The 14th annual ''

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 lim ...

'', 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 J.P. Morgan & Co. is an American financial institution specialized in investment banking, asset management and private banking founded by financier J. P. Morgan in 1871. Through a series of mergers and acquisitions, the company is now a subsidi ...

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, alon ...

Linklaters Linklaters LLP is a British multinational law firm, headquartered in London. Founded in 1838, it is one of the four ' Magic Circle' law firms known for their corporate and financial expertise. It currently employs about 3,100 lawyers in 31 of ...

Refinitiv LSEG Data & Analytics, formerly Refinitiv, is an American-British global provider of financial market data and infrastructure. The company was founded in 2018 as a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters, which then sold a 55% stake to Blackstone Group L ...

, Herman Miller,

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

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 Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a Decentralization, decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and Racial inequality in the United States, racial inequality experienced by black people, and to pro ...

(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 The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, which also resulted in the awards being held virtually on 17 November 2020, hosted by

Kwame Kwei-Armah Kwame Kwei-Armah (born Ian Roberts; 24 March 1967 in Hillingdon, London) is a British actor, playwright, director and broadcaster. In 2005, Kwei-Armah became the second black Briton to have a play staged in London's West End when his award-w ...

. The award event was held in partnership with JP Morgan & Co., who announced they would invest £2 million in support to London non-profit organisations headed by black and minority ethnic leaders. The independent panel of judges named Sir

Lewis Hamilton Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver who competes in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari. Hamilton has won a joint-record seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles—tied with M ...

as the most influential awardee, due to both his sporting excellence and his advocacy in light of the BLM movement, with additional highlights of the Top 10 including Prof.

Kevin Fenton Kevin Andrew Fenton (born 19 December 1966"Kevin Fenton." ''Contemporary Black Biography''. Vol. 87. Detroit: Gale, 2011. Gale ''Biography In Context''. Web. 28 Jan. 2013.) is a public health physician and infectious disease epidemiologist. He ...

and Dame Donna Kinnair for their work fighting against

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

Top 10

Also in the Top 100, by category

Arts, Fashion and Design *

Chi-chi Nwanoku Chinyere Adah "Chi-Chi" Nwanoku (; born June 1956) is a British double bassist and professor of Historical Double Bass Studies at the Royal Academy of Music. Nwanoku was a founder member and principal bassist of the Orchestra of the Age of Enli ...

- Classical musician and founder of

Chineke! Orchestra Chineke! Orchestra () is a British orchestra, the first professional orchestra in Europe to be made up of majority Black & ethnically diverse musicians. The word Chineke derives from the Igbo language meaning "God". The orchestra was founded by m ...

* Duro Olowu - Fashion designer * Dr Shirley J Thompson - Composer, conductor and Reader in Music at

University of Westminster The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Po ...

* Pat McGrath - Make-up artist and founder of Pat McGrath Labs * Francesca Hayward - Principal dancer,

The Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded ...

Grace Wales Bonner Grace Wales Bonner is an English fashion designer."About".
Wales Bonner website. Her designs blend ...

- Fashion designer, founder and Creative Director at Wales Bonner *

Kobna Holdbrook-Smith Kobna Kuttah Holdbrook-Smith (born 23 August 1977) is a Ghanaian-English actor. He has played roles in films, including Father Richard Emery in '' Ghost Stories'' (2017), Oliver in '' The Commuter'', Templeton Frye in '' Mary Poppins Returns'' ...

- Actor and founding member of "Act for Change" *

John Boyega John Adedayo Bamidele Adegboyega (born 17 March 1992), known professionally as John Boyega, is a British actor and producer. He first gained recognition in Britain for his role as a teenage gang leader in the comedy horror film ''Attack the B ...

- Actor *

Idris Elba Idrissa Akuna Elba Order of the British Empire, OBE ( ; born 6 September 1972) is an English actor and musician. He has received a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for three BAFTA Awards and six Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmy Awards. He w ...

- Actor and producer Business, Corporate, Financiers and Entrepreneurs * Femi Bamisaiye - CIO

Homeserve HomeServe is a British multinational home emergency repairs and improvements business based in Walsall, England. It operates in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, France, Spain, Japan and Germany. Established in 1993, HomeServe was list ...

