3 July 2022. Our Advisor Shipa Ahmed Khan and her colleagues at the Portsmouth Bangladesh Business Association (PBBA) organised the visit of the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, Prof Dr A. K. Abdul Momen, and the Bangladesh High Commissioner in the UK, Ms. Saida Muna Tasneem, to Portsmouth on 27 June 2022. The visit was aimed at boosting business, education and cultural links between Bangladesh and the UK, as announced here by the Portsmouth City Council.

We are proud to see Shipa in the press group photos. We know how special this visit must have meant to her – she works hard every day to help minority communities in Portsmouth thrive. She is a pillar not only for the Bangladeshi community of Portsmouth, but for everyone looking for help and solidarity, i.e. talk to her about the Cross Cultural Women’s Group.

Shipa is currently also the Vice-Chair of the Portsmouth Bangladesh Business Association. Shipa and her colleagues have worked for many years to build closer economic and cultural ties between Bangladesh and the UK, particularly between the twin cities of Sylhet (Bangladesh) and Portsmouth (UK). This twinning initiative took place in November 2019, when members of the Portsmouth City Council, PBBA, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth International Port and other groups arrived in Bangladesh to cement ties between the two cities.

We at Work Better Innovations have a strong focus on migration and the rights of migrant workers in our global economy, for both our professional and community service work. We undertake rigorous research on responsible supply chains, where many issues concern the situation of migrant workers.

For our community service, we work with and mentor skilled migrants looking for employment and provide them with the targeted help they need in their job search. Many participants are refugees and asylum seekers.

Our team is made up of a group of migrants to the UK. Our immigrant stories are all different, but we believe diversity is good for our economy, for our society. And when we see one of our own, doing all that she can to foster cross-cultural ties, we say a big “Thank You” and we celebrate!