Dr Gurpreet Padda

Personal statement:

Gurpreet Padda is Principal Evidence Specialist at the Marine Management Organisation, chair of the EDI network and a social mobility ambassador for DEFRA. Gurpreet was the first woman of colour to sit on Norwich City Councillor and was Cabinet Member for Equalities and Social Justice. She previously sat on the Broads National Park Authority governance board. She is the founding director of Black Ocean Citizens, a non-profit organisation aimed at addressing systemic change in governance systems to enable race- and social class- intersectional stewardship, governance and research in the UK and overseas territories.

Gurpreet has worked the fisheries policy cycle from fisheries sciences at CEFAS, DEFRA policy Common Fisheries Policy [negotiations] and Reform, managing UK TACs and Quota at the Marine and Fisheries Agency, including consultancy.

Financial barriers meant Gurpreet has worked since she was 13 in a range of low-skilled jobs including selling baby clothes and saris (earning <50p p/h), selling double glazing under the pseudonym Gail, cleaning at GSK on the Great West Road, health care assistant, Tesco, and account assistant at the BBC. Her PhD encompasses intersectional justice, lived struggles and academic experiences:  ‘Environmental Justice in the Governance of The Wash inshore cockle fishery’.

Publications:

Black Ocean Citizens March 2026. Policy Research Series 1.

Enhancing systemic race equity in the governance of the UK’s marine, coastal and fisheries science sector. Gomez-Ramirez and Padda.