Powerlist

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.

History and methodology

The list was first created in 2007 by Michael Eboda, then editor of the ''New Nation'', a weekly newspaper published in the UK for the Black British community, as a way to profile and celebrate influential Black Britons, and inspire and influence the next generation. The first Powerlist was compiled after six months of research and debate where 400 people of influence were whittled down to 50 women and 50 men, then ranked into respective top tens with the results announced in August 2007. During the first few editions, separate top 10 rankings were produced for both female and male candidates and top-ranking individuals could continue to be ranked the following year. From 2012 the 50 highest-rated nominees, along with updates on the previous year's Powerlistees from rank 2–100, are then ranked by an independent panel in the summer, with the list being produced each autumn. Each year's highest-ranking individual is added to the Powerlist Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame

A list of every Powerlist highest ranking individual.

2020s

2025 Powerlist Rankings

Published in October 2024, Dean Forbes, the CEO of Forterro and a Partner at Corten Capital, was named as the UK's most influential black person for its 19th edition.

Top 10

2024 Powerlist Rankings

Published in October 2023, former editor-in-chief of British Vogue, Edward Enninful OBE, was named as the UK's most influential black person for its 18th edition.

Top 10

2023 Powerlist Rankings

Published in October 2022, the 2023 Powerlist Top 10 was dominated by business people. Once again the panel of judges was led by retired high court judge Dame Linda Dobbs, and also included former Powerlister and winner of the first series of '' The Apprentice'', Tim Campbell.

Top 10

2022 Powerlist Rankings

Published in October 2021, the panel of judges was led by retired high court judge Dame Linda Dobbs and included former Powerlister Matthew Ryder QC.

Top 10

2021 Powerlist Rankings

The 2021 Powerlist came in a year in which public debate on racial injustice had increased, with the Black Lives Matter movement and global protests against police brutality. Therefore, chief executive Michael Eboda decided that the 14th Powerlist would honour those who had used their voice to advocate against racial injustice. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the awards were held virtually on November 17, 2020, and hosted by Kwame Kwei-Armah, OBE. The event was held in partnership with J. P. Morgan, who announced they would invest £2 million in support of London non-profit organisations headed by black and minority ethnic leaders; further sponsors included PricewaterhouseCoopers, Facebook, and Linklaters. The independent panel of judges named Sir Lewis Hamilton as the most influential due to both his sporting excellence and his advocacy in light of the BLM movement; additional highlights of the Top 10 included Prof. Kevin Fenton and Dame Donna Kinnair for their work fighting against COVID-19.

Top 10

*

2020 Powerlist

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.

2010s

2019 Rankings

The 2019 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.

2018 Rankings

The 2018 Rankings were released in October 2017 and saw Gina Miller named as the most influential black person in the UK. The list was compiled by a panel that included Dame Linda Dobbs and Tim Campbell and over half of the 100 people on this year's list were women.

2017 Rankings

The 2017 Powerlist marked the 10th anniversary of the event, with a keynote speech made by Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan were released in October 2016 and named as the most influential black person in the UK. The list was decided by an independent panel led by former high court judge Dame Linda Dobbs.

2016 Rankings

The 2016 Powerlist named Sir Ken Olisa, OBE as the most influential Black Briton for his charitable work and his achievement becoming the first black Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London.

2015 Rankings

The 2015 Powerlist was announced in November 2014 and took place in the Lord Mayor of London's residence, with a keynote speech given by then Home Secretary, Theresa May. The list named Karen Blackett, OBE as the most influential Black Briton, marking her as the first black businesswoman to be awarded the accolade and also saw two people ranked jointly in both third & eighth position.

2014 Rankings

An independent panel of five judges, headed by management consultant Vivian Hunt and including business executive Olakunle Babarinde, ranked the 100 most influential Black Britons on merit with children's author Malorie Blackman, OBE first in the yearly ranking.

2013 Rankings

The sixth annual Powerlist edition was announced in October 2012, ranking Britons who have "the ability to alter events and change lives in a positive way" and 20,000 hard copies were distributed to schools across the UK.

2012 Rankings

The 2012 Powerlist edition was announced in November 2011, and the judging panel was chaired by Baroness Amos. For the second year running, it ranked Tidjane Thiam, CEO of FTSE 100 company Prudential plc, as number one and Dr Mo Ibrahim and Dame Vivian Hunt in second and third place respectively.

2011 Powerlist

The 2011 Powerlist had a panel including Baroness Amos and Kwame Kwei-Armah who ranked Tidjane Thiam, CEO of FTSE 100 company Prudential plc first, with Diane Abbott MP ranking ninth.

Others listed included the financier Donna St Hill, the peer Victor Adebowale, Baron Adebowale, the judge Dame Linda Dobbs, the pharmaceutical executive Yvonne Greenstreet, the investor Tsega Gebreyes, the make-up artist Dame Pat McGarth, the strategy consultant Dame Vivian Hunt, the venture capitalist Wol Kolade and CPS Chief Inspector Mike Fuller.

2010 Powerlist

The 2010 Powerlist was released in September 2009 and marked the beginning of the annual list being published in the prior Autumn. The launch took place in the Cabinet room at 10 Downing Street and now included men and women in a single table.

2000s

Prior to 2010, the Powerlist had a different format and was published in conjunction with weekly newspaper the ''New Nation''. During the Powerlist's first few years, separate top 10 rankings were produced for both female and male candidates. In addition, top-ranking individuals were not promoted to the "Hall of Fame", meaning they could continue to be ranked the following year.

2008 Powerlist

The 2008 Powerlist was compiled of 50 men and 50 women by a judging panel that included Baroness Amos and Kwame Kwei-Armah. It was published in October 2008 by Powerful Media sponsored by JP Morgan, and was the first annual powerlist report. Copies were sold in store and sent to the UK's 1000 largest companies with a reception held at the Foreign Office to celebrate those on the list. To qualify, entrants had to be a British citizen or based in Britain.

Top 10 Men

Top 10 Women

2007 Powerlist

The first edition of the Powerlist was compiled after six months of research and debate where 400 people of influence were whittled down to 50 women and 50 men, then ranked into respective top tens and announced in August 2007.

Top 10 Men

Top 10 Women

See also

* Black British elite
*Black British people

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links

Powerlist

Publications established in 2007
Yearbooks
Biographical dictionaries
Lists of British people
2007 establishments in the United Kingdom
Black elite