The Black Leadership Initiative hosted its first symposium on 28th September to explore the issues, challenges, opportunities and concepts around black leadership.
The event, which was held in London, aimed to inspire leaders from a rich diversity of cultures and professions to give valuable input and raise the level of debate at a time of great change and opportunity for black leadership.
Representatives from across sectors joined together with colleagues from the Network and BLI to hear presentations delivered by speakers from across the globe. The day began with a series of keynote speeches followed by question and answer sessions and discussion forums.
Keynote speakers:
Dr Michael Dantley, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor in Educational Leadership at Miami University. Read the transcript of the speech
Arlene Walsh on behalf of Zandile Kunene, Executive Director of the Matthew Goniwe School, South Africa.
Herveen Singh, Director of Leading for Equity at the University of Toronto.
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, journalist and broadcaster
Dianne Abbott MP – the first black woman ever elected to British Parliament
The symposium was a resounding success with 95% of attendees rating it excellent or very good overall. ‘Thought provoking’, ‘engaging’, ‘inspiring’ and ‘challenging’ were some of the words delegates used in their feedback.
A second event to be held in Johannesburg in February 2010 will continue the discussion and we hope to run further events in the USA, Canada and India. The outcomes from these events will form the basis of a research paper to be presented to the Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration and Management (CCEAM) in 2010.
View all images from the symposium in the Photo Gallery
