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This year’s award recipients are Jan Gooding, Moud Goba and Vijay Krishnarayan. The three distinguished recipients were presented with their awards by Kaleidoscope Trust Chair Simon Millson, as part of our annual celebration of progress made in global LGBT+ rights.
Opening the reception, our Executive Director Phyll Opoku-Gyimah said:
“Since Kaleidoscope Trust was formed in 2011, we’ve seen the decriminalisation of same-sex relationships in twelve Commonwealth countries, with four of those nations – Antigua and Barbuda, St Kitts and Nevis, Singapore and, just yesterday, Barbados – eliminating discriminatory laws this year alone.
“While legislative change makes the headlines, it is the tireless on-the-ground work to change hearts and minds and to support members of the LGBT+ community carried out by small civil society organisations and individual volunteers that changes lives, yet often flies under the radar.
“In the last four years alone, we have worked with 119 LGBT+ and intersectional human rights networks, civil society organisations, and grassroots organisations to deliver programmes in 40 countries around the world – the majority of which have taken place in Commonwealth Member States in the Global South and East.”
Also speaking at the awards was the UK Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for LGBT+ Rights, Rt Hon Lord Herbert of South Downs. Whilst noting sobering recent events, such as attacks in LGBT+ night clubs and the introduction of anti-LGBT+ laws around the world, he also urged those present to stay positive:
“It’s right to reflect on the advances that have been made and to thank all those who made it happen. The LGBT+ groups who bravely fight on the ground around the world who we must support, but also our LGBT+ groups here in the UK, such as the Kaleidoscope Trust. In a short time, Kaleidoscope Trust has done an amazing job in helping to move the dial in these countries. For a relatively small organisation, it punches massively above its weight.
“It’s a good thing for us to remember that work in support of LGBT+ rights can yield results, that good can result, that the world can be changed for the better and, with more support, the dial can be moved further.”
About our award recipients
Jan Gooding is one of the UK’s most experienced marketing leaders and is outspoken on a range of subjects from building global brands to inclusive leadership. She has worked with businesses such as BT, British Gas, Diageo and Unilever and, most latterly, as the first Global Inclusion Director at Aviva. Throughout her career, Jan has been vocal in making the economic and moral case for business to take positive action on LGBT+ rights.
Jan now chairs PAMCo, the governing body which oversees audience measurement for the published media industry, and Given, a brand purpose agency which builds successful brands by making business a force for good. She is also president of the Market Research Society, the world’s leading research association, and an ambassador for Stonewall.
Moud Goba is a Zimbabwean lesbian and refugee who has been living in the UK for the past two decades. She was one of the founding members of UK Black Pride and is currently their chair of the board of trustees.
Moud passionately supports LGBT+ people seeking asylum and refugees, especially women in immigration detention centres. She has previously worked for Rainbow Migration and currently works as a project manager for Micro Rainbow International, an organisation that addresses LGBT+ poverty worldwide. This year, she was named one of the BBC’s 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world.
Vijay Krishnarayan served two terms at the head of the Commonwealth’s agency for civil society: the Commonwealth Foundation. During his tenure from 2012-2019, he transformed the organisation into one of the Commonwealth’s most respected inter-governmental bodies.
Under his leadership the organisation established a clear programme, framed within the Sustainable Development Goals and focused on SDG16, with an emphasis on inclusion, placing gender equality at the heart of the organisation’s mission. Vijay also established the Commonwealth Foundation’s role in bringing civic voices to Commonwealth political processes, enabling civil society to make effective representations at Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings in 2013, 2015 and 2018.
The first lifetime achievement awards were presented last year to mark Kaleidoscope Trust’s tenth birthday and recognise exceptional contributions to upholding the human rights of LGBT+ people around the world. The recipients of last year’s awards were Sir Stephen Wall, Philippa Drew and Olivette Cole-Wilson
The pressing LGBTI+ human rights challenges of our day can only be solved through collaboration, whether that be with grassroots or international human rights organisations, governments and funding bodies – and people that really care, like you.
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