A De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) alumna who has dedicated her efforts throughout her career to promoting diversity and inclusion has been presented an Investiture for her MBE at Buckingham Palace.
Dr. Bijna Kotak Dasani MBE, FRSA was first awarded the honour by The (late) Queen, Elizabeth II in her birthday honours in 2020.
It was awarded specifically for Dr. Dasani’s ‘Services to Diversity and Inclusion in Financial Services’, having spent the last 23 years championing the DE&I agenda, particularly during her career in the Global Banking sector.
She was given the award personally by Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, at a recent investiture ceremony, held at Buckingham Palace.
Dr. Dasani said: “The recognition is appreciated and attributed to the supporters of my journey over the years; equally it’s a responsibility towards which I hold myself accountable and will continue to deliver to.
“I have the utmost admiration for the Royal Family, having learnt about their impact through proximity of opportunities to serve The Crown, and having been supported through milestones by institutions of The Crown, over the years.
“The Princess Royal leads by example in her patronage of Opportunity International and over 300 charities, organisations and military regiments in the UK and overseas.
“In a similar fashion His Majesty, King Charles III has been instrumental in establishing more than 20 charities over 40 years, including The Prince's Trust, which I have also served and taken inspiration from, early on in my career."
Dr. Dasani, who graduated from DMU in 2005 with a degree in Business Administration, has spent over two decades championing progress across the spectrum of diversity, equity and inclusion as well as enablement through technology in this domain. She is recognised internationally for encouraging empowerment through her work.
In the past few years, she has been appreciated widely for her work and most recently named by Glantor X Media as India’s Top 50 under 50 Femina (2023) and by Fox Story News India as Woman Face of the Year (2023) for her contribution to empowering women in Business.
Bijna has also been honoured by Fortune India as one of the Most Dynamic (Business) Personalities (2022) and has been named Global Icon for Services to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) by World Association of Small & Medium Enterprises (WASME) supported by the Ministry of MSME, Government of India (2022).
She has been recognised by Yahoo Finance and Involve People as #28 of the Top 100 Ethnic Minority Executives #EMPower list (2022) across all industries and sectors globally, alongside the likes of Ajay Banga and others. Furthermore, she has been awarded title of Pride of India by NRI World across 100+ countries (2022), Advocate of the Year for Diversity and Inclusion (2021) by Morgan Stanley and as honoured in Times Square (New York) billboards for eight days.
Posted on Friday 30 June 2023