Celebrating the Black British Business Awards
Moving Ahead founder and CEO, Liz Dimmock, describes the motivational buzz of being in the company of this year’s winners and why they – and the legendary Sophie Chandauka – have renewed her drive and determination to succeed…
Last week saw the ninth Black British Business Awards take place in London and was such an incredible evening of heartfelt collective energy, kindness, and humility; it made me want to bottle the atmosphere in the room for those days when we all need a motivational kick!
The evening was in celebration and recognition of the achievements of rising stars and senior leaders across six industry sectors in the UK all working to drive equitable change and advocate Black excellence in business.
This 36-strong group of mega talented individuals were from the worlds of arts and media, consumer and luxury, entrepreneurialism, financial services, professional services, and STEM.
Sophie Chandauka, Chair of the BBBAwards and Head of Americas Risk Management and Intelligence at Meta, said: “This group of BBBAwards finalists is extraordinary because of the pandemic, geo-political and socio-economic circumstances surrounding their accomplishments. We celebrate this breath-taking group of professionals and entrepreneurs who are competing on the global stage, representing the very best Britain has to offer.”
FORCE FOR GOOD
Sophie co-founded the BBBAwards with entrepreneur Melanie Eusebe in 2014 and I know her to be a true force of nature as I am on the board of the 30% Club’s race equity strategy group, which she chairs.
A corporate finance lawyer with a hugely impressive resume she has pushed for representative change and led by example. Despite having hugely senior positions as Head of Group Treasury (Legal) at Virgin Money and Global COO of Shared Services and Banking Operations at Morgan Stanley – to name just two – she’s given up considerable time to mentor entrepreneurs and aspiring lawyers, earning plaudits for her relentless community work as an advocate for education, equality, diversity and inclusion.
Her charismatic stint on stage that night captured her passion for helping and motivating others. As she introduced the finalists she said; “…they remind us of the importance of self-belief despite the odds; the merit of striving for excellence and the requirement of perseverance.”
The awards bills itself as confirming the ‘strength of the Black talent pipeline by highlighting the commercial excellence of Black professionals and entrepreneurs’ and they represent some of the UK’s largest companies such as Bloomberg, Barclays, Goldman Sachs, Shell, and Virgin. Put plainly, these finalists are role models and substantial contributors to the British economy.
Among them was Kené Umeasiegbu, Campaigns Director at Tesco, who was named Business Person of the Year and recognised for his twenty-year career at not-for-profit, consulting and corporations. Asked to advise young Black professionals wanting to succeed, Kené said; “We can always find stories of when things did not work and we had negative experiences, but we can also find stories where we had peers, allies and sponsors supporting us…
“I think we need to tell more of those stories – that encourages the next generation more.”
I was heartened by this as I’ve long believed in the power of storytelling to bring positive change within society and the workplace – it was one of the driving forces that led me to found Moving Ahead. Storytelling is absolutely fundamental to our mentorship programmes. And, like Sophie, Kené is also giving back. He is a trustee of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, which does incredible work in funding research aimed at solving poverty.
COLLABORATION IS KEY
The BBBAwards is focused on strong collaborations with corporate partners and global thought leaders, including the 30% Club and the CBI’s Change the Race Ratio (CtRR) campaign, both of which I’m proud to be associated with.
This year, Moving Ahead celebrated 10 years of successfully delivering the 30% Club’s cross-company mentoring programmes. From a starting point of helping to fulfil the organisation’s objective of achieving a minimum of 30% women on FTSE 100 boards, the programme has evolved and grown into a global mission.
We are also now in the fourth year of its successful sibling, called Mission Include. It pairs high potential individuals from under-represented groups across all levels within organisations, with leaders from under-represented groups and their allies.
Earlier this year, on behalf of both the 30% Club and the CBI’s Change the Race Ratio campaign, we launched Leaders for Race Equality - a structured CEO cross-company programme designed to help achieve targets for greater racial and ethnic diversity at the board, ExCo and ExCo minus one levels of Britain’s FTSE 350 companies.
Being in the company of the BBBAwards winners and listening to their stories was so uplifting. I still feel so energised by the event that I am more determined than ever to prove how mentoring drives positive change within organisations, so that everyone is given the opportunity for success at the highest level.
Congratulations to all the winners of the 2022 BBBAwards
Black British Business Person of the Year
Kené Umeasiegbu, Campaigns Director, Tesco
Arts and Media Rising Star
Yinka Ilori, Founder and Creative Director, Yinka Ilori Studio
Arts and Media Senior Leader of the Year
Suzann McLean, CEO and Artistic Director, Theatre Peckham
Consumer and Luxury Rising Star
Prince Chakanyuka, E-commerce Customer Supply Chain Manager, P&G
Consumer and Luxury Senior Leader of the Year
Patrice Gordon, Director, Commercial Strategy Development, Virgin Atlantic
Entrepreneur Rising Star
Troy Johnson, Founder, Juici Jerk Ltd
Entrepreneur Senior Leader of the Year
Connie Barrett, Owner & Director, Kids in Charge
Financial Services Rising Star
Natalie Ojevah MBE, Eagle Labs Diversity & Inclusion Lead, Barclays
Financial Services Senior Leader of the Year
Sean Alleyne, Chief Operating Officer, Credit Suisse International
Professional Services Rising Star
Vincent Egunlae, Strategic Leadership Team, Assistant Manager, Grant Thornton UK LLP
Professional Services Senior Leader of the Year
John McCalla-Leacy, Partner & UK Head of ESG, KPMG UK
STEM Rising Star
Ivan Kayima, CEO, Spiela
STEM Senior Leader of the Year
Ike Olowoye, Senior Director, Late Oncology Global Portfolio and Project Management, AstraZeneca
The BBBAwards also celebrated two individual honorary awards; Influencer of the Year, recognises a person of African or Caribbean heritage who has shaped British public opinion, industry, vocation, or culture. Ally of the Year Award, celebrates the work of senior Allies of the Black community who continue to strive for diversity and equality in business.
Influencer of the Year Award recipient
Professor Shirley Thompson OBE, Renowned Classical Composer and Musician
Ally of the Year Award recipient
Brian Corr, Head of Market Intervention, Retail Banking Financial Conduct Authority