Margaret Casely-Hayford

CBE
Born
Margaret Henrietta Augusta Casely-Hayford

1954 (age 69–70)
London, England
NationalityBritish
Alma materSomerville College, Oxford, Inns of Court School of Law
Occupation(s)Lawyer, businesswoman and public figure
RelativesJ. E. Casely Hayford (grandfather);
Gus Casely-Hayford, Joe Casely-Hayford, Peter Casely-Hayford (brothers)
Websitemargaretcasely-hayford.com

Margaret Henrietta Augusta Casely-Hayford[1] CBE (born 1959)[2] is a British lawyer, businesswoman and public figure who is active in the voluntary sector. She is Chancellor of Coventry University,[3] chairs the board of trustees of Shakespeare's Globe,[4] and was formerly chair of ActionAid UK and company secretary and head of legal services for leading retailers the John Lewis Partnership.[5][6][7] She is in the forefront of working to create diversity on boards.[8][9]

Biography

Margaret Casely-Hayford was born in London, England, into the prominent Ghanaian Casely-Hayford family: the daughter of Victor Casely-Hayford,[1] an accountant who had trained as a barrister,[2] her grandfather was the Gold Coast lawyer, writer and politician J. E. Casely Hayford, and her brothers are historian Gus Casely-Hayford, designer Joe Casely-Hayford and Peter Casely-Hayford, formerly managing director of TV production company Twenty Twenty.[6][10][11] In 2008, the Casely-Hayfords were named on "The Black Powerlist" as the most influential black family in the UK.[7]

Casely-Hayford studied law at Somerville College, Oxford, graduating in 1982, and did her Bar finals at the Inns of Court School of Law, being called to the Bar in 1983 (Gray's Inn).[2][12] She worked for 20 years with the law firm Dentons, where she was made a Partner, becoming the first black woman to hold such a position in a City firm.[6] She specialised in planning matters, and in 1995 wrote a book, Practical Planning: Permission and the Application .[13] From 2000 to 2008 she was a government-appointed trustee of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital Charity and of the Geffrye Museum and was on the development board of the Young Vic theatre.[14] During 2012–16 she was a non-executive director of NHS England, and on the Board of the British Retail Consortium. She also serves on the Metropolitan Police panel overseeing the investigation into police corruption.[15] She is in the forefront of working to create diversity on boards.[7][8]

For nine years, until 2014, she was Director of Legal Services and Company Secretary for the John Lewis Partnership.[15] She was also on the Board of the British Retail Consortium for four years to 2014.[16]

She became Chair of the charity ActionAid UK in 2014, and in 2016 she became a member-nominated Director of The Co-op.[16] She is an ambassador of Board Apprentice and Chairs the advisory board of Ultra Education, working to develop young entrepreneurs, and a non-executive director of WetZebra Media.[8] She is also a trustee of The Radcliffe Trust, one of Britain's oldest charities supporting classical music performance and training,[17]

She chaired the diversity review conducted by CILIP in 2017 into the awarding of the Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals.[18][19] Committed to encouraging all business leaders to promote diversity on boards, she has said: "That is the future. There is a whole slew of people who still feel that they aren't part of the game. We are a mixed society – that's what Britain has been for so long. We just need to be more positive rather than negative, and showcase it. We are now at a crossroads."[7]

Additionally, she is the former mentor of rap artist and media entrepreneur Kelvyn Colt.[20][21][22]

In July 2017, Casely-Hayford was named the new Chancellor of Coventry University, the first woman to hold the position.[20][23][24][25] She was appointed for a second term in 2020.[26][27]

In February 2018, she was announced as the new chair of the board of Shakespeare's Globe, taking over the appointment from Michael Bichard.[28][29][30][31][32]

Awards and recognition

In 2014 she was voted Black British Business Person of the Year at the Black British Business Awards (BBBA) founded by Melanie Eusebe.[7]

In 2016 Casely-Hayford was awarded an honorary doctorate by Middlesex University.[8]

She was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2018 Birthday Honours, for charitable services in the UK and abroad.[33]

In October 2019, it was announced that Casely-Hayford would be featured in the 2020 Powerlist as one of the 100 most influential black people in the United Kingdom.[34][35] The following year, Casely-Hayford was included in the 2021 edition of the Powerlist, for her contributions to the education sector.[36]

In 2020, she was elected an Honorary Fellow of Somerville College, Oxford.[37]

In 2021, Casely-Hayford was elected a Master of the Bench at Gray's Inn.[38]

