Biography

Zamila is a Cabinet Office Director currently on sabbatical, with experience in policy, strategy, and international trade, and was co-architect of the Race Disparity Audit’s award winning Ethnicity Facts and Figures website. Zamila was formerly with the United Nations, Brookings Institute and a Fellow at the LSE International Inequalities Institute. At CASE Zamila is keen to further explore how people of ethnic minority heritage and backgrounds are characterised - by themselves and by other groups - including the labels, acronyms and terminology. Zamila’s Cabinet Office blog (2019) “Please don’t call me BAME”, highlighted that in the UK the language used to categorise ethnic minorities is often chosen or defined for them – not by them. The blog can be found here – https://civilservice.blog.gov.uk/2019/07/08/please-dont-call-me-bame-or-bme/ . An exploration and open debate may help to raise the profile of inclusive language and highlight how ethnic minorities can and are increasingly seeking to own the language and labels about their identity.