The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has today announced the second cohort of his Young Professionals Panel (YPP), ten aspiring infrastructure leaders who will provide expert advice on key challenges related to the planning and delivery of London’s infrastructure.
This group of young professionals from the built environment industry, all of whom have started their careers within the past ten years, will support the Mayor for the next two years by acting as ambassadors for his infrastructure and sustainable development agenda. They will engage with other young professionals across the industry to generate dialogue and provide innovative thinking on London’s future infrastructure.
Among those in the second cohort are Isaac Akintaro, an Arup graduate consultant and a Southwark Scholarship recipient, awarded by Southwark Council to cover the full cost of the recipient’s undergraduate university tuition fees. Akintaro was also recently recognised nationally as one of 150 Future Leaders from an African and Afro Caribbean background.
Other individuals selected include Kat Scott, an architect at dRMM who currently sits on the Architects Declare UK Steering Group and Jyoti Sehdev, Group EDI Lead and Senior Engineer at Costain, who was recently named as one of the Women’s Engineering Society’s Top 50 Women in Engineering 2021.
The Panel was established in early 2019 to provide expert advice on the Mayor’s infrastructure agenda. Over the past two years, the first cohort supported the development of the London Infrastructure Coordination Service (ICS) and influenced important policies and strategies relating to the sector such as Covid-19 impact on London’s infrastructure and the diversity gap.
Jules Pipe, Deputy Mayor of London for Planning, Regeneration and Skills said: “We are delighted to welcome such a talented and diverse group of built environment professionals for our second YPP cohort.
“They are part of the next generation of infrastructure leaders and we are excited to see the contribution they will make to supporting our team and London’s growth.”
YPP cohort two Panel member Francesca Downey, Senior GIS Consultant at Atkins said: “I am really excited to be joining the Mayor’s Young Professionals Panel.
“I’m looking forward to bringing my geospatial expertise to the panel and promoting the use of spatial data to inform decisions on London’s future infrastructure.”
Notes to editors
The Mayor’s YPP second cohort are:
- Alice Offley, External Affairs Manager, Cadent Gas
- Aqeel Bashir, Senior Project Manager, Change & Performance, SSEN Distribution
- Chloe Rutland, Infrastructure Planning Officer, Borough of Havering
- Francesca Downey, Senior GIS Consultant, Atkins
- Isaac Akintaro, Graduate Consultant, Arup
- Kat Scott, Sustainability and Regenerative Design Manager, dRMM
- Jyoti Sehdev, Group EDI Lead and Senior Engineer, Costain
- Oscar Wong, Senior Planner Atkins
- Sajed Amirinia, City Standards Officer, Connected Places Catapult
- Sesitwa Mohlala, Cost Manager, Turner & Townsend Infrastructure
• The Infrastructure Team developed London’s first Infrastructure Plan as well as the London Infrastructure Mapping Application and is currently implementing a range of innovative projects to support improved collaboration as part of the Infrastructure Coordination Service.
• You can read the first YPP cohort biographies here.
• Follow the YPP and find out more about their work on the YPP’s blog.
• The YPP and the Infrastructure Advisory Panel Members (IAP) complements the Mayor’s London Infrastructure Group, made up of CEOs and other senior representatives from London’s leading infrastructure providers.