Intertech @ Paddle

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Intersectionality has been applied to a broad array of societal fields over the last 30 years, and life as a member of the LGBT+ community is no different... that's why we're delighted to invite you to join us at Paddle for an exploration of how our individual experiences as members of the community may vary widely, and be complicated further by our individual traits and life experiences.

We will be joined by three fantastic speakers who will share their stories of how their specific experiences have impacted their fight for equality and fairness.

After we've heard from the speakers there'll be an opportunity for a Q&A and a casual mixer with drinks and snacks.

Our speakers for the evening will be:

Beata Lipska

Beata Lipska is a software engineer and a dreamer, in her spare time an activist. She was born in Poland in 1985 and felt in love with a woman in 2010, before that she was a catholic hypocrite, but when she realised that love is the most important thing in the world and simply you can’t hide it, she became an LGBT+ activist in Poland - featured 3 times in Newsweek Polska, Polish Television and a documentary film called “Article 18”. She did everything she could to get married with her girlfriend in Poland. Nothing changed. Emigrated to UK in 2013, still fighting for equal rights in her motherland.

Okechukwu Nzelu

Okechukwu Nzelu is a writer and teacher. He was born in Manchester in 1988, read English at Girton College, Cambridge. His work has been published in Agenda, PN Review, E-magazine and The Literateur and his essay 'Troubles with God' was published in the anthology Safe: On Black British Men Reclaiming Space. In 2015 he was the recipient of a New Writing North Award for The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney, which is his debut novel, published in October 2019.

Martin Pong

Martin is a management consultant at Oliver Wyman and specialises in greenfield digital banking builds. He is the global chair of Oliver Wyman’s LGBT+ network and an adviser for the BAME network. In these roles, he has worked on implementing an intersectional focused global reverse mentoring program, and outside of work is launching the East and Southeast Asian Project to improve representation of East and Southeast Asian identities in the UK. Martin also regularly works with charities such a Stonewall and Diversity Role Models to share his story with LGBT+ and BAME youth and support them in becoming role models in their own organisations.