxBrum. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  23. "A Note from the Curator: Immy Kaur". TEDxBrum. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  24. "WMCA launches West Midlands Design Charter". Birmingham Design. 2020-01-28. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  25. "Board of Directors | BOM". Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  26. "Immy Kaur | HuffPost". www.huffpost.com. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  27. Brown, Graeme (2016-02-18). "A Birmingham BBC manifesto: Our city is the answer to your problems". BirminghamLive. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  28. Young, Graham (2016-07-16). "How to improve New Street - YOUR suggestions". BirminghamLive. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  29. Twitter https://twitter.com/immykaur/status/872186448677675013. Retrieved 2021-04-24. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  30. Twitter https://twitter.com/immykaur/status/866373721405173760. Retrieved 2021-04-24. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  31. Staff Reporter (2019-08-08). "Three-day political festival of ideas set to takeover Brum this weekend". I Am Birmingham. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  32. "The World Transformed Birmingham - Birmingham". birmingham.impacthub.net. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  33. "The World Transformed // About Us". The World Transformed. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  34. "Birmingham and Brexit: How 2016 will shape the city's election result". Sky News. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  35. "The women with a passion for cycling". BBC News. 2019-10-02. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  36. Lynch, Lucy (2017-09-17). "HSBC ride sees cyclists flock to Coventry as half the ring road closed". CoventryLive. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  37. Staff Reporter (2020-07-07). "West Midlands awarded £3.85 million to get region cycling and walking post-coronavirus lockdown". I Am Birmingham. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  38. Staff Reporter (2017-12-10). "VIDEO: Immy Kaur on being a woman of colour and active sports fanatic". I Am Birmingham. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  39. "Impact Hub: 'You were raised to be embarrassed to be from Birmingham'". The Guardian. 2018-09-16. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  40. "ASIAN BUSINESS AWARDS 2016". www.easterneye.eu. Archived from the original on 12 November 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  41. "Birmingham Post Power 250: Business Lobby". birminghampost. 1 April 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  42. Brown, Graeme (2016-04-02). "Birmingham Post Power 250: The West Midlands' most influential". Business Live. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  43. "Innovation 50 names region's most forward-thinking companies | TheBusinessDesk.com". West Midlands. 2017-09-04. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  44. "Aston University". Aston University Graduation 2019.
  45. "Dr Imandeep Kaur - honorary graduate speech". Impact Hub Birmingham.
  46. "Finalists are revealed for the English Women's Awards 2019". 2019-10-15. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
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