Director, England at the Big Lottery Fund, Dharmendra Kanani leads on the development and delivery of a coherent country funding portfolio and is responsible for the effectiveness and efficiency of current and future country funding programmes across England.

He has held senior management positions in Scotland and UK-wide working in the voluntary and statutory sector.

Formerly the Head of the Commission for Racial Equality Scotland and later the Director of Countries, Regions and Communities UK-wide at the CRE, he worked until 1999 as a Director of Racial Equality bodies in Scotland and London. He chaired a number of voluntary community organisations at national and local level in Scotland and London, and has established a number of new community organisations dealing with employment training, youth mentoring, community advocacy and social housing.

Dharmendra has been an adviser to a number of national statutory and voluntary organisations, Scottish Executive and Whitehall Ministerial Groups. He was the Chair of the Scotland Funders’ Forum, and a board member of several arts bodies in Scotland.