Celebrating women of achievement for Black History Month

At Green Park, we’re proud to support Black History Month. This year, we’ve taken our participation further by sponsoring Black History Month magazine. The theme in 2019 is women of achievement and we’re delighted that so many amazing Black women who have inspired Britain are being recognised for their outstanding contributions.

Through our work, we’ve come across many more incredible women of colour, not least through our 2019 BAME 100 Business Leaders index. Our annual index showcases the UK’s leading ethnic minority talent, which is still chronically underrepresented in Britain’s boardrooms. To celebrate women of achievement for Black History Month, we bring you three game-changing female leaders from our BAME 100 list.

Karen Blackett

Country Manager for the world’s largest marketing group. Chairwoman of the UK’s largest media agency. Both roles are held by Karen Blackett, who’s ascended quickly through the ranks in the competitive world of advertising. While this CV is impressive on its own, Karen’s reputation for creating vibrant cultures and energising teams has also drawn acclaim. In 2012, Karen launched the first ever government-backed apprentice scheme for the advertising sector. Recognition came in 2014 with an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday honours. A year later, Karen became the first business woman to be named Britain’s Most Influential Black person in the Power List. She currently holds a number of other public sector appointments, including Business Ambassador to the Department of International Trade.

On top of these influential positions, Karen has recently taken on two more key, high-profile roles: trustee of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s new charity foundation, and race equality business champion for the Race at Work Charter. Both posts show that Karen is not only a skilled business leader but also a force for good in wider society: a fantastic role model for future BAME leaders.

Cindy Butts

From a parliamentary researcher to a leading voice in a host of government organisations: as Cindy Butts’ career has developed, her influence has spread. In 2000, Cindy became an independent member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, serving as a Deputy Chair for four years. Between then and 2012, Cindy was integral to police oversight, chairing a number of high-profile performance scrutinies. Cindy has gone on to undertake a number of public sector appointments and several charity trusteeships. Most recently, Cindy was appointed as trustee of the Kick It Out campaign, performing this role alongside her current post as Commissioner for the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

Speaking at September release of our 2019 BAME 100 Business Leaders index, Cindy commented:

“…I hope that my profile and that of the other esteemed individuals serves to inspire and encourage people of colour to strive and believe.”

Althea Loderick

In over 25 years in local government, national organisations and private sector consultancy, Althea Loderick has made a name for herself as a dedicated public sector leader. Earlier this year, she became the Chief Executive and Head of Paid Service at Newham London Borough Council, joining from Brent Council. Having worked at Waltham Forest, Enfield and Hammersmith & Fulham Councils too, Althea brought an impressive track record within local government. Her experience includes modernising workforce strategy, a task she undertook as at the National Policing Improvement Agency.  

The recent move to Chief Executive was a major step for Althea, who began her career dealing with homelessness. With her drive to do even more for the people of London, she’s an inspiring example for younger BAME generations:

“I am particularly excited about the prospect of taking forward the excellent work already begun to truly place people at the heart of everything we do.”

Championing diversity and inclusion, Green Park is changing the face of leadership by helping organisations think differently about talent in the UK’s top boardrooms. Our aim is to help organisations to attract, identify, develop and retain trusted, inclusive, authentic and, most of all, highly effective leaders from different backgrounds to leverage the power of collective difference. In the course of our everyday work, we place a diverse leader on a board every 14 days. Black History Month’s campaign for racial equality and equality recognition reflects the principles that underpin what we believe and everything we do.

To find out more, please contact the team on info@green-park.co.uk or call on +44 (0)207 399 4300.

To download the 2019 BAME 100 Business Leaders executive summary, click here; or if you wish to discuss the index and its research, please contact Fiona McIntosh on +44 (0)203 145 3445 or Fiona.Mcintosh@green-park.co.uk