Royal honours and national award recognise exemplary leadership of LAIN’s Inclusive Employment Working Group co-chairs

LAIN’s Inclusive Employment Working Group co-chairs, Janet Gardner and Karima Khandker have received two prestigious accolades in recent months recognising their exemplary leadership.

Janet Gardner OBE, Principal and Chief Executive Officer at Waltham Forest College, was recognised this summer in the King’s 2025 Birthday Honours List for services to education.

Since joining Waltham Forest College as Principal and CEO in 2020, she has led the institution through a period of significant transformation with a strong vision and high ambitions for its students, staff and local communities.  Under her leadership, the College achieved an outstanding Ofsted grade and an outstanding financial health rating and is now recognised as one of the highest performing Further Education Colleges in the country, as well as being recognised as one of the Sunday Times Best Places to Work.

Meanwhile, Karima Khandker, Director of Skills, Resourcing, EDI and Learning at Thames Water took home the Inspirational Leader Award at this year’s Ethnicity Awards 2025 last month (October 2025).

The Ethnicity Awards celebrate individuals and organisations that support Black, Asian and diverse Ethnic communities. Since the Ethnicity Awards began in 2018, they recognise those who work in the public eye, politics and business to drive ethnic inclusion.

Both Janet and Karima have been co-chairs of LAIN’s Inclusive Employment Working Group for the past five years and in that time, they have been committed to inspiring and supporting anchor organisations across the capital to close gender, ethnicity and disability pay gaps, create apprenticeships and supported internships as well as embedding inclusive recruitment practices to create workforces that reflect London’s diverse communities.   

Reflecting on receiving the Order of the British Empire (OBE), Janet Gardner said:

'This honour reflects the collective commitment and dedication of everyone at Waltham Forest College and the wider FE sector, who work tirelessly every day to transform lives through education. As a member and co-chair of LAIN, I am proud to represent a sector that plays such a vital role in driving skills, opportunities and equity, for individuals and wider communities to thrive.”

On her win, Karima said: “It’s a real honour to be recognised. I’m passionate about making sure that talent is unlocked and barriers to employment are knocked down. This isn’t just the right thing to do, it makes business sense, as we know diversity and inclusion in the workplace improve organisational performance. That’s why I’m proud to co-chair LAIN’s Inclusive Employment Working Group.” 

Lizzie Smith, Director of Workforce, Training and Education for the NHS in London and Chair of LAIN praised Janet and Karima for their leadership; “Through Janet and Karima’s work with LAIN, they’ve shown that they’re absolutely committed to supporting people of all backgrounds to achieve their potential at college, work and beyond, and we’re very fortunate to benefit from their exceptional leadership in this area.”

Find out more about the work of the Inclusive Employment Working Group here