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Lord Simon Woolley CBE

Lord Woolley
Job Title:
Director and founder of Operation Black Vote (OBV), Commissioner for race on the Equality and Human Rights Commission and Chair of the government's Race Disparity Unit’s advisory group

Lord Simon Woolley CBE is the director and founder of Operation Black Vote (OBV), a commissioner for race on the Equality and Human Rights Commission and chair of the government's Race Disparity Unit’s advisory group.

OBV is non-partisan and not-for-profit national organisation that was established in 1996 to address the British black and ethnic minority democratic deficit. Focusing on voter registration, lobbying politicians and mentoring schemes, OBV aims to inspire black and minority ethnic communities to engage with public institutions to address the race inequalities in areas including education, health and employment.

Simon's keynote session at the BAME Summit focussed on how we can respond effectively to the present crisis so that the education gap in race doesn’t widen and how we can use the current climate to not only to mitigate the effects of COVID-19, but to rebuild and remodel what education should be and in this, the critical role of senior leaders, like VCs, as well as leaders of students and the BAME community. Catch up on Simon's session here.