Samuel Kasumu

He is also an award-winning social entrepreneur, commentator, and strategist. He served as Special Advisor to Prime Minister Boris Johnson where he held the Civil Society and Communities brief. His work included leading on the cross-government vaccine deployment confidence programme. He was the most senior black Advisor in government.

Samuel has extensive senior leadership and board experience, acting as Non-Executive Director at challenger energy firm Ovo’s Foundation arm and under former Prime Minister Theresa May he was a member of the Race Disparity Audit Advisory Board. He is the founder of Inclusive Boards, an executive headhunting firm specialising in non-executive board appointments across sectors. Samuel is an elected local councillor in Hertfordshire and brings extensive knowledge of how local and national government works.

Samuel has been involved in setting up and growing a number of initiatives to support the progression of Briton’s black and minority ethnic population. This includes setting up a student network connecting peers with employers whilst at university that grew to 30,000 members. He went on to set up and run a campaign that supported over 8000 start-up businesses. He has won numerous awards including:

  • Barclays Business Enterprise Award, Spirit of London Awards (SOLA)
  • Young Star of Enterprise Award, UK Growing Business Awards (CBI)
  • Entrepreneur Champion of the Year, Great British Entrepreneur Awards
  • Entreprise Support Champion of the Year, Institute of Enterprise & Entrepreneurship
  • Top 3 UK Role Model, Amway International