AFBE-UK Scotland chairman to give talk at Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce event

North-east businesses have an opportunity to gain a better understanding of diversity and inclusion at an Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce (AGCC) event on Thursday, March 28.

Dr Ollie Folayan, chairman of the Association for Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers (AFBE-UK) in Scotland, and John Tomlinson, of Grampian Regional Equality Council, are the speakers at We Mean Business: The Ethics of Ethnic Diversity.

The event takes place at the Aberdeen Altens Hotel, Souterhead Road, between 11.45am and 2pm, with tickets £35 for Chamber members and £55 for non-members.

Ollie’s talk will focus on diversity in the oil and gas sector, while John’s presentation tackles discrimination and promoting good community relations across the region.

Ollie said: “I’m delighted to be engaging with AGCC members and others at this event. This is a platform to show how a diversity and inclusion strategy can be good for business, in particular when it comes to recruitment.

“There’s has been a momentum shift in recent times with diversity and inclusion now being discussed at board level. I’m keen for this progress to continue and this event is another opportunity to put the discussion in the spotlight.”

Aberdeen-based AFBE-UK Scotland is a not-for-profit organisation that seeks to inspire all young people, particularly those from a black and minority ethnic background, to consider a career in engineering.

The social enterprise has three engagement programmes: its schools programme, NextGen, in which industry professionals give up their time to highlight engineering as a career choice to pupils; Transition, where again industry professionals give up their time to pass on career advice to students and recent graduates and Real Projects, which gives students, graduates and young engineers the opportunity to engage with industry experts, often with UK and international project expertise.

Aberdeen-based Grampian Regional Equality Council (GREC) was founded in 1985. It works to eliminate discrimination and prejudice, build stronger communities, celebrate diversity, and provide evidence to change policy and practice.

For further information about the event, please visit: https://www.agcc.co.uk/event/7E2DCB94-8B7A-4159-8DC8-86337B095D2B&ref=events

In addition, AFBE-UK Scotland is hosting its third Real Projects event of the year at the University of Aberdeen also on Thursday, March 28.

Experienced consultant Elizabeth McAlpine will give a presentation – ‘Decommissioning of Offshore Oil & Gas Infrastructure’ – at New Kings Building (NK14), 6.30pm-8pm.

Elizabeth will give an overview of decommissioning, highlight state-of-the-art practices and outline key skill requirements and future challenges for this sector. She holds a Master’s degree in decommissioning from the University of Aberdeen and is secretary of the Axis Network, a not-for-profit organisation focused on increasing gender balance within the Aberdeen energy industry.

The event, primarily aimed at students and recent graduates, is free but pre-registration is required: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/decommissioning-of-offshore-oil-gas-infrastructure-tickets-58781850096