Kate Nicholl is an MLA for Belfast South and served as the 79th Lord Mayor of Belfast. Kate is Chair of the All Party Group on Ethnic Minorities, Chair of the All Party Group on Climate Action, Vice-Chair of the All Party Group on the Arts.

Born in Zimbabwe, Kate moved to Belfast when she was twelve years old, where she attended Methodist College Belfast. She graduated from University College London with a BSc in Anthropology in 2011.

A Belfast City Councillor for the Balmoral ward from 2016, Kate also worked as a marketing professional before taking a career break in 2021 to serve as Lord Mayor of Belfast and was then elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2022. She is Migration Spokesperson for the Alliance Party and passionate about childcare reform, diversity in politics and ending violence against women and girls.

Kate lives with her husband and two small children in South Belfast.

Born in Glasgow to parents from Hong Kong, Alfie grew up in Belfast and studied Accountancy at Queen’s University Belfast. A Fellow Chartered Accountant working in the Department of Finance (DoF) of the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS), he supports the central financial management functions of the Department and previously worked on government contracts, providing commercial and financial advice. Lately, while as Head of Racial Equality Delivery Team at the Executive Office, he supported the Racial Equality Strategy 2015-2025 priorities and development of future policies.
Appointed as DoF Racial Equality Champion in 2017 and also NICS Race and Ethnicity Champion in 2020, Alfie’s roles have been significant during time of Black Lives Matter, post Brexit, COVID and rising racist hate crimes. He advocates for a diverse society where everyone is treated equally and fairly, believing that different experiences, knowledge, and skills can create a better shared future. He founded the NICS Race and Ethnicity Network to support colleagues from minority ethnic backgrounds, fostering a workplace that ensures their uniqueness and individuality are valued and respected, bringing the benefits from a variety of different perspectives, innovation and creativity.
In 2020, he was awarded MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List, for services to  Racial Equality and the Government in Northern Ireland, recognising his work as DoF Racial Equality Champion and as an ambassador for NICS. He remains dedicated to promoting racial equality, diversity and inclusion, working with colleagues and the minority ethnic sector, including the Racial Equality Subgroup, to champion the voices of minority ethnic backgrounds and diverse communities.

Eileen Chan Hu is a social entrepreneur and Founder and Executive Director, CRAICNI. Born in Belfast, of first-generation Chinese, Eileen is passionate about adding diversity, inclusion, creativity, and colour to our society. Her 25 years’ experience in the field of race covers English language teaching, community development, community safety initiatives and health and wellbeing. Eileen has sat on an array of boards, was a member of the Centenary Forum and an Equality Commissioner (2018 – 2020). She is currently on the All-Island Women’s Forum and is Vice Chair of Migrant and Minority Ethnic Council NI, Trustee on New Europeans UK, and Horatio’s Garden. Eileen is a member of the Belfast Speakers’ circle and has spoken on race equality, social entrepreneurship and women issues. In 2021, Eileen was a TEDx Speaker. Her TEDx talk: ‘GaiWaak, Made in Belfast, Made with Purpose’, presented both her cross cultural experience and the philosophy she inherited from her parents. 

These influences all she does.
https://www.ted.com/talks/eileen_chan_hu_gai_waak_made_in_belfast_made_with_purpose?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare

As a former CEO of Chinese Welfare Association, Eileen oversaw the building of the first multipurpose Chinese Resource Centre working to support Chinese and other communities as integral citizens in the community.

Nisha is the founder & director of ArtsEkta – one of the only organisations on the island of Ireland promoting intercultural arts, culture and heritage and a vibrant social enterprise. She founded this organisation in 2006 following two decades of experience in the arts and after discovering a critical gap for quality ethnic minority arts engagement in the sector. She holds a degree from the National School of Drama in New Delhi. She has also been a previous board member of Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Cultural Cities Enquiry and currently serving Board member on Community Relations Council In 2007 initiated Northern Ireland first multi-cultural, multi-disciplinary arts festival Belfast Mela now attracting annual audiences of up to 60,000 people for full week Festival. At the early stages of her career, she worked across different roles in the private sector and as a freelance artist.
In June 2014, Nisha was the first Asian women from Northern Ireland to be awarded the prestigious UK Asian Women of Achievement Award for contribution to arts culture and heritage, and later that month was awarded an OBE for services to the minority ethnic sector in the 2014 Queen& Honours List. In 2015, Nisha won the British Indian Award for  Spirit in the Community presented by Trade Next and BDO. Nisha has also been awarded the Chief Officers Third Sector award for Leading Growth & Innovation in 2016.In 2023 Nisha received an Honorary doctorate from Queens University for service to the communities. Nisha received Life time Achievement award in 2023 from MRANI

John spent his early career coding for a healthcare tech company in Pittsburgh before a 15 year stint in media. A journalist and editor at the North Belfast News, John also ran Ireland’s most successful independent food website, Forked.
In 2013 John launched a wifi software technology startup, which was used in restaurants, cafés, hotels, stadia and vehicles around the world.
John joined Entrepreneurial Spark in 2015 to help support ambitious startups throughout Ireland. The social enterprise was bought over by NatWest, RBS and Ulster Bank in 2018. Since joining the team John has worked to support 7000+ startups across the country. Those businesses have raised £35m+ in investment and created more than 1000 jobs.
Since 2019, John sits as a member of Ulster Bank’s Regional Board and leads on climate and the drive to support a more diverse entrepreneurial ecosystem in Northern Ireland. John has also taken on an additional role as Norther Ireland’s Dealmaker, Department for International Trade and this month launched a podcast focused on diversity in Venture Capital.