Anj Handa

Anj Handa Multi-Award-Winning Changemaker | Inclusive Leadership Expert | Strategic Advisor on Inclusive Governance | Artist

Anj Handa is a globally recognised speaker, changemaker, and strategist with over two decades of experience driving equity, inclusion, and courageous leadership. Her expertise spans inclusive governance, cultural transformation, and radical self-care.

Named by Forbes as one of the “10 Diversity & Inclusion Trailblazers You Need to Get Familiar With,” Anj is celebrated for her ability to blend bold storytelling, lived experience, and actionable strategy to create transformative change across sectors.

As the Founder of Inspiring Women Changemakers, Anj has cultivated an international community of changemakers that champions intersectionality, justice and collective action. Her community app connects people across cultures, geographies, and identities working to co-create a safer, fairer world for marginalised genders.

Her warm and unapologetically honest style combined with sharp strategic insight has inspired audiences at leading organisations including Sky Business, GlaxoSmithKline, the NHS, and Innovate UK.

Anj’s impact reaches far beyond the stage. She has spearheaded national campaigns that have influenced UK policy, most notably a high-profile case involving a family at risk of Female Genital Mutilation, which helped catalyse reform in asylum and safeguarding practices. Her consultancy work shapes inclusive governance structures at the highest levels, where she remains among less than 1% of Black and brown women in senior governance roles in the UK.

With clarity and compassion, she challenges traditional paradigms of leadership, introducing frameworks such as the “labyrinth” to replace outdated metaphors like the “glass ceiling.” Anj’s concepts around psychological safety, radical self-care, and emotional correctness have redefined workplace cultures and rehumanised organisational leadership.

Her reach is deeply rooted in narrative power: through personal storytelling and advocacy, Anj reframes conversations on race, gender, power, and belonging. She is a contributor to anthologies including Generation Share, Refugee Tales, and Eradicating FGM in the UK and her artwork has been featured in the Invisible No More exhibition on perimenopause and the power of personal narratives. She weaves justice into every thread of her work.

Following the 2024 race hate riots, her voice helped shape guidance for philanthropic funders on anti-racist practices and trauma-informed support. She continues to influence how funding bodies approach structural inequality, sustainability, and community resilience.

Through the Igniting Inspiration Campaign, Anj shines a spotlight on everyday women making extraordinary impact, redefining what leadership looks like from the ground up. Whether mentoring the next generation or advising boards on inclusive transformation, Anj’s cultural impact lies in her ability to change the way people think, feel, and act – not just within institutions, but across society. Anj doesn’t just advocate for inclusion; she works to reshape the cultural conditions that make it possible.

ANJ HANDA SPEAKING TOPiCS

Emotional Correctness: The New Language of Leadership

Anj introduces the concept of “emotional correctness”—creating spaces where people feel both seen and safe. This keynote delves into building psychologically safe cultures, trauma-informed communication, and why emotional intelligence isn’t optional anymore. Explores how to use story not just to inspire, but to strategically disrupt power structures, influence public policy, and reframe dominant narratives.

Changemaking in a Time of Backlash: Staying Brave, Strategic & Sustainable

In this timely and courageous session tackling what it takes to lead progressive change amid social and political pushback, Anj shares her own experience navigating resistance, building coalitions, and sustaining movements over the long-term.

Radical Self-Care: Redefining Success Without Self-Sacrifice

A powerful session on why self-care isn’t a luxury, it’s a leadership imperative. This keynote focuses on ambitious leaders and high performers who struggle with overwork and guilt and offers concrete tools and mindset shifts for building legacy without burnout. 

Navigating the Labyrinth: Shattering the Myth of the Glass Ceiling

In this keynote, Anj challenges outdated leadership metaphors and introduces the “labyrinth” as a more accurate framework for understanding the complex, intersecting barriers faced by women—especially women of colour—in leadership. This talk explores identity, imposter syndrome, and how to build support networks that help navigate systemic challenges.

CONFERENCE FACILITATION

Anj is a skilled conference host and moderator. Conferences that she has recently curated and moderated include Disorienting Race, Carnegie School of Education and the annual employee conference for domestic abuse charity, IDAS.