We are thrilled to welcome The Lord Woolley of Woodford to St John's for this year's Black History Month Lecture. Lord Woolley's lecture is entitled, 'In a climate of fear of "the other", new leaders must emerge'.
Drawing on his extensive experience tackling racial inequalities in politics and industry, Lord Woolley will reflect on what, if anything, has changed in the five years since the historic race equality protests of 2020, and consider how improving representation in leadership roles might better serve under-represented communities. It will ask what effective leadership means in a political climate in which diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes are increasingly under attack.
Lord Woolley is the founder and former director of Operation Black Vote, an internationally renowned campaigning NGO. He also chaired the UK Government's Race Disparity Unit advisory group from January 2018 to July 2020, during which time he was knighted for services to race equality. In October 2019, he was made a life peer and created Baron Woolley of Woodford. He sits as a crossbencher in the House of Lords.
In 2021, Lord Woolley became Principal of Homerton College, Cambridge. He is the first black man to be appointed head of an 'Oxbridge' college.
