Mo Abudu, Anthony Joshua Make UK 100 Black Powerlist

The chairman and CEO Of EbonyLife Media, Mo Abudu, has been named on The Powerlist 2018. The list is an annual list of the UK’s top 100 most influential people of African and Caribbean heritage.

The Powerlist was revealed at a gala dinner in the City of London on Tuesday 23rd October, held to celebrate the honorees and raise funds for related charities.

Alongside Mo Abudu, some others who made the list include the likes of boxing champion, Anthony Joshua as well as Hollywood actor, John Boyega. Some others named on the list include Meghan Markle, Idris Elba, Thandie Newton, Naomie Harris and more.

The 12-year-old Powerlist is chosen from a list of nominees by a distinguished panel, chaired by a former high court judge, that includes a Queen’s Counsel and leading professionals in business and the arts. Each year, the panel is reminded that ‘influence’ of the nominees is defined as “the ability to positively alter events and change lives as over a protracted period of time”.

Based on this, they give each nominee marks out of 10 on two indices: 1) how influential they are among their immediate sphere of expertise and 2) how far that influence reaches into the wider world.

Reacting to the news of being named on the prestigious list, Mo said,

“The Powerlist is the most authoritative recognition of Black influence in the UK, therefore I am honoured and humbled to be included. It’s nice to know that those of us who return home to make our contribution is not being overlooked. This publication is sent to schools and universities all over the UK, so I hope that my story can influence even one child to follow their dreams.”

Topping the Powerlist is Ric Lewis, chief executive and chairman of Tristan Capital Partners, the largest black majority-owned private company in Britain, with total assets under management in excess of €10 billion (N4.7 trillion). His charity, the Black Heart Foundation, provides educational scholarships to young people in need in the UK and abroad. See the full list below:

Ric Lewis

• Chief executive and chairman of Tristan Capital Partners

Sharon White

• Chief executive of Ofcom

Ismail Ahmed

• Founder and CEO of WorldRemit Ltd

Jacky Wright

• Chief digital and information officer at HMRC

Sandie Okoro

• Senior vice president and general counsel at World Bank Group

Ebele Okobi

• Facebook’s director of public policy for Africa

Professor Funmi Olonisakin

• Vice president and vice principal international at King’s College London

Paulette Rowe

• Global head of payments and financial services partnerships at Facebook

Edward Enninful

• Editor-in-chief of British Vogue

Richard Iferenta

• KPMG partner and head of challenger banking

Chi-Chi Nwanoku

• Musician, professor and founder of Chineke! Orchestra

Chris Ofili

• Artist

Dr Delia Jarrett Macauley

• Writer, academic and chair of The Caine Prize

Duro Olowu

• Fashion designer

Dr Shirley Thompson

• Composer, artistic director and university reader in composition and performance

Isaac Julien

• Artist and filmmaker

Lemn Sissay

• Author and broadcaster

Lynette Yiadom-Boakye

• Artist

Matthew Morgan

• Co-founder of global festival Afropunk

Pat McGrath

• Make-up artist, CEO and founder of Pat McGrath Labs

Valerie Brandes

• Founder and CEO of Jacaranda Books

Yinka Shonibare

• Artist

Alan Smith

• Global head of risk strategy and senior executive officer of group risk at HSBC

Brian Robinson

• Senior managing director at Goldman Sachs

Bukola Adisa

• MD, head of RCSA design and execution, chief controls office at Barclays

Eric Collins

• Operations head at Touch Surgery

Gary Stewart

• Director of Telefonica Open Future, and Wayra UK

Heather Melville

• Director of strategic partnerships and head of business inclusion initiatives for RBS

