Michael John Hastings, Lord Hastings of Scarisbrick is currently the Professor of Leadership at the Stephen R. Covey Leadership Centre at Huntsman Business School, USA, and sits on the Concordia Leadership Council. He served as Chancellor of Regent's University London from October 2016 to October 2021. He has been appointed as the current Chair of the SOAS Board of Trustees and is an NED at Saxton Bampfylde.
Kanya King, is a British entrepreneur who is the founder of the MOBO Awards.
A chief human resources officer (CHRO) or chief people officer (CPO) is a corporate officer who oversees all aspects of human resource management and industrial relations policies, practices and operations for an organization. Similar job titles include: chief people officer, chief personnel officer, executive vice president of human resources and senior vice president of human resources. Roles and responsibilities of a typical CHRO can be categorized as follows: workforce strategist, organizational and performance conductor, HR service delivery owner, compliance and governance regulator, and coach and adviser to the senior leadership team and the board of directors. CHROs may also be involved in board member selection and orientation, executive compensation, and succession planning. In addition, functions such as communications, facilities, public relations and related areas may fall within the scope of the CHRO role. Increasingly, CHROs report directly to chief executive officers and are members of the most senior-level committees of a company.
Obiageli "Oby" Ezekwesili is an economic policy expert, an advocate for transparency, accountability, good governance and human capital development, a humanitarian and an activist. She is a former vice president for the World Bank's Africa region, co-founder and founding director of Transparency International, co-founder of the #BringBackOurGirls movement and has served twice as Federal Minister in Nigeria. She is also the founder of #FixPolitics Initiative, a research-based citizen-led initiative, the School of Politics Policy and Governance (SPPG), and Human Capital Africa.
Mosunmola Abudu, also known as Mo Abudu,, is a Nigerian media mogul, philanthropist, and former human resources management consultant. She has been described by Forbes as "Africa's Most Successful Woman", and rated as one of the "25 Most Powerful Women in Global Television" by The Hollywood Reporter.
Cesar Conde is an American media executive currently serving as chairman of the NBCUniversal News Group, overseeing NBC News, MSNBC, and CNBC. Prior to this, Conde was chairman of NBCUniversal International Group and NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises. Before that, he was president of Univision's networks division.
Sonita Alleyne, is the Barbados-born British co-founder and former CEO of Somethin’ Else, a cross-platform media production company. Alleyne is a member of the BBC Trust, the governing body of the British Broadcasting Corporation, and Master of Jesus College, Cambridge.
Nathaniel Peat is a social entrepreneur and international motivational speaker. At age 25, he founded the nonprofit organization The Safety Box, which uses grassroots methods to interrupt violent behaviour, build entrepreneurship and foster achievement in young people using alternative curriculum in British schools. He is a regular television and radio commentator on youth and education.
Siobhan Reddy is a South African-Australian video game executive. She is the studio director of Media Molecule, a video game development studio based in Guildford in the United Kingdom, most famous for their debut title LittleBigPlanet.
Johnny Clayton Taylor Jr. is an American lawyer, author, board member and public speaker who is the president and Chief Executive Officer of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). He was previously president and CEO of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF), which represents the 47 publicly-supported historically Black colleges and universities in the United States. In February 2018, President Donald Trump appointed Taylor Chair of the President's Advisory Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. He is Vice Chair of the University of Miami, and Trustee of Jobs for America’s Graduates. Taylor currently sits on the corporate boards of Guild Education, Internet Collaborative Information Management Systems (ICIMS), and XPO Logistics.
Adeola Solanke FRSA, commonly known as Ade Solanke, is a British-Nigerian playwright and screenwriter. She is best known for her debut stage play, Pandora's Box, which was produced at the Arcola Theatre in 2012, and was nominated as Best New Play in the Off West End Theatre Awards. Her other writing credits include the award-winning BBC Radio drama series Westway and the Nigerian feature film Dazzling Mirage (2014). She is the founder and creative director of the company Spora Stories, whose aim is to "create original drama for stage and screen, telling the dynamic stories of the African diaspora." Solanke has previously worked as an arts journalist and in radio and television, and in 1988 set up Tama Communications, offering a writing and publicity service, whose clients included the BBC, the Arts Council and the Midland Bank.
Dr Heather Patricia Melville is a British banker, the Senior Managing Director of Teneo and Chancellor of the University of York, UK.
Tope Oshin is a Nigerian television and film director, producer and casting director, listed as one of the most influential Nigerians in film in 2019. In 2015 Pulse magazine named her as one of "9 Nigerian female movie directors you should know" in the Nollywood film industry. and in March 2018, in commemoration of the Women's History Month, Tope was celebrated by OkayAfrica as one of the Okay100 Women. The interactive campaign celebrates extraordinary women from Africa and the diaspora making waves across a wide array of industries, while driving positive impact in their communities and the world at large.
Jacaranda Books is a diversity-led British independent book publishing firm launched in 2012 and known for their effort tackling the gap between white authors and the BAME demographic in United Kingdom's publishing industry.
Sheree Atcheson is a Sri Lankan-born Northern Irish computer scientist and Group Vice-President of Diversity & Inclusion at Valtech. She previously has held roles such as Global Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Peakon Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Monzo and Consulting Inclusion Lead at Deloitte. Atcheson has been recognised by Computer Weekly as one of the Most Influential Women in UK Tech. She is the Global Ambassador for Women Who Code.
The Powerlist is a list of the 100 most influential people of African or African Caribbean heritage in the United Kingdom. The list is updated annually and has been published in book format by Powerful Media since 2007. The Powerlist is not limited to British-born citizens and includes immigrants to the UK.
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
The 13th annual Powerlist was judged by a panel chaired by Dame Linda Dobbs and published in October 2019; sponsored by J.P. Morgan & Co., pwc, linklaters and The Executive Leadership Council.
The 14th annual Powerlist, which names the 100 most influential people of African or African Caribbean heritage in the United Kingdom, was judged by an independent panel and published in November 2020, sponsored by JP Morgan & Co, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Linklaters, Refinitiv, Herman Miller, Facebook and The Executive Leadership Council. The 2021 Powerlist came in a year in which public debate on racial injustice had increased, with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and global protests against police brutality. Therefore, chief executive Michael Eboda decided that the 14th Powerlist would honour those who have used their voice to advocate against racial injustice. Furthermore, the rankings highlighted the work of healthcare professionals during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which also resulted in the awards being held virtually on 17 November 2020, hosted by Kwame Kwei-Armah.
Michael C. Hyter is President and CEO of The Executive Leadership Council (ELC), a membership organization committed to increasing the number of global Black executives in C-suites, on corporate boards and in global enterprises. The ELC is composed of more than 800 current and former Black CEOs, senior executives and board directors at Fortune 1000 and Global 500 companies, and entrepreneurs at top-tier firms.
