Hardeep Rai is Group Chief Executive Officer at The Kaleidoscope Group of Companies, which enable disabled individuals to realize their full potential and find their purpose by enabling them to learn new skills, find their dream job or start their own business.  Kaleidoscope Investments invests in disabled individuals with great ideas enabling them to launch their own businesses.   Hardeep is a prominent advocate for the rights of disabled people, particularly in the City of London network, and is driven by an agenda of social impact and inclusion.

I was drawn to Hardeep upon reading a passionate LinkedIn post of his celebrating the birthday of his son Eshan – who has severe cerebral palsy and is now in his teens.  That post, which celebrates their love for eachother and the joy each brings to the other’s life, struck a chord with many.  Hardeep was inspired by the response to that post to set up a LinkedIn group for parents of children with special needs.

Our conversation covers Hardeep’s own career in the city and how Eshan’s birth drove him to take a separate path.  He now is an advocate for disabled individuals in the City of London as well as a leader in The Kaleidoscope group of companies.  Through Hardeep’s work with disabled individuals he saw the important cognitive diversity that could be brought to many corporate settings.  He also became aware of the unique challenges facing disabled individuals seeking to start their own businesses and has dedicated a separate entity within Kaleidoscope to that.

This is an inspiring and uplifting conversation that may just cause you to think differently about difference, about potential and the right of every individual to pursue their career path with dignity and hope.

Series 2 of the 2022 Fiftyfaces Podcast is brought to you with the kind support of the William Blair Active Share Podcast.