* Nadja Bellan-White - Global CMO at

Vice Media Vice Media Group LLC is a Canadian-American digital media and broadcasting company. Vice Media encompasses four main business areas: Vice Studios Group (film and TV production); Vice TV (a joint venture with A&E Networks, also known as Vicelan ...

Group * Jason Black (J2K) - Co-founder of Crep Protect and co-owner of Crepe and Cones * Eric Collins - CEO and founding member of Impact X Capital Partners * Camille Drummond - Vice President, Global Business Services at BP * Yemi Edun - Founder/CEO of Daniel Ford & Co. * Emeka Emembolu - Senior VP-North Sea BP * Dean Forbes - President, The Access Group * Pamela Hutchinson - Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion,

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician a ...

* Yvonne Ike - Managing Director and Head of Sub-Saharan Africa region,

BofA Securities BofA Securities, Inc., previously Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML), is an American multinational investment banking division under the auspices of Bank of America. It is not to be confused with Merrill, the stock brokerage and trading pla ...

* Adrian Joseph - Managing Director, Group AI & Data Solutions,

BT Group BT Group plc (formerly British Telecom) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is the largest provider of fixed-li ...

* Wol Kolade - Managing Partner,

Livingbridge Livingbridge is a mid-market private equity firm launched in 1995. Headquartered in London, the firm also has offices in, Melbourne, Australia and Boston, US. Livingbridge was known until November 2014 as Isis Equity Partners, but rebranded a ...

* Lindelwe Lesley Ndlovu - CEO, AXA Africa Specialty Risks,

Lloyd's of London Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is a insurance and reinsurance market located in London, England. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company; rather, Lloyd's is a corporate body gover ...

* Tara Lajumoke - Managing Director, ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'' * Netsai Mangwende - Head of Finance for Great Britain,

Willis Towers Watson Willis Towers Watson plc, branded as WTW and stylised in its logo as wtw, is a British-American multinational company that provides commercial insurance brokerage services, strategic risk management services (such as contingency planning, sec ...

* Tunde Olanrewaju - Senior Partner

McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company (informally McKinsey or McK) is an American multinational strategy and management consulting firm that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. Founded in 1926 by James O. McKinse ...

* Paulette Rowe - CEO, Integrated and E-commerce Solutions,

Paysafe Group Paysafe Limited (formerly known as Optimal Payments PLC) is a multinational online payments company. Paysafe offers payment processing, digital wallet and online cash systems to businesses and consumers, with particular experience of serving t ...

* Roni Savage - Managing Director, founder o
Jomas Associates
* Alan Smith - Global Head of Risk Strategy and Chief of Staff, Global Risk at

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc ( zh, t_hk=滙豐; initialism from its founding member The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London, England, with historical and business li ...

* Tevin Tobun - Founder and CEO, GV Group Gate Ventures * Sandra Wallace - UK Managing Partner,

DLA Piper DLA Piper is a law firm with offices in over 40 countries across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. It was founded in 2005 through the merger between three law firms: San Diego–based ''Gray Cary Ware & Freiden ...

* Dame Sharon White - Chairman,

John Lewis Partnership John Lewis Partnership plc (JLP) is a British company that operates John Lewis & Partners department stores, Waitrose supermarkets, financial services and a build to rent operation. The public limited company is owned by a trust on behalf o ...

Media, Publishing and Entertainment * Kamal Ahmed - Editorial Director,

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

* Akala - Rapper, journalist, poet and activist *

Amma Asante Amma Asante (born 13 September 1969) is a British filmmaker, screenwriter, former actress, and Chancellor at Norwich University of the Arts, who was born in London to parents from Ghana. Her love for the film industry started when she receive ...

- Writer, director * Lorna Clarke -

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Controller of Pop Music * Reni Eddo-Lodge - Journalist, author *

Bernardine Evaristo Bernardine Anne Mobolaji Evaristo (born 28 May 1959) is an English author and academic. Her novel ''Girl, Woman, Other'' jointly won the Booker Prize in 2019 alongside Margaret Atwood's ''The Testaments'', making her the first Black woman to win ...

- Writer, Professor of Creative Writing at

Brunel University London Brunel University of London (BUL) is a Public university, public Research universities, research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It is named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Victorian era, Victorian engineer and pione ...

* Sir Lenny Henry - Actor, writer, campaigner * Vanessa Kingori - Publisher, ''

British Vogue ''British Vogue'' (stylised in all caps) is the British edition of the American Fashion journalism, fashion magazine Vogue (magazine), Vogue. The magazine was launched in 1916 by Condé Nast, linking together fashion and high society.König A ...

'' * Dorothy Koomson - Author * Anne Mensah - Vice-president of Content UK,

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

* Hugh Muir - Senior Assistant Editor, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' *

Femi Oguns Olufemi Temitope Ogunsanwo (born 28 October 1977), known as Femi Oguns, is a prominent British agent and former actor who founded Identity School of Acting and Identity Agency Group. Background Femi Oguns obtained a joint honours degree in ...

- Founder and CEO of Identity School of Acting * Marcus Ryder - Executive Producer of Multimedia

Caixin Caixin Media () is a Chinese media group based in Beijing known for business and investigative journalism. Structure The founder and publisher is Hu Shuli, a former Knight Fellow in journalism at Stanford University, and an honorary doctora ...

* Paulette Simpson - Executive, Corporate Affairs and Public Policy, Jamaica National Group; Executive Director, The Voice Media Group * Annette Thomas - CEO ''

'' Media Group *

Charlene White Charlene Denise White (born 22 June 1980) is a British television broadcaster, journalist and presenter, best known for presenting ''ITV News'' programmes. She has been an anchor on '' Loose Women'' since 2021.ITN Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based media production and broadcast journalism company. ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, New York City, New York, Paris, Sydney and Washin ...

News anchor *

Reggie Yates Reginald Yates (born 31 May 1983) is a British television presenter, actor, writer and director with a career spanning three decades on screen as an actor, television presenter and radio DJ. Yates played Leo Jones in ''Doctor Who'' and has wo ...

- Actor, broadcaster and DJ * Gary Younge - Journalist and author; Professor of Sociology at

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

Politics, Law and Religion * Stephanie Boyce - Deputy Vice-President

Law Society of England and Wales The Law Society of England and Wales (officially The Law Society) is the professional association that represents solicitors for the jurisdiction of England and Wales. It provides services and support to practising and training solicitors, as ...

* Martin Forde -

Barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

* Rev

Rose Hudson-Wilkin Rose Josephine Hudson-Wilkin (born 19 January 1961) is a British people, British Anglican prelate, who serves as Suffragan bishop, Suffragan Bishop of Dover in the diocese of Canterbury – deputising for the archbishop – since 2019: she is ...

Bishop of Dover The Bishop of Dover is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after the town of Dover in Kent. The Bishop of Dover holds the additional title of "Bishop in ...

David Lammy David Lindon Lammy FRSA (born 19 July 1972) is a British politician who has served as Foreign Secretary since July 2024. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Tottenham since 2000. Lammy previously held vario ...

- Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, Member of Parliament for

Tottenham Tottenham (, , , ) is a district in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, ...

* Harry Matovu - Barrister * Dr Kathryn Nwajiaku - Director, Politics and Governance

Overseas Development Institute ODI Global (formerly Overseas Development Institute) is a global affairs think tank, founded in 1960. Its mission is "to inspire people to act on injustice and inequality through collaborative research and ideas that matter for people and the ...

* Dr Sandie Okoro - Senior Vice President and Group General Counsel,

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

* Segun Osuntokun - Managing Partner, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner * Joshua Siaw - Partner,

White & Case White & Case LLP is a global white-shoe law firm based in New York City. Founded in 1901, the firm has 46 offices in 31 countries worldwide. History The firm was founded on May 1, 1901, when two Wall Street lawyers, Justin DuPratt White, 31, a ...

Patrick Vernon Patrick Philip Vernon (born 1961)"Patrick Vernon"
, Sankofa 2013: Teachers' R ...

- Political activist * Marcia Willis Stewart - Director, Birnberg Peirce & Partners Public, Third Sector and Education * Sonita Alleyne - Master,

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Jesus College was established in 1496 on the site of the twelfth-century Benedictine nunnery of St Radegund's Priory, Cambridge, St ...

* Dr Margaret Casely-Hayford - Chair,

Shakespeare's Globe Shakespeare's Globe is a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse first built in 1599 for which William Shakespeare wrote his plays. Like the original, it is located on the south bank of the River Thames, in Southwark, Lon ...

, Chancellor of

Coventry University Coventry University is a Public university, public research university in Coventry, England. The origins of Coventry University can be linked to the Coventry School of Art and Design, Coventry School of Design in 1843. It was known as Lancheste ...

, Non-Executive Director, Co-op Group * Nira Chamberlain - President of

Institute of Mathematics and its Applications The Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA) is the UK's chartered professional body for mathematicians and one of the UK's learned societies for mathematics (another being the London Mathematical Society). The IMA aims to advance ...

* Professor Patricia Daley - Vice Principal of

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship ...

* Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon - CEO and co-founder

Stemettes Stemettes is a social enterprise which encourages girls and young women aged 5–25 to pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths (STEM). Stemettes runs panel events, hackathons, the Student to Stemette mentoring programme su ...

* Professor Funmi Olonisakin - Professor of Security, Leadership and Development at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, Founding Director of African Leadership Centre * Marvin Rees -

Mayor of Bristol The Mayor of Bristol was the political leader of Bristol City Council. The mayor was a directly elected politician who, along with the 70 members of Bristol City Council, was responsible for the strategic government of the city of Bristol, En ...

* Lord Woolley - Co-founder/Director,

Operation Black Vote Operation Black Vote (OBV) is a British Independent (politician), non-partisan and not-for-profit, nonprofit national organisation established in 1996, which addresses the Black British and ethnic minority democratic deficit. OBV uses Voter regis ...

Science, Medicine and Engineering * Dr Sylvia Bartley - Senior Global Director, Medtronic Foundation * Professor Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent - Chief Midwifery Officer,

NHS England NHS England, formally the NHS Commissioning Board for England, is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care. It oversees the budget, planning, delivery and day-to-day operation of the commissioning si ...

* Dr Jacqui Dyer - President of

Mental Health Foundation The Mental Health Foundation is a UK-based charity dedicated to promoting good mental health and addressing mental health issues. Founded in 1949, the foundation aims to help people understand, protect, and sustain their mental health through ...

* Dr Paula Franklin - Chief Medical Officer at Bupa * Dr Martin Griffiths - Lead trauma surgeon,

Royal London Hospital The Royal London Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is part of Barts Health NHS Trust. It provides district general hospital services for the City of London and Tower Hamlets and sp ...

& Clinical Director for Violence Reduction,

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

* Dr Ian Nnatu - Consultant

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

* Dr Joy Odili - Consultant plastic surgeon * Dr Emeka Okaro - Consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist * Prof. Laura Serrant - Head of Department and Professor of Community and Public Health Nursing at

Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Education ...

* Dr Samantha Tross - Consultant

orthopaedic surgeon Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

Sports * Dina Asher Smith - British record-holding sprinter *

Anthony Joshua Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua (born 15 October 1989) is a British professional boxer. He held the unified champion, unified world heavyweight championship twice between 2016 and 2021. At regional level, he held the British Boxing Board of C ...

- Boxer *

Marcus Rashford Marcus Rashford (born 31 October 1997) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Premier League club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa, on Loan (association football), lo ...

- Footballer and campaigner against child poverty *

Raheem Sterling Raheem Shaquille Sterling (born 8 December 1994) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Winger (association football), winger for club Chelsea F.C., Chelsea. Sterling began his career at Queens Park Rangers F.C., Que ...

- Footballer Technology * Nneka Abulokwe - Founder and CEO, MicroMax Consulting * Ije Nwokorie - Senior Director,

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

* Ebele Okobi - Public policy director, Africa, the Middle East and Turkey for

Jacky Wright Jacky Wright is a Senior Partner and Chief Technology and Platform Officer of McKinsey & Company. Biography Jacky Wright was born in London to Jamaican parents and grew up there in Tottenham. Her family moved to the US when she was a teenager as ...

- Chief digital officer & Corporate VP at

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

References

{{Authority control Biographical dictionaries Lists of British people Yearbooks