Netsai Mangwende

• Head of finance for Great Britain at Willis Towers Watson

Pamela Hutchinson

• Global head of diversity and inclusion at Bloomberg LP

Sandra Wallace

• UK managing partner of DLA Piper UK

Tunji Akintokun

• Director at Cisco leading mid-market sales and partnerships for Africa

Wol Kolade

• Managing partner at Livingbridge

Yvonne Ike 

• Partner at Africapital Management Limited

Ade Adepitan

• TV presenter and wheelchair basketball player

Afua Hirsch

• Journalist, author, broadcaster

Akala

• Rapper, poet and political activist

Anne Mensah

• Head of drama at Sky

Amma Asante

• BAFTA award-winning writer and director

Charlene White

• Journalist and news presenter

David Harewood 

• Actor

David Olusoga

• Historian, filmmaker and joint creative director of Uplands Television Ltd

Dumi Oburota 

• Founder of Disturbing London

Femi Oguns

• Founder of the Identity School of Acting and Identity Agency Group

Gary Younge

• Journalist, author and broadcaster

Idris Elba

• Actor, musician and producer

Jacqueline Simmons

• Executive editor at Bloomberg LP

John Boyega

• Actor and producer

Kanya King

• Founder of MOBO Awards

Marcus Ryder

• Chief editor international digital news at China Global Television Network

Mo Abudu

• CEO and executive chair of Ebonylife TV

Naomie Harris

• Actress

Paulette Simpson

• Director of The Voice Newspaper and responsible for Corporate Affairs for The Jamaica National Group in the UK

Reggie Yates

• Broadcaster, actor, radio DJ and television presenter

Reni Eddo-Lodge

• Journalist and author

Simon Frederick

• Photographer and director

Sir Lenny Henry

• Comedian

Stormzy

• Rapper

Thandie Newton

• Actress

Tunde Ogungbesan

• BBC head of diversity and inclusion

Vanessa Kingori

• Publishing director of British Vogue

Wayne Hector

• Songwriter

Yolisa Phahle

• CEO of M-Net

Floella Benjamin

• Actress and Baroness of Beckenham

Chuka Umunna

• Labour Politician

Grace Ononiwu

•  Chief Crown Prosecutor at Crown Prosecution Service

Joshua Siaw 

• Partner at White & Case LLP

Kathryn Nwajiaku

• Co-director at Development Results

Martin Forde QC

• Barrister, appointed person to the Windrush compensation scheme

Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin

• Priest at the Church of England

David Lammy

• Labour MP for Tottenham

Beverley Lewis

• Co-Founder and director of operations the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust

Dr Cheron Byfield 

• Trust Member and Governor at King Solomon International Business School

Dr Margaret Casely-Hayford

• Lawyer, businesswoman, and chair of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre

Marvin Rees

• Labour politician and Mayor of Bristol

Meghan Markle/Duchess of Sussex

• Duchess of Sussex and actress

Nero Ughwujabo

• Special Adviser to the Prime Minister

Nira Chamberlain

• Vice President of the Institute of Mathematics

Orin Lewis

• Co-founder and chief executive of the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust

Patricia Gallan

• Retired Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner leading specialist crime and operations

Simon Woolley

• Director and co-founder of Operation Black Vote

David Waboso

• Managing director of Network Rail’s Digital Railway

Dr Emeka Okaro

• Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at St Bartholomew’s and The Royal London NHS Hospitals

Dr Ian Nnatu

• Consultant Psychiatrist at Charing Cross Hospital, London and Medical Director at Cygnet Hospital Harrow

Joy Odili

• Consultant plastic surgeon at ‎St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust

Dr Sylvia Bartley

• PhD, Neurophysiology Global director of Medtronic Philanthropy

Samantha Tross

• Consultant surgeon

Professor Laura Serrant

• Professor of Nursing at Sheffield Hallam University

Anthony Joshua 

• Boxer

Denise Lewis

• TV presenter and retired athlete

Dina Asher-Smith

• British record-holding sprinter

Lewis Hamilton

• Formula 1 driver

Luol Deng

• Basketball player

Mo Farah 

• Athlete and Olympian

Oona King

• Responsible for strategy around equity, diversity, inclusion & integrity for Google, and Baroness King of Bow

Ian Greenstreet

• Board Advisory Group at London Stock Exchange and Chairman and founding partner of TouchFX

Janet Thomas

• Founder and CEO of TouchFX at Infinity Capital Partners

Marieme Jamme

• Member of the board of directors at World Wide Web Foundation

Martin Ijaha

• Co-founder and chief executive officer of Neyber

Nneka Abulokwe

•  IT and Governance Advisor