Protect bids farewell this month to Legal Adviser, Burcak Dikmen, and Parliamentary Officer, Kyran Kanda, as well as Michael Szlesinger, who leaves after a six-month secondment from law firm Lewis Silkin LLP, and intern Millie Camp, who has supported Protect’s policy work over the summer.
Burcak said, “Starting my legal career at Protect as a fresh law graduate, I was thrust into the world of whistleblowing and it has been rewarding to support and empower whistleblowers throughout their individual journeys and break down barriers in access to justice whilst doing so.
“Over two incredible years, Protect has offered me a such a well-rounded experience in providing the opportunity to support different aspects of the charity – developing my legal skills through the advice work, as well as supporting the Business Support team in the training and consultancy work they undertake. ”
Burcak moves on to work as a paralegal at tech company Cutover, and said, “I look forward to applying everything I’ve learnt at Protect to my new role at Cutover, and moving on to the next chapter of my legal career.”
Kyran Kanda, who as well as being Protect’s Parliamentary Officer, worked on the Advice Line, said, “I will be moving on from Protect to start the Bar Practice Course at The University of Law on a scholarship. I am thrilled to have had the chance to work at Protect for the past two years. Protect’s work is vital to helping whistleblowers and employers to protect the public interest and I am grateful for the chance to have worked with fantastic colleagues.
He added, “It has been equally rewarding to work on parliamentary and policy matters this year and I look forward to seeing Protect make real changes in this area. I intend to continuing working in employment law once I qualify and thank Protect greatly for such a wonderful experience”.
We thank both Michael Szlesinger, and Millie Camp who has supported us remotely from Texas – we will be publishing blogs from each on their experience of working with Protect in due course.
From everyone at Protect – good luck and stay in touch!