Neelam Heera-Shergill has never waited for permission to speak. She has carved out space in rooms that weren’t built to include her, and then used that space to amplify thousands more. A speaker, researcher, advocate and changemaker, Neelam Heera-Shergill has spent more than a decade fighting for reproductive justice, health equity, and the visibility of communities so often silenced—beginning right here in Birmingham.
As the founder of Cysters, the grassroots organisation she launched in 2014, Neelam Heera-Shergill created a home for people navigating complex menstrual and maternal and mental health challenges—especially those failed by medical systems, racial bias, and stigma. Her motivation was deeply personal: shaped by years of living with PCOS, Endometriosis, PMDD and miscarriages, Neelam Heera-Shergill saw first-hand how people of colour were dismissed, diminished, and misdiagnosed. So she built something better—starting in her own city, where these stories were all too common.
Through Cysters, Neelam Heera-Shergill has dismantled taboos, challenged patriarchal health narratives, and worked directly with communities across Birmingham to deliver culturally competent support and education. From period poverty to prenatal care, Neelam Heera-Shergill has championed a new kind of healthcare—honest, inclusive, and led by lived experience. Neelam Heera-Shergill’s influence reaches far beyond the grassroots.
As a Women’s Voices Panel Member at the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Birmingham’s Maternity and Neonatal Voices Lead, and a member of the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review Board, Neelam Heera-Shergill has shaped national conversations around patient safety and equitable care. She has contributed to pioneering studies on postpartum haemorrhage and cervical ripening, and is developing a new online support programme through Cysters to make holistic pregnancy and postnatal care accessible to families across Birmingham and beyond.
Neelam Heera-Shergill has also been fearless in confronting the intersections of identity, caste, and faith. Her public advocacy around caste-based discrimination—especially within South Asian communities—has sparked critical conversations across media, education, and activism. Neelam Heera-Shergill continues to push for justice across every layer of identity—always rooted in community, always grounded in Birmingham.
Recognition has followed. Neelam Heera-Shergill is a Pride of Birmingham winner, a Point of Light honouree, a TEDx speaker, and one of Birmingham’s 30 Under 30. Yet behind the titles is someone who continues to show up—in hospitals, on panels, in WhatsApp groups and policy roundtables—with the same unshakeable mission: to centre the people who have been overlooked. In recent years, Neelam Heera-Shergill has expanded her work through consultancy, offering guidance to organisations tackling gender-based violence, mental health inequalities, and research co-creation.
Whether collaborating with educators or frontline advocates, Neelam Heera-Shergill brings depth, urgency, and care to every conversation. And at the heart of it all is motherhood. Neelam Heera-Shergill returned to work just four weeks after giving birth to her daughter, Daya—and every action since has carried the quiet force of that name. Under the banner of #DoingItForDaya, Neelam Heera-Shergill builds not only for today’s patients, but for tomorrow’s leaders. Her work is legacy in motion: bold, brilliant, and fiercely rooted in justice.
