FIDIC CEO Dr Nelson Ogunshakin has been listed on Green Park’s fourth annual BAME 100 Business Leaders Index, celebrating Britain’s black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) board-ready talent. 

Published by executive recruitment and diversity consultancy Green Park, the index is designed to highlight the talent, experience and expertise of ethnic minority leaders who are still severely under-represented at board level in private, public and third sector organisations. This is the second year running that FIDIC’s CEO has appeared in the list.

Green Park’s BAME 100 Business Leaders Index aims to inspire a shift in the attitudes and practices of leading organisations so that there is at least one minority member on every major public, private or third sector board. The annual index showcases 100 ethnic minority leaders who any organisation looking for a board member should be prepared to consider, therefore banishing the age-old myth that diverse talent does not exist. 

As a recognised leader in his field, Ogunshakin was identified as one of the 100 board-ready BAME leaders by leading figures from some of the best-known and highly successful private, public and third sector organisations in the UK, all of whom regularly make these judgements and such appointment decisions in real-life situations.

The BAME 100 leaders were identified based on a list of over 600 diverse leaders to which a proprietary scoring methodology was applied focusing on professional experience and governance expertise,  The top scoring individuals were evaluated by the independent assessment panel  overseen by Green Park’s chairman and the founding chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Trevor Phillips.

The assessment panel comprised: Sir Ken Olisa, chief executive officer of Restoration Partners; Chris Cummings, CEO of the Investment Association; David Tyler, chairman at J. Sainsbury Plc; Peter Cheese, chief executive, CIPD; Iqbal Wahhab OBE, entrepreneur; Lord Victor Adebowale, CEO Turning Point;  Colleen Harris, founder, Colleen Harris Associates and journalist and campaigner June Sarpong MBE

Trevor Philips, Green Park’s chairman, said: “Despite the clear, long-established evidence that organisations which are diverse and inclusive perform better than those that aren’t, the UK’s private, public and third sector boards remain overwhelmingly white. Some claim this is due to a shortage of board-ready BAME individuals. But as this year’s BAME 100 list clearly demonstrates, the talent is out there – and in greater numbers than ever. 

“What these leaders bring to their organisations cannot be under-estimated. Their experience and perspective act as a counter-point to homogenous, ‘group-thinking’ that many existing boards can fall prey to - making them ideal candidates for wider leadership roles.”

FIDIC CEO Nelson Ogunshakin commented: “It’s an honour to be listed in such illustrious company and I’m delighted to be listed for the second year in a row. I have always been committed to diversity and inclusion and FIDIC is doing some excellent work in this area too. For companies and organisations to be truly successful they need to represent all the society they serve – so I’d like to see businesses doing more to promote inclusivity and diversity. I hope that my inclusion in the Top 100 Leaders in Business Index will inspire others from the BAME community to break down barriers, achieve and be the best that they can be.”