These speakers provide fresh perspectives, encouraging teams to embrace cultural understanding and inclusivity, which boosts employee morale, productivity, and overall workplace harmony.
At Great Business Speakers, we specialise in finding the ideal EDI speaker for your event— whether virtual or in-person. Our curated roster of diverse talents includes professionals who address timely and impactful topics like systemic bias, allyship, and the importance of celebrating diversity in the workplace.
For notable occasions such as Black History Month, an EDI speaker can emphasise the significance of African American contributions, discuss historical and ongoing challenges, and inspire ongoing efforts toward equity and inclusion. With our support, your event can create a lasting impact by educating and empowering your audience to build a more inclusive future.
Discover our EDI Speakers below, or contact the team at Great Business Speakers to enquire or book. +44 1753 439 289
“Laura Bates is showing us the path to both intimate and global survival.” – Gloria Steinem
Laura Bates is the founder of the Everyday Sexism Project, a popular keynote speaker, and a bestselling author. Her books include Everyday Sexism which was shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year, and the Sunday Times bestseller Girl Up. She regularly writes for publications including The Guardian and is a frequent consultant for TV productions around gender inequality.
Laura is also the Vice President of the Hay Literary Festival, and an Honorary Fellow of St John’s College, Cambridge.
Laura is a frequent media commentator across TV and Radio, and has appeared on BBC Breakfast, Newsnight, Today, CNN, Channel 4 News, Loose Women, Woman’s Hour, and Lorraine.
She was awarded a British Empire Medal in 2015 from the Late Queen for her work around sexism and gender inequality; she participated in President Obama’s White House Summit on the United State of Women, and has been named Woman of the Year by many publications including Cosmopolitan.
Kenton Cool stands as a beacon of high-altitude climbing and adventure, with a staggering 18 successful ascents of Mount Everest and a multitude of other peaks under his belt. His conquests include the revered ‘seven summits’ – the tallest mountains on each continent. Notably, he is the only Briton to have skied down two peaks over 8,000 meters, a feat that sets him apart in the world of high-altitude climbing.
As an elite IFMGA guide, Kenton leads daring expeditions and shares his insights on leadership and team performance with corporate clients. His dynamic and inspirational speaking style makes him a sought-after motivational speaker, capable of captivating and energising audiences.
Kenton’s passion for climbing began with his first expedition to Pakistan at 19, sparking a lifelong love for the high mountains. He thrives on guiding clients up iconic routes and to the summits of some of the world’s most challenging peaks, from the Himalayas to the Alps and beyond.
Through innovative and pioneering experiences, he offers lessons that clients can apply in both their professional and personal lives.
With over 44 successful expeditions under his belt and many more planned, Kenton Cool is an enthusiastic keynote speaker, ideal for inspiring teams at kick-off meetings, entertaining as an after-dinner speaker, motivating conference attendees, or adding excitement to awards ceremonies.
Karun Chandhok is one of only two Indian drivers to compete in Formula 1 and one of the most respected broadcasters in the sport today.
Born into a family which was steeped in motor sport history, Karun Chandhok rose through the ranks of junior formulae racing to become test driver for the Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team in 2007/8. He competed in the Formula 1 World Championship for Hispania Racing Team and Team Lotus in 2010 and 2011.
After his Formula 1 career, Karun transitioned into broadcasting, where he quickly established himself as one of the most respected analysts in the sport. Today he is an expert analyst for Sky Sports F1, broadcasting to 62 countries.
Karun also sits on the Board of Motorsport UK, the national governing body of motorsport and is one of the key members of the world’s governing body, the FIA. He is a member of Motorsport UK’s Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Committee, and also devotes time to working on the development of junior single-seater formulae.
Jono Lancaster is an author, presenter, public speaker and disability campaigner who is a strong advocate for self love.
Born with Treacher Collins syndrome causing significant facial differences, Jono was left at the hospital by his birth parents but was fostered two weeks later by the woman that would become his adoptive mother.
Being born with a visual difference in a world obsessed with looks and appearance has not been easy and his journey has not been straightforward. But crucially nothing has stopped Jono from loving himself, showing his authentic self to the world and filling his life with love and adventure.
With a driving determination and the help of others Jono has learnt to control the anxiety he felt in his younger years to become a well-respected author, presenter and public speaker. He is now more comfortable in himself and uses his experience and story to influence others and make facial differences more widely accepted.
Jono lead Love My Face for Channel 4 in 2022, a 4 part series following people with a range of visible facial differences as they seek support, advice and explore transformative treatments to help accept or address their differences. He has appeared on a number of other programmes on the BBC and Channel 4.
Jono Lancaster is a passionate disability campaigner, public speaking to audiences around the world and engaging young people through talks in schools, encouraging all to find their own self-love alongside tolerance, acceptance and kindness.
Jill Scott MBE is a retired professional footballer who was part of England’s 2022 Euro win, amongst other high-level competitions.
Over her 16 years of experience, and 161 England caps, Jill has seen women’s football grow to the level that saw a record crowd of over 87,000 watch their Euro win.
Alongside her football interests, she co-owns a high-profile coffee shop in Manchester with Shelly Unitt called BOXX2BOX.
She is now a popular media personality and soccer pundit, in demand for various corporate panels and Q+As.
Jackie Handy is a renowned workforce culture specialist with over two decades of experience in executive recruitment, leadership development, and inclusion best practices. Her mission is clear and impactful: to create workplaces where everyone feels safe, valued, and understood.
Since delivering her thought-provoking TEDx talk in 2018, titled The Exclusive Nature of Inclusion, Jackie has become a sought-after expert in workplace inclusivity. She draws from her personal experiences of exclusion to help organisations across various sectors build more inclusive and supportive environments.
As an award-winning keynote speaker and panellist, Jackie has addressed global audiences and collaborated with organisations across a wide range of industries, delivering both in-person and virtual presentations. Her talks ignite imagination and inspire actionable change, equipping business leaders with the tools needed for sustainable cultural transformation in today’s workplace.
Honey Ogundeyi is a renowned technology entrepreneur, recognised as one of the luminaries at the forefront of shaping the UK’s tech sector.
She is the award-winning Founder and CEO of Edukoya, an AI-driven digital learning platform. Building the next frontier of education, Honey is disrupting the status quo as a pioneer to democratise education, making the £90bn education, tech, and AI sectors more inclusive and accessible to all.
Honey’s contributions to the tech and education industries have not only set new benchmarks for excellence but have also inspired a generation to dream bigger and break barriers. Her journey from a pioneering entrepreneur to an influential leader reflects her commitment to innovation, equity, and the transformative power of education.
Honey has been named by Forbes as one of the Top 10 women emerging entrepreneurs to watch in Africa and by the World Economic Forum as one of the Top 10 Innovators in Africa. She has also been featured in the Independent, Techcrunch, Forbes, and Newsweek publications. She was recently invited to speak at Slush, the World’s Leading Startup Event.
Hayley Mulenda is one of the most inspiring young voices in the UK currently. An established keynote speaker, consultant, and change agent, Hayley has worked all over the world, from the Middle East to North America and Africa.
With over 180,000 social media followers, Hayley has her finger firmly on the pulse when it comes to helping Gen Z and millennials with their mental health and well-being.
Named as one of Black Business Show X HSBC’s ‘Top 25 Black Entrepreneurs to Watch in 2024’, Hayley’s story is not short of difficulties.
After nearly taking her life when she was 18 years old, she had a profound realisation about the growing impact that mental health issues are having on millennials. This experience ignited her passion to make a difference to others. Her personal journey and insights have made her a credible advocate and speaker for mental health and wellbeing, diversity, and inclusion.
Hayley has spoken on stages such as Wembley Arena, and counts KFC, KPMG, META, Microsoft, Unilever, Wagamama amongst her clients. On top of this, she serves on the board of Wagamama to help the company engage young people from diverse backgrounds and is a Governor at St Angela’s Ursuline School.
“If you follow conventional thinking, all you’ll ever be is conventional.”
Chris Arnold is a Dr of Business, a former Board Director of Saatchi & Saatchi and DMA, and former chair of both the DMA Agencies Council and the Creative Council. He is also a seasoned entrepreneur having founded a number of creative agencies over the years.
Chris Arnold is also a prominent author, having written a number of business books, including Ethical Marketing and the New Consumer.
He is now a popular keynote speaker and workshop facilitator.
Clare Kenny is a Keynote & TEDx speaker, wellbeing consultant, facilitator, mental health expert, moderator and inspirational thought leader on the topics of addiction, ADHD & Neurodiversity, wellbeing and building mentally health cultures at work.
After working in many toxic workplaces for over two decades, Clare experienced burnout and developed an anxiety disorder and alcohol addiction.
It was following the sudden loss of her Mum in 2015 that she was given the jolt she needed to stop putting her career before her mental health. Clare Kenny then quit her high-pressure job, closed the chapter on 16-hour work days and instead set up her own business focussing on helping organisations build cultures and ways of working that are designed to help people thrive, not just survive.
Clare Kenny brings a wealth of business and personal experience. From building bespoke wellbeing strategies for organisations ranging from FTSE 100 to dynamic start-ups, to advising global leaders and embedding and measuring impact.
Her passion is to create real and lasting change in the world of work. She works with clients such Channel 4, Warner Media, KPMG, Knight Frank Promise and Medtronic. Clare has delivered TedX talks and has been interviewed on a range of podcasts.
Chris Barton is the visionary founder and creator of Shazam, an entrepreneur, inventor, and tech investor.
Chris wanted a way to identify songs anywhere he heard them using a mobile phone. There wasn’t one – so he invented the application called Shazam, a creation that is nothing short of pure magic.
When he first had the idea in 1999, no technology existed to achieve his goal. He was told by professors at MIT and Stanford that it was impossible. He then embarked on a journey to make it possible. This was seven years before the invention of the iPhone and eight years before anyone had heard of an App Store.
Shazam first worked by calling 2580 and holding the mobile phone to the music. The database would recognise the song and send an SMS with the details.
In 2018, Shazam was acquired by Apple for a reported $400 million, making it Apple’s 6th largest acquisition of all-time. Shazam has been downloaded over 2 billion times and is used each month by over 300 million people, making it one of the world’s most popular apps.
Holding 12 patents, Chris Barton has made significant contributions to the tech industry. He is currently involved in a third startup company, Guard, an artificial intelligence system that detects drowning in swimming pools – a never-before accomplished effort. He also advises and invests in early stage companies that are changing the world.
Chris Barton is an inspirational speaker who is full of enthusiasm and energy, as well as valuable insights on innovation, creativity, resilience and adaptability and achieving the impossible. He is a sought-after keynote speaker who has spoken across five continents with a range of organisations and businesses. Past clients include L’Oréal, Accenture, American Express, YMCA, Coca-Cola and Verizon.
Candice Brathwaite is a critically acclaimed Sunday Times bestselling author, journalist, podcaster, speaker, and TV personality, with over 688,000 followers on social media.
She has published successful fiction and non-fiction books, covering everything from the inequalities of black motherhood, and manifesting what you want from life.
She co-hosts the hit podcast Closet Confessions which has amassed millions of downloads and often tours nationally.
She is also a contributing editor to Grazia Magazine, and often contributes to other publications, and appears on radio and television where she is a courageous voice on achieving your goals, family, fashion, and the black British experience.
Baroness Ruth Hunt is an influential communicator, Director, and former CEO, who helps audiences of all sizes understand how they can build better cultures that work and bring minority voices into the room.
She has over two decades of experience leading campaigns for the LGBTQ+ community, and in 2019 she became the youngest crossbench peer in the House of Lords, with a particular emphasis on LGBTQ+ communities.
Throughout her career, Ruth has received many accolades, including making it on The Independent on Sunday’s Pink List as the fifth most influential LGBT Person in Britain in 2013, and then made it to third place in 2015.
Akil Hunte is a multi-award-winning lawyer, consultant, spoken-word poet, social entrepreneur, and diversity speaker.
Growing up in a single-parent household, as a black man from inner city London, Akil Hunte has had to navigate many challenges over the years; from being hit by a car to witnessing the Grenfell Tower fire, he has triumphed over trauma to thrive on his professional journey. He made history as the first student to win the Dean’s Award at the University for two consecutive years. He was named the Outstanding Alumni by Nottingham Trent University in 2023 and was a Rising Star in the Legal 500 ESG Awards.
In 2019, Akil Hunte was among the 30 people selected to be listed in that year’s edition of GUAP Magazine’s #TheBlackList2019 30 Under 30s, which celebrates young black creatives and professionals. He is a popular keynote speaker, discussing everything from law to diversity and equality. He has worked with clients including Nottingham Trent University, LinkedIn, Hogan Lovells, Clyde & Co, Freshfields, and CEL Solicitors.
“I remember the day I graduated, I wrote down my potential career options as engineering, music or brand building. As I read them aloud, brand building felt just right.”
Akash Mehta is a British entrepreneur with experience working for luxury brands including Burberry, Dior, and Estee Lauder Companies.
His experience ranges from film to engineering, theatre to social media and marketing.
In 2019, he co-founded Fable & Mane, an Ayurvedic-inspired hair wellness brand, where he is now CEO.
Akash Mehta is a popular keynote speaker and is often asked to appear at industry conferences, companies, and universities around the world, as well as at industry summits, and for TEDx.
Abigail Ireland is a Peak Performance Strategist, international keynote speaker, coach, and facilitator.
Passionate about inspiring her audiences to bring their A-Game, Abigail Ireland is the founder of Understanding Performance, a leadership and training consultancy helping clients perform at their best in a sustainable way.
Her expertise is in high demand and she has been featured in a range of HR and media publications, including GQ Magazine, HR Magazine, and the ILM.
The first female controller of BBC 1, Lorraine Heggessey is a trailblazing business leader who has driven success in several high-profile roles across sectors.
Her career in television broadcasting has been directly involved in many of the biggest programmes such as Strictly Come Dancing, and Dr Who.
Lorraine Heggessey is a Fellow of the Royal Television Society, and a regular judge for the RTS and BAFTA.
She has a wide range of experience managing talent, leading change, and championing inclusivity and diversity.
Rose Sandy is a seasoned professional in the entertainment, media, and publishing industries, with a career spanning global corporations and initiatives.
As the founder, CEO, and Chief Visionary Officer of Silver Gravity Entertainment, Rose Sandy leads a production company focused on international suspense thrillers featuring strong female protagonists.
Her career started in multi-national corporations such as Sony and The Coca-Cola Company, where she worked as their respective International Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility lead. She followed this up by placements working at Cisco Systems in communications and HarperCollins, where she published groundbreaking books with well-known authors.
One of her most notable achievements at HarperCollins was the establishment of the HarperCollins Author and Design Academy, which has provided training and mentorship to over 200 creatives from underrepresented backgrounds. This commitment to inclusivity earned her a nomination for ITV’s Lorraine’s Inspirational Women of the Year.
“The leader of the new school of advertising”.
Timothy Armoo – known as Timo to his friends – is the founding CEO of groundbreaking influencer marketing agency Fanbytes. Since selling it on in 2022, he has become the company’s Vice President Influencer.
Named in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for his achievements in media and marketing, Timo has been preaching the gospel of Gen Z marketing, featuring on Adweek, the BBC and Business Insider and winning awards such as the Huffington Post Entrepreneur of the Year.
As a globally popular speaker, he is frequently booked to cover a variety of topics including millennial marketing and social media. He has spoken on the biggest stages across the UK, Europe, Beijing and the USA, as well as working on campaigns for international singers Cardi B and Drake.
Thomas Duncan Bell is a highly respected and inspiring mental health expert who has made a significant impact on the lives of many individuals.
Despite facing challenges such as living on the bipolar spectrum, dyslexia, dyspraxia, PTSD, and ADHD, Thomas has managed to turn his own life around and dedicate himself to helping others in need.
Tessa Clarke is the Co-Founder and CEO of Olio, a free app that tackles the problem of food waste and, in turn, climate change.
The app aims to connect neighbours and communities so that surplus food can be given away rather than thrown away. Since its conception in 2015, Olio has grown to over 7 million global users and has won Tessa many accolades.
She is a knowledgeable, engaging, fun, personable, and passionate speaker, talking on various subjects surrounding innovation, entrepreneurship, and sustainability.
An experienced mortgage broker, property expert, blogger, and investor, Tayo Oguntonade regularly uses his expertise to break down complex and relevant property topics for the everyday person to understand.
Tayo is best known for presenting the BAFTA award-winning show The Great House Giveaway (2020-) on Channel 4. In this show, two people who have never met and have never owned a house, are given a lump sum of money to buy a property at auction. They, with the help of Tayo, then have six months to revive the property into a habitable and desirable home, with the aim to split any profits. If the house doesn’t sell, it then goes back to auction.
Tayo can also be seen offering his expert advice on shows such as Steph’s Packed Lunch (2020-), Rip Off Britain (2009-), Watchdog (1985-), Morning Live (2020-), and the ITV News (1955-) as a property and investment expert.
William Adoasi is the founder of the Vitae Group (Vitae London, Vitae Digital, Broken Chain Co and Vitae Photography), who started his first business – Starlight Academy – at age 19.
His stand-out venture is Vitae London, a watch brand that directly transforms the lives of children who have either been orphaned or live in poverty. Each purchase from the range of watches supplies a child in Africa with two sets of school uniform, a bag and footwear.
William has been named on the prestigious Future of Ghana Top 30, featured in Forbes’ 25 Leading Black British Business People to Follow and was selected as a Virgin ambassador for entrepreneurship within the UK. He has been nominated for the 2017 GUBA Awards for Business Start Up of the Year and the 2017 Best Fashion Designer at the Black British Entertainment Awards.
Winnie Awa is a creative visionary and storyteller based in London. Her multi-disciplinary practice sits at the intersection of beauty, technology, community-led design, and cultural intelligence, crafting products and narratives that feel as human as they are technologically advanced.
She has been recognised by the likes of the BBC, Sunday Times Style, Vogue, Harpers Bazaar and Refinery 29. It comes as no surprise that Winnie is highly sought-after as a corporate speaker, covering topics including Women in Technology, Entrepreneurship, Diversity, and Inclusive haircare.
