Powerlist 2019

Last updated October 31, 2025

The 2019 Powerlist rankings were released in October 2018 and saw Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. included in the list for the first time, and named Ric Lewis as the most influential individual^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

Top 10

Rank	Individual	Occupation	Category	Notability
1	Ric Lewis	Businessperson	Business, Corporate, Financiers & Entrepreneurs	Chief Exec & Chairman of Tristan Capital Partners
2	Sharon White	Businessperson & Economist	Business, Corporate, Financiers & Entrepreneurs	Chief Executive at Ofcom
3	Ismail Ahmed	Businessperson	Business, Corporate, Financiers & Entrepreneurs	Founder & CEO of WorldRemit
4	Jacky Wright	Businessperson	Technology	Chief digital and information officer at HMRC
5	Sandie Okoro	Lawyer	Business, Corporate, Financiers & Entrepreneurs	Senior VP and general counsel at the World Bank Group
6	Ebele Okobi	Public policy director	Technology	Public policy director, Africa, the Middle East and Turkey for Facebook
7	Funmi Olonisakin	Professor	Public, Third Sector & Education	Professor of Leadership studies, peace and conflict at King's College London
8	Paulette Rowe	Businessperson	Technology	Global Head, Payments and Financial Services Partnerships, Facebook
9	Edward Enninful, OBE	Editor-in-Chief	Media, Publishing & Entertainment	Editor-in-Chief British Vogue
10	Richard Iferenta	Businessperson	Business, Corporate, Financiers & Entrepreneurs	Partner at KPMG

Outside Top 10

Also listed in the 2019 Powerlist were the following people, organised by industry:

Arts, Fashion and Design

Chi-chi Nwanoku, OBE - Classical musician and founder of Chineke! Orchestra
Chris Ofili - Turner Prize winning artist
Delia Jarrett-Macauley - Chair of the Caine Prize, writer and academic
Duro Olowu - Fashion designer
Dr Shirley J Thompson, OBE - Composer, conductor and Reader in Music, University of Westminster
Isaac Julien, CBE - Artist and filmmaker
Lemn Sissay, MBE - Poet, author, broadcaster
Lynette Yiadom-Boakye - Award-winning artist
Matthew Morgan - Founder of Afropunk Festival
Pat McGrath - Founder of Pat McGrath Labs, make-up artist
Valerie Brandes - Founder and CEO of Jacaranda Books

Business, Corporate, Financiers and Entrepreneurs

Alan Smith - Global Head of Risk Strategy and Chief of Staff, Global Risk at HSBC
Brian Robinson - Senior managing director at Goldman Sachs
Bukola Adisa - Head of Framework and Design at Barclays
Eric Collins - Head of Operations at Touch Surgery
Gary Stewart - Director, Telefonica Open Future and Wayra UK
Heather Melville - Director and Head of Client Experience, PricewaterhouseCoopers UK.
Netsai Mangwende - Head of Finance for Great Britain, Willis Towers Watson
Pamela Hutchinson - Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Bloomberg
Sandra Wallace - UK Managing Partner, DLA Piper
Tunji Akintokun - Director at Cisco leading mid-market sales and partnerships for Africa
Wol Kolade - Managing Partner, Livingbridge
Yvonne Ike - Managing Director and Head of Sub-Saharan Africa region, BofA Securities

Media, Publishing and Entertainment

Ade Adepitan, MBE - TV presenter and Paralympic wheelchair basketball player
Afua Hirsch - Journalist, author, broadcaster
Akala - Rapper, journalist, poet and activist
Anne Mensah - Vice-president of Content UK, Netflix
Amma Asante, MBE - Writer, director
Charlene White - ITN News anchor
David Harewood, MBE - Actor
David Olusoga, OBE - Historian, joint Creative Director of Uplands Television Ltd
Dumi Oburota - Founder of Disturbing London
Femi Oguns, MBE - Founder and CEO of Identity School of Acting
Gary Younge - Journalist and author
Idris Elba, OBE - Actor, writer, producer, musician and DJ
Jacqueline Simmons - Executive editor at Bloomberg L.P.
John Boyega - Actor
Kanya King, CBE -CEO/Founder, MOBO Awards
Marcus Ryder - Chief International Editor of China Global Television Network Digital
Mo Abudu - CEO/Executive Chair, EbonylifeTV
Naomie Harris, OBE - Actor
Paulette Simpson - Executive, Corporate Affairs and Public Policy, Jamaica National Group; Executive Director, The Voice Media Group
Reggie Yates - Actor, broadcaster and DJ
Reni Eddo-Lodge - Journalist, author
Simon Frederick - Artist, photographer, director
Sir Lenny Henry - Actor, writer, campaigner
Stormzy - Grime artist
Thandie Newton - Actor
Tunde Ogungbesan - BBC head of diversity and inclusion
Vanessa Kingori, MBE - Publisher, British Vogue
Wayne Hector - Songwriter
Yolisa Phahle - CEO, M-Net

