Meet our judging panel for 2024
Judging Panel
Chair of Judges - Raj Kandola
Amer Awan
Dee Kundi
Emma Morgan
Kavita Parmar
Professor Martin Levermore MBE DL
Raj Kandola is the Director of External Affairs at the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce tasked with covering the organisation’s research, campaigning, stakeholder engagement and media & communications activity. Specific policy areas of focus include transport & infrastructure, international trade, education and environmental policy. In addition, he is responsible for managing the organisation’s Patronage scheme and the GBCC’s media and news content operations, including external media engagement and production of the organisation’s print and online news material
Prior to joining the Chamber in 2016, Raj worked in Communications for a former Shadow Minister and spent eight years in London recruiting staff across the financial services industry.
Amer Awan leads Awan Real Estate Limited and Awan International.
The Real Estate arm is a property investment company consisting of both commercial and residential properties. Awan International is a wholesale company selling consumer electronics.
Awan lost his father in 2020 and established The Nazir Awan Foundation in his name. The registered charity helps the poor in Pakistan with water, education, food, medical and housing projects.
He is also on the leadership board of the Institute of Directors – British Asian Business Community, and the ambassador to Birmingham’s Pathway Group and Chutney and Chat.
Dee Kundi is a consultant independent qualified solicitor. She is the CEO & Founder of Find Me A Solicitor, a digital legal tech business which is an independent free service for all individuals and businesses looking to find the right solicitor for all personal and business legal needs. Findmeasolicitor.co.uk have the knowledge and expertise to advise clients on finding a solicitor based on their needs, budgets, sector specialisms and all areas of law.
Dee has been a Partner in national law firms and is a multi-award-winning Solicitor with many accolades under her belt, including ‘Best in Litigation’, ‘Outstanding Businesswoman of the Year’, ‘Most Influential in Debt Recovery’, ‘Professional of the Year’, ‘Best in Legal Services’ and many more as well as being established within the Legal 500 as one of the market leaders in litigation and debt recovery, as she is recognised both as a strong deliverer and a key innovator in the field.
Dee is the Regional Vice Chair of IoD (Institute of Directors) Central for West and East Midlands, a trustee for Birmingham Citizens Advice Bureau Service and sits on the Law School advisory board for Aston University. She was the chairwoman, council member and director of the Birmingham Law Society; on the Capital Development committee for Symphony Hall and Town Hall; vice president of the ABCC, part of the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and a non-executive director of TAG Network Midlands.
Emma Morgan is the General Manager of Malmaison Birmingham In the Mailbox Complex holding this prestigious role for 5 years. Emma has recently been appointed as the Joint Chair of the Birmingham Hoteliers Association an organisation driving Hospitality as a career and bringing the hoteliers of the city together to share ideas and really bring the community together. Emma has over 20 years of Hospitality experience working across the main cities in the UK from London to Manchester and back to Birmingham.
Kavita Parmar is the award-winning Chief Commercial Officer and co-founder of Word360, a leading language technology company for the NHS and wider health and care sectors. With a background in Optometry, Kavita made a successful career change into Healthtech and has since been recognised as 'Woman in Tech' and 'Businesswoman of the Year'. As the driving force behind Word360's continued success, Kavita's passion for innovation and healthcare has enabled Word360 to become the industry leader in developing cost effective delivery models for communication services.
Professor Martin Levermore MBE DL is Chair of Medilink Midlands and Vice Chair for Nehemiah United Churches Housing Association (UCHA). In addition, Martin is also the founder and CEO of Martin is also CEO of Medical Devices Technology International Ltd (MDTi). Martin has over 18 years at senior board level in the Life Sciences sector and sits on the Executive Board of PIONEER as Commercial Adviser, whilst Chairing the advisory board to HDRUK.
Martin holds various positions: Interim Chair of New Roots Charity, Directorship with the Birmingham Commonwealth Association (BCA) and is an Executive Committee Member of the Greater Birmingham Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce.
Martin holds a Senior Associateship with the Royal Society of Medicine, Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment and Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts.
Martin is a Visiting Professor for Health, Education and Life Science at Birmingham City University (BCU) and a Deputy Lieutenant for the West Midlands appointed in 2018.
Recently Martin was appointed a NED to the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust.