2024 Winners

Pamela Maynard was the Chief Executive Officer of Avanade, a leading provider of digital, cloud and advisory services, industry solutions and design-led experiences across the Microsoft ecosystem, from 2019 to 2024. During her time as CEO, Avanade achieved growth that consistently outpaced the market. She added over 22,000 professionals to Avanade’s employee base, acquired six businesses and opened two new geographic locations for Avanade. All this earned Avanade the Microsoft 2024 Partner of the Year accolade a record 19 times. By galvanising the company around a clearly articulated purpose and vision, Pamela spearheaded a cultural transformation within Avanade. Avanade has also been recognised as a top place to work by Glassdoor, Newsweek, Great Place to Work, Top Employer and more, earning over 150 employer awards since she became CEO. Pamela continued to set new standards for inclusivity and diversity by bringing on Avanade’s first-ever Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer. She is one of only eight women and the only Black woman CEO leading one of Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work.

Jimi Adesenya is co-founder and Executive Producer of JM Films, a media production company specialising in creative visuals, music videos, commercials and television, as well as Unbound Studios, a film studio specialising in motion pictures. Jimi has overseen the production of music videos, commercial work, documentaries and film. His list of clients includes Sony RCA, Disney, Universal Music Group, Ridley Scott Group, Pepsi, Coca-Cola and Gates Foundation, along with global stars such as Wizkid, Burna Boy, Stormzy, Tiwa Savage, Rema and Tyla. Together with JM Films, Jimi co-produced Beyonce’s musical film ‘Black is King’, as well as her music video for ‘Brown Skin Girl’ which won a Grammy for Best Music Video in 2021. He also led as Executive Producer for Marvel Studios’ Black Panther music documentary ‘Voices Rising – The Music of Wakanda Forever’. He has produced videos for award-winning hits such as Wizkid’s ‘Essence’, Tiwa Savage’s ‘49-99’ and Burna Boy’s ‘On the Low’ – the latter achieving upward of 385 million views on YouTube. Jimi has mentored more than 30 students and was awarded a scholarship grant of $10,000 though his ‘Goals for Young’ student mentoring initiative.

Laura Henry-Allain is an award-winning international storyteller, producer, consultant and educationist. She is the creator and series producer of the wellloved, award-winning ‘JoJo & Gran Gran’ animated series developed and produced by CBeebies and has more children’s animations in the pipeline. Laura has worked with a range of global brands including Paramount, Mattel, Moonbug, Hasbro, John Lewis, Comic Relief and Bafta. Her bestselling children’s books include ‘My Skin, Your Skin’ which explores race and racism and ‘My Family, Your Family’ which helps children to talk about families, love and belonging (Penguin Random House). Her latest book, ‘Maya and Marley’, was published in 2024. In 2021, Laura received her MBE for services to education. In the same year she was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual Nursery World Awards. A teacher by training, Laura is a board member of the Children’s Media Foundation and vice-president of the British Association of Early Childhood Education. She is a patron of the Grenada Community Library. Her voluntary work includes mentoring young people and supporting the Grenfell Memorial Quilt team.

Since joining Apple in 2022, Leon Francis has contributed to the growth and success of the company. A significant moment was being a part of the opening of the Knightsbridge flagship store on Brompton Road in 2022. This was the first Apple store to open in London in 10 years, and it was launched with great fanfare by award-winning DJ Just Blaze, known for working with Jay-Z and Beyoncé. In his current role, Leon leads a team in the commercial product zone and oversees teams in the business department. He plays a key role in the operations of a globally recognised store within one of the most prestigious markets in the world. Less than a year after joining Apple, Leon became co-chair of ‘black @ apple’ UK. This important initiative aims to empower and support Black individuals within Apple. Prior to his arrival at Apple, Leon received several awards and accolades, including the 1st in Class Effective Management Award from his time at McDonald’s and the Pride Award for his contributions to diversity and inclusion while at Sainsbury’s.

Geoffrey is the driving force behind Burberry’s globaI DEI strategy. As the architect of Burberry’s approach to DEI, he has spearheaded transformative initiatives that resonate across the business. These include a new global strategy focused on business impact, achieving gender balance across the brand and partnering with the BRIT School to introduce young people to the creative business. Geoffrey is a catalyst for change, infusing the Burberry marketing campaigns with inclusivity and authenticity. In his roles on the risk committee and the human resources leadership team, Geoffrey exercises his commitment to shaping a corporate culture rooted in integrity and accountability. Through strategic recruitment, retention and promotion, Geoffrey is instrumental in driving Burberry’s reputation as a global employer of choice. Beyond Burberry, Geoffrey’s contributions extend to the creative realm. He is a BAFTA-nominated producer for ‘Untold Stories: Hair on Set’ (Sky TV) and the artist manager of ‘Iamtheliving’. He serves as chair of the Bernie Grant Arts Centre. He uses his available platforms to amplify marginalised voices and champion under-represented talent.

Mike Williams is the co-founder of Flake Bake, London’s largest producer of authentic handmade Jamaican patties. After completing his undergraduate degree in Economics and Politics and an MSc in Business at Warwick University, Mike recognised the growing popularity of Caribbean food in London and spotted a gap for Jamaican patties. He wrote a dissertation on how to build a Jamaican patty business in the UK using Blue Ocean Strategy. He joined forces with his father, Jamaican immigrant Paul Williams, to establish their bakery in Peckham. Twelve years later, Flake Bake supplies over 20,000 handcrafted patties each week to local takeaways, restaurants and street food vendors. Mike’s hard work propelled Flake Bake to win Channel 4’s Aldi’s Next Best Thing 2024. Upon securing their contract with Aldi, Flake Bake sold over 100,000 of their famous Jamaican beef patties in less than 10 days. Flake Bake’s success has garnered widespread media attention, with features in The Grocer and The Independent, as well as coverage on ITV News, Channel 4 News, BBC London News and BBC Radio London.

Born in England to Guyanese parents, Mark Dalgety is a chemical engineer by profession. He has grown Dalgety Teas from importing one loose-leaf ‘corilla bush’ tea from Guyana to supplying the UK with 36 herbal varieties of tea. In the UK, his teas are stocked in over 3,000 independent stores and three major supermarkets. His teas can now be enjoyed in Nigeria, South Korea, the US and the Caribbean. Out of more than a thousand entries, Dalgety Teas was one of five companies to win £100,000 of free advertising on Channel 4 in a ‘Black in Business’ competition. The company also won a place on Tesco’s Accelerator programme for 2024. Dalgety Teas works with a supply chain that is based on corporate social responsibility and sources its high-quality, natural ingredients from villages and small farmers globally. It has partnered with NHS Blood and Transport (NHSBT) to encourage people of Black heritage to be blood donors. Mark founded Black Entrepreneurs International (BEI), a platform aimed at empowering and supporting Black entrepreneurs around the globe.

Khalia Ismain is Lloyds Bank’s first Black Entrepreneurs Programme Manager. In 2023 she engaged 5,500 entrepreneurs – a 25% increase on 2022 – with 23,000 hours of support – a 17% increase on 2022 – and disbursed £50,000 in grant funding to Black-led start-ups. In order to foster trust between the business community and the bank, in 2023 she organised 42 events to facilitate positive relationship-building. Pulse surveys show that Black business clients are now much more likely to report trusting the bank, which is a crucial precursor for support. Khalia expanded the bank’s partnerships to ensure the programme caters to the varying needs of Black business owners across regions, sectors and life stages, with the most notable partnership being with Channel 4 to provide five businesses with £100,000 of television advertising. The initiative received just over one thousand applications. The winners experienced significant boosts in brand awareness, with some expanding into new national retailers and raising substantial funds. Khalia’s ambition when joining Lloyds Bank was to create opportunities for Black-led businesses, an ambition she has fulfilled.

Ize Idemudia is the Chief Operating Officer for International and Global Investment Management Legal. A core part of her role is ensuring those divisions are operating effectively and efficiently, alongside horizon scanning the direction of travel the legal sector is moving in. She has driven a strategy on the legal coverage and operating model to align with the transformation of the asset management business from a $400bn to $1.3tn AUM business. Under her leadership, the global team addressed critical resourcing challenges, delivering sustainable solutions within 9 months. In addition, she has played an integral part in driving the coverage model across Europe to ensure greater alignment with the post-Brexit strategy, as well as the coverage models in Hong Kong and Tokyo. By developing trusted relationships with the business, she has solved important coverage issues that historically impeded commercial success. Ize sits on her division’s D&I Steering Committee, the EMEA Race to Action Group and the Morgan Stanley Inclusive Ventures Lab Investment Committee. She also represents Morgan Stanley on The CityUK’s Next Generation Leadership Council. Ize serves on the advisory board for Black Women in Asset Management (BWAM) and has been recognized by the Powerlist’s 25 UK most influential people in finance, law and fintech.

At the age of 19, Yeshua Carter joined EY as an apprentice executive assistant and co-founded a project called EY Outreach. The project delivers early intervention, diversion and other preventive methods into mainstream education, alternative provision, prisons and other out of school settings. Yeshua works with government and public sector clients to design and deliver services that support young people most at risk of negative outcomes such as criminal exploitation, poor wellbeing, unemployment and reoffending by using interventions to help them maximise their potential and define their purpose. Yeshua has scaled EY Outreach to a social value offering that helps the firm to acquire socially meaningful work. In 2019, Yeshua graduated from the EY Business Administration apprenticeship, winning the BPP University National Apprenticeship Champion award. He also won the Management Consultancy Association Rising Star award and the Black Talent Awards Rising Star award in 2022. Yeshua supports the charity First Class Foundation. He has led and delivered events with high profile clients including the University of Oxford and the NHS.

Liza Jordan delivers exceptional technology-driven, platform-led outcomes for Accenture. She develops C-suite relationships with Accenture clients that are based on trust, integrity and delivery. Liza has successfully grown multiple global accounts and delivered significant practice growth. As a senior leader who works largely part-time, she is a model for demonstrating that the ability to deliver value and drive significant business outcomes is not limited by working hours. Liza has played global leadership roles across multiple accounts. She carries P&L accountability and is responsible for a diverse team of Accenture resources spanning multiple countries, delivering work across all of Accenture’s offerings and services. Liza is a driven business leader and a committed developer of both practice and people. She has a proud track record of building high-performing diverse teams and believes that the keys to her success are leading by example and being a natural talent spotter and amplifier. As a previous DEI executive sponsor for Accenture Technology UKI/A, Liza has spearheaded initiatives to elevate the retention and progression of diverse talent within Accenture.

With over 10 years’ experience in the energy industry, Tolu Falade leads a team that is responsible for delivering safe and reliable operations for one of BP’s multi-million-dollar assets. His notable achievements include delivering a transformational ‘best-in-class’ remote performance-monitoring strategy and system for BP’s flagship multi-billion-dollar project, as well as spearheading the start-up and operation of over 70 deepwater subsea wells, a significant part of the company’s portfolio. His initiatives in strategy and continuous improvement have unlocked millions in commercial value and yielded benefits for BP operating assets in different parts of the globe. Tolu employs agile methods of working to deliver successful business outcomes. As leader of BP’s UK ethnicity business resource group (BRG), the Positively Ethnic Network (PEN), Tolu has spearheaded the network’s transformation and engaged BP’s C-suite leadership, growing the community by over 70% within a year. The BRG’s success is testament to his ability to bring together diverse teams and support them to function effectively. Tolu is passionate about the transformative power of technology to enable a more inclusive workforce.

Haddy Davies moved from process engineer at Johnson Matthey to principal process engineer in a rapid two years. As principal process engineer, she spearheaded the elimination of a significant £15 million precious metal backlog, showcasing exceptional problem-solving skills and the ability to deliver impactful results. A chartered chemical engineer, Haddy (CEng MIChemE) leads a crossfunctional, collaborative engineering team to achieve project goals, while also championing sustainability. By aligning project execution with the company’s ‘Design for Refine’ circular strategy, she directly contributed to achieving progress toward the company’s net-zero goals for 2040. Transitioning to a strategic role within the global procurement team, Haddy’s leadership as technical process lead resulted in the design and launch of a key innovation programme that secured £670,000 in funding for four projects. These projects are projected to generate a margin impact benefit of £12 million, reinforcing Haddy’s contribution to cost optimisation and significant business impact. Haddy chairs the Black Employee Network to help Johnson Matthey achieve its DEI goals.

Patrick Thomson joined JP Morgan Asset Management in Singapore and served as Global Head of Sovereigns. With extensive experience in reserves management in Asia and the Middle East, he has worked with many of the largest asset owners in the world.

Based in London, he is Chair of the Board of the Investment Association, representing the UK’s investment management industry, and is a Member of the UK Government’s Treasury Task Force.

After graduating from Edinburgh University with an MA (Hons), Patrick served as an officer in the British Army for five years. He qualified as a member of the CFA Society of the UK in 2000.

Rob Anarfi is the first person of colour on the Executive Committee and several boards within the Beazley Group. He was previously Beazley’s Head of Compliance. Rob has led the enhancement of the Group’s risk management framework and function. While chair of Beazley’s DEI steering group, the company grew female representation in the senior leadership team from 27% to 45%, partly guided by the organisation’s participation in the Women in Finance Charter. Rob founded, and remains the executive sponsor for, Beazley RACE, the Group’s employee network focused on racial and ethnic equity. Rob is an outspoken advocate for racial equity in the insurance industry. His leadership has helped to attract more people of colour to Beazley. Overall representation has grown from 19% (4% Black) to 25% (6% Black). He co-founded and co-chaired Race Action Through Leadership (RATL), an initiative that works with insurance company chairs and CEOs to enhance racial diversity and inclusion in insurance. Before joining Beazley, Rob held senior audit roles at the Financial Conduct Authority, Alliance, Zurich and Aviva.