References

  1. 1 2 "Casely-Hayford, Margaret Henrietta Augusta", Who's Who 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 "Margaret Casely-Hayford", BLD, April 2010.
  3. ↑ "Chancellors of Coventry University", Coventry University.
  4. ↑ "About Us | Governance", Shakespeare's Globe.
  5. ↑ Margaret Casely-Hayford website.
  6. 1 2 3 Pears, Elizabeth (24 February 2012). "Women Making A Mark". The Voice.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Currie, Lysanne (1 October 2015). "Margaret Casely-Hayford: The ActionAid UK chair talks talent, diversity and building a great company culture". The Director.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Margaret Casely-Hayford awarded an Honorary Degree", Middlesex University UniHub, 13 July 2016.
  9. ↑ Casely-Hayford, Margaret (8 March 2018). "Opinion: Equality at the heart of co-operation… It's in our DNA"". Co-Op News.
  10. ↑ Oatts, Joanne (19 September 2007). "Shed productions buys Twenty Twenty". Digital Spy.
  11. ↑ "Black History Month Talk & 3rd Anniversary Party", Conway Hall, 17 October 2015.
  12. ↑ Grove, Jack (28 September 2017). "Interview with Margaret Casely-Hayford". Times Higher Education.
  13. ↑ Casely-Hayford, Margaret (11 December 1995). Practical planning : permission and the application. FT Law & Tax. ISBN 978-0752000633.
  14. ↑ "About Margaret", Margaret Casely-Hayford website.
  15. 1 2 "106 seconds with… Margaret Casely-Hayford, Chair, Action Aid UK", 6th Sense, 10 August 2015.
  16. 1 2 "Board and directors", Co-op.
  17. ↑ "About", The Radcliffe Trust.
  18. ↑ Onwuemezi, Natasha (26 June 2017). "Casely-Hayford to chair Carnegie and Greenaway Medals diversity review". The Bookseller.
  19. ↑ "'Get all young Britons reading to unlock potential, productivity and economic growth'" (press release), CILIP, 7 December 2017.
  20. 1 2 "Margaret Casely-Hayford named new Chancellor of Coventry University", Coventry University, 17 July 2017.
  21. ↑ "Kelvyn Colt - Narcotic". Music video directed by Simon Frederick, produced by Margaret Casely-Hayford.
  22. ↑ Wilson, Lara (20 November 2016). "10 Minutes with MND Margaret Casely-Hayford: Managing a rapper will help in my role as Member Nominated Director". Co-op.
  23. ↑ "New Coventry University chancellor is black female trailblazer Margaret Casely-Hayford", Coventry Observer, 17 July 2017.
  24. ↑ "Inspirational speakers secured for major business event in Warwickshire" Archived 1 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, 2017.
  25. ↑ "Groundbreaker Becomes First Woman Chancellor At Coventry University – Another first for the acclaimed lawyer Margaret Casely-Hayford", The Voice, 9 August 2017.
  26. ↑ "Coventry Uni re-appoints Dr Margaret Casely-Hayford CBE as Chancellor". DiversityQ. 17 November 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  27. ↑ "Coventry University Chancellor appointed to second term". Coventry University. 17 November 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  28. ↑ Snow, Georgia (6 February 2018). "Margaret Casely-Hayford announced as chair of Shakespeare's Globe". The Stage.
  29. ↑ "Margaret Casely-Hayford Appointed As Chair Of Shakespeare's Globe", Broadway World, 6 February 2018.
  30. ↑ Press Association, "Margaret Casely-Hayford appointed chairwoman of Shakespeare’s Globe", Evening Express, Aberdeen Journals, 6 February 2018.
  31. ↑ "Margaret Casely-Hayford appointed as Chair of Shakespeare’s Globe", Shakespeare's Globe Blog, 6 February 2018.
  32. ↑ White, Nadine (15 February 2018). "Margaret Casely-Hayford Named Chair Of Shakespeare's Globe". The Voice.
  33. ↑ "Margaret CASELY-HAYFORD".
  34. ↑ Mills, Kelly-Ann (25 October 2019). "Raheem Sterling joins Meghan and Stormzy in top 100 most influential black Brits". Mirror. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  35. ↑ Busby, Mattha (25 October 2019). "Meghan and Stormzy named among most influential black people in UK". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  36. ↑ Lavender, Jane (17 November 2020). "Lewis Hamilton ends incredible year top of influential Black Powerlist 2021". mirror. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  37. ↑ "Margaret Casely-Hayford CBE | Honorary Fellow". Somerville University of Oxford. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  38. ↑ "New Masters of the Bench". The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn. 3 December 2021. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
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