Key stories 4

I wanted to continue my research, but in secret. When a prestigious university sent an envoy to London to persuade me to register for a doctorate, I jumped at the opportunity to explore ‘Black Women in Nineteenth Century Britain’. The supervisors were ageing White men. I lasted exactly one year. So, whilst I never put PhD dropout on my résumé, I do admit to being a Windsor Leadership alumni, and remain committed to continuous learning and development.

I found many other things that I was good at, and scores of people who believed in, and supported me. I taught English as a Foreign Language in Japan, gained a professional qualification in Personnel Management, an MA, followed by MBA that resulted in top awards, prestigious executive jobs (e.g. Birmingham City Council Head of HR when it employed 53,000 staff, UCLH where I led the public consultation for the new hospital), and challenging non-executive positions, including non-executive director on the boards of a FTSE company and the National Policing Improvement Agency, to trustee roles for several important specialist organisations such as the National AIDS Trust. I was also rewarded for successfully chairing a UK-wide, executive non-departmental public body (CCETSW), which resulted in me co-hosting a banquet at Lancaster House, and a CBE award. My mum, who’d been traumatised by colonialism and was recovering from 2 strokes at the time, saw her wildest wishes come true during my investiture at Buckingham Palace. I struggled with achieving my own dreams, even though I contributed to the purchase of ‘Black-interest’ prints for the British Museum, chaired CCETSW and TOPSS meetings and events in Belfast and Edinburgh or, spoke on the conference circuit, eg as HR lead on an EU project: ‘strengthening local democracy’ in Türkiye.

Clearly, I had a great diplomatic impact on that country!