Politics, Law and Religion

Baroness Floella Benjamin DBE, DL - Peer, House of Lords, Policy maker, campaigner for children's rights
Chuka Umunna - Labour Member of Parliament for Streatham
Grace Ononiwu, CBE - Crown Prosecutor
Joshua Siaw, MBE - Partner, White & Case
Dr Kathryn Nwajiaku - Co-Director at Development Results
David Lammy, MP - Member of Parliament for Tottenham

Public, Third Sector and Education

Beverley Lewis, OBE - Co-Founder and Director of Operations, ACLT (African Caribbean Leukemia Trust)
Dr Cheron Byfield - Governor and Trust Member of King Solomon International Business School
Dr Margaret Casely-Hayford, CBE - Chair, Shakespeare's Globe, lawyer and businessperson
Marvin Rees - Mayor of Bristol
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex - Campaigner, actress
Nero Ughwujabo - Special Adviser to the Prime Minister Theresa May
Nira Chamberlain - President of Institute of Mathematics and its Applications
Orin Lewis, OBE - Co-founder and chief-executive, ACLT (African Caribbean Leukemia Trust)
Patricia Gallan - Retired Metropolitan Police Service assistant commissioner leading specialist crime and operations
Lord Woolley - Co-founder/Director, Operation Black Vote
David Waboso - Managing director of Network Rail's Digital Railway

Science, Medicine and Engineering

Dr Emeka Okaro - Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist
Dr Ian Nnatu - Consultant psychiatrist at Charing Cross Hospital and Medical Director at Cygnet Hospital Harrow
Dr Joy Odili - Consultant plastic surgeon at St George's Hospital
Dr Sylvia Bartley - Senior Global Director, Medtronic Philanthropy
Dr Samantha Tross - Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon
Prof. Laura Serrant, OBE - Head of Department and Professor of Community and Public Health Nursing at Manchester Metropolitan University

Sports

Anthony Joshua, OBE - Boxer
Denise Lewis - TV presenter and Olympic Gold medal-winning athlete
Dina Asher Smith - British record-holding sprinter
Lewis Hamilton, MBE - Formula One champion
Luol Deng - Former NBA player
Sir Mo Farah - Olympic Gold medal-winning athlete

Technology

Baroness Oona King - Strategy for equity, diversity, inclusion & integrity for Google
Ian Greenstreet - Founder and Chairman, Infinity Capital Partners and Member on the Advisory Board, London Stock Exchange
Janet Thomas - Founder and CEO of TouchFX at Infinity Capital Partners
Mariéme Jamme - CEO, SpotOne Global Solutions and Advisory Board Member, Data-Pop Alliance
Martin Ijaha, CBE - Founder, Neyber
Nneka Abulokwe, OBE - Founder and CEO, MicroMax Consulting

References

↑ Rawlinson, Kevin (23 October 2018). "Duchess of Sussex in Powerlist of top 100 black people in Britain". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
↑ Tetteh, Bridgitte (28 October 2018). "BBC Radio Berkshire - Black Powerlist 2018 revealed". BBC. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
↑ Hicks, Amber (23 October 2018). "List of 100 most influential black people includes Meghan Markle for first time". Mirror. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
↑ Joses, Joy (27 October 2018). "Who are the influential Black Britons honoured in Powerlist 2019?". Melan Magazine.

External links

Powerlist

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[1] Rawlinson, Kevin (23 October 2018). "Duchess of Sussex in Powerlist of top 100 black people in Britain". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 April 2020.

[2] Tetteh, Bridgitte (28 October 2018). "BBC Radio Berkshire - Black Powerlist 2018 revealed". BBC. Retrieved 16 April 2020.

[3] Hicks, Amber (23 October 2018). "List of 100 most influential black people includes Meghan Markle for first time". Mirror. Retrieved 16 April 2020.

[4] Joses, Joy (27 October 2018). "Who are the influential Black Britons honoured in Powerlist 2019?". Melan Magazine.

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Powerlist 2019

Contents

Top 10

Outside Top 10

See also

References

External links