Why does ethnic diversity matter in British boardrooms? | Joelle Warren, Founding Partner and Chair and Khurram Hussain Consultant Partner at Warren Partners

The Better Boards Podcast Series

Building an inclusive and diverse workplace that draws on the talents of all of the people, is vital to any Economy. If companies are not recruiting from the whole of society, then they are missing out on talent. Back in 2017, Sir John Parker led a review into the ethnic diversity of boards in the UK. In the light of the new Parker Review report in February this year by EY, their sponsor, which revealed ‘slow progress’ suggesting it will be challenging for FTSE100 to hit the ‘One by 2021’ target set in 2017, we ask why does ethnic diversity matter in British boardrooms?

Welcome to the Better Boards podcast series. In this episode, I am delighted to talk with Joëlle Warren and Khurram Hussain.

I am Dr Sabine Dembkowski, Founder and Managing Partner of Better Boards. We make the boards of the most ambitious organisations more effective. Our mission at Better Boards is to contribute to creating better boards. We do this by providing clients with an evidence-based approach for board evaluations and board development programmes. To fulfil our mission, we give a voice to all who are care about creating better boards.

Joëlle Warren MBE, DL is the Founding Partner and Executive Chair of Warren Partners which appoints Executive and Non-Executive Directors to boards and their senior leadership teams. Joëlle is passionate about improving effectiveness in the boardroom through achieving the right balance of skills, diversity and experience and is a regular speaker on the business benefits of boardroom diversity in all its forms. She was appointed MBE in 2016 for Services to Business. Her Non-Executive Director experience includes serving on boards in the university, charity and hospitality sectors and she is a member of the North West Business Leadership Team and the CBI’s SME Council.

Khurram Hussain is a Consultant Partner with Warren Partners and supports executive and Non-Executive appointments across a range of complex organisations, including established PLCs and high-growth ventures. He has a passion for identifying and engaging highly talented executives with the ability to transform businesses in the UK and internationally. He has a particular interest in empowering clients to build truly diverse and inclusive Boards and leadership teams that can collectively outperform and deliver sustainable change. Prior to joining Warren Partners, he was an associate with a global search firm. He started his career with IBM Integrated Technology Services in the Global Services division.
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