Raj Adgopul

Raj Adgopul is a D&I speaker, NHS professional and TEDx speaker whose journey from caste discrimination and poverty in central India to addressing 1,000 people at the O2 in London gives his work authority. Speaking on resilience, adaptability, race and belonging, Raj combines lived experience with humour, making him effective for inclusion programmes, staff networks, team away days and conferences.

Growing up in a village in central India, Raj was recorded on his birth certificate as Other Backward Class and experienced being spat at because of his caste. He later spent four years in Mumbai sharing a room with twenty three people, with only six feet by three of personal space. These experiences underpin his understanding of exclusion, survival and inequality.

Recruited into the NHS after interviews in Mumbai, Raj arrived in England with five pounds. He trained and worked as a nurse, completed a degree and postgraduate qualification, and built a career in British healthcare. Experiencing overt caste discrimination in India and quieter racism in England enables him to explore intentional and unintentional racism, unconscious bias and active bystanding without putting audiences on the defensive.

Raj has spoken for Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, King’s College Hospital London, Care Concern Group and the National Association for Patient Participation, alongside schools and sixth forms. His TEDx appearance at the O2 was a major speaking milestone, while his stand-up set ‘Just Off The Boat’ was first performed at the Hardy Har Comedy Festival in Dorchester.

Organisations hire Raj because he turns difficult lived experience into engaging, usable learning. Sessions including ‘Beyond Borders’, ‘The Mumbai Mindset’ and ‘Resilience Redefined’ combine storytelling, workplace relevance, interaction and humour. He brings credibility to D&I events by connecting caste, poverty, migration, race and belonging with practical questions about how colleagues behave, intervene and create inclusive workplaces.