The 14th annual Powerlist, 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, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Linklaters, Refinitiv, Herman Miller, Facebook 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 (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, which also resulted in the awards being held virtually on 17 November 2020, hosted by Kwame Kwei-Armah.
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 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 and Dame Donna Kinnair for their work fighting against COVID-19.
Top 10 Rank Individual Occupation Category Notability 1 Lewis Hamilton Formula One driver Sports Seven-time world champion Formula One driver 2 Kevin Fenton Public health leader Public, Third Sector and Education Regional director, Public Health England London 3 Stormzy Grime music artist Media, Publishing & Entertainment Award-winning musician 4 Michaela Coel Actor, screenwriter, director and producer Media, Publishing & Entertainment Creator, co-director and producer of BBC/HBO series I May Destroy You 5 Edward Enninful Editor-in-chief Media, Publishing & Entertainment Editor-in-chief British Vogue 6 Donna Kinnair Public health leader and nurse Public, Third Sector and Education CEO & general secretary, Royal College of Nursing 7 Jacqueline McKenzie Human rights lawyer Politics, Law and Religion Director at Centre for Migration Advice and Research and McKenzie, Beute and Pope 8 David Olusoga Historian, writer, broadcaster Media, Publishing and Entertainment Historian and TV presenter 9 Afua Hirsch Writer, broadcaster, and former barrister Media, Publishing and Entertainment Journalist for The Guardian, author, broadcaster 10 Richard Iferenta Businessperson Business, Corporate, Financiers & Entrepreneurs Partner at KPMG
Also in the Top 100, by category
Arts, Fashion and Design Chi-chi Nwanoku - Classical musician and founder of Chineke! Orchestra Duro Olowu - Fashion designer Dr Shirley J Thompson - Composer, conductor and Reader in Music at University of Westminster Pat McGrath - Make-up artist and founder of Pat McGrath Labs Francesca Hayward - Principal dancer, The Royal Ballet Grace Wales Bonner - Fashion designer, founder and Creative Director at Wales Bonner Kobna Holdbrook-Smith - Actor and founding member of "Act for Change" John Boyega - Actor Idris Elba - Actor and producer
Business, Corporate, Financiers and Entrepreneurs Femi Bamisaiye - CIO Homeserve Nadja Bellan-White - Global CMO at Vice Media 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 Yvonne Ike - Managing Director and Head of Sub-Saharan Africa region, BofA Securities Adrian Joseph - Managing Director, Group AI & Data Solutions, BT Group Wol Kolade - Managing Partner, Livingbridge Lindelwe Lesley Ndlovu - CEO, AXA Africa Specialty Risks, Lloyd's of London Tara Lajumoke - Managing Director, Financial Times Netsai Mangwende - Head of Finance for Great Britain, Willis Towers Watson Tunde Olanrewaju - Senior Partner McKinsey & Company Paulette Rowe - CEO, Integrated and E-commerce Solutions, Paysafe Group Roni Savage - Managing Director, founder of Jomas Associates Alan Smith - Global Head of Risk Strategy and Chief of Staff, Global Risk at HSBC Tevin Tobun - Founder and CEO, GV Group Gate Ventures Sandra Wallace - UK Managing Partner, DLA Piper Dame Sharon White - chairman, John Lewis Partnership
Media, Publishing and Entertainment Kamal Ahmed - Editorial director, BBC News Akala - Rapper, journalist, poet and activist Amma Asante - Writer, director Lorna Clarke - BBC Controller of Pop Music Reni Eddo-Lodge - Journalist, author Bernardine Evaristo - Writer, professor of creative writing at Brunel University London Sir Lenny Henry - Actor, writer, campaigner Vanessa Kingori - Publisher, British Vogue Dorothy Koomson - Author Anne Mensah - Vice-president of Content UK, Netflix Hugh Muir - Senior assistant editor, The Guardian Femi Oguns - Founder and CEO of Identity School of Acting Marcus Ryder - Executive producer of multimedia Caixin Paulette Simpson - Executive, corporate affairs and public policy, Jamaica National Group; executive director, The Voice Media Group Annette Thomas - CEO The Guardian Media Group Charlene White - ITN News anchor Reggie Yates - Actor, broadcaster and DJ Gary Younge - Journalist and author; professor of sociology at University of Manchester
Politics, Law and Religion Stephanie Boyce - Deputy vice-president Law Society of England and Wales Martin Forde - Barrister Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin - Bishop of Dover David Lammy - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, Member of Parliament for Tottenham Harry Matovu - Barrister Dr Kathryn Nwajiaku - Director, Politics and Governance Overseas Development Institute Dr Sandie Okoro - Senior Vice President and Group General Counsel, World Bank Segun Osuntokun - Managing Partner, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner Joshua Siaw - Partner, White & Case Patrick Vernon - Political activist Marcia Willis Stewart - Director, Birnberg Peirce & Partners
Public, Third Sector and Education Sonita Alleyne - Master, Jesus College, Cambridge Dr Margaret Casely-Hayford - chair, Shakespeare's Globe, Chancellor of Coventry University, Non-Executive Director, Co-op Group Nira Chamberlain - President of Institute of Mathematics and its Applications Professor Patricia Daley - Vice Principal of Jesus College, Oxford Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon - CEO and co-founder Stemettes Professor Funmi Olonisakin - Professor of Security, Leadership and Development at King's College London, Founding Director of African Leadership Centre Marvin Rees - Mayor of Bristol Lord Woolley - Co-founder/Director, Operation Black Vote
Science, Medicine and Engineering Dr Sylvia Bartley - Senior Global Director, Medtronic Foundation Professor Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent - Chief Midwifery Officer, NHS England Dr Jacqui Dyer - President of Mental Health Foundation Dr Paula Franklin - Chief Medical Officer at Bupa Dr Martin Griffiths - Lead trauma surgeon, Royal London Hospital & Clinical Director for Violence Reduction, NHS Dr Ian Nnatu - Consultant psychiatrist 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 Dr Samantha Tross - Consultant orthopaedic surgeon
Sports Dina Asher Smith - British record-holding sprinter Anthony Joshua - Boxer Marcus Rashford - Footballer and campaigner against child poverty Raheem Sterling - Footballer
Technology Nneka Abulokwe - Founder and CEO, MicroMax Consulting Ije Nwokorie - Senior Director, Apple Ebele Okobi - Public policy director, Africa, the Middle East and Turkey for Facebook Jacky Wright - Chief digital officer & Corporate VP at Microsoft
References