Why So White?
For the past few months I’ve been silently scrolling through LinkedIn with chronic eye-roll and a dash of rage! I wanted to see if my assumptions about the ‘thought leadership' 🙄 space being elitist, non inclusive and full of white people were real or not.
TL;DR… My assumptions were correct.
If anything, my little experiment just gave me more fiyaaah in my belly for what I’m building here with Hue + Cry. Observing companies, brands and individuals bang on about ‘reinventing leadership’ just ain’t it. Seeing them roll out the same tired shit, felt like their whole ChatGPT’d ‘about us’ section was playing right in my face!
It was like staring at the inside of a box of Persil washing powder! One after another, white, male, over-50. There was also a sprinkle of middle aged white women with the same haircut just for funsies! The Black faces in my feed came from the people I follow like Cephas Williams, Andre Skepple, Johanne Penney and Dr Mamobo Ogoro. Melanated Power Rangers who are building their own platform instead of asking for a seat at the outdated and overcrowded table.
The realisation wasn’t a shock, but it was still disappointing. It struck me again that although our streets are gloriously colourful full of multicultural faces, the podiums of its board-sanctioned “thought leaders” are still painted magnolia AF.
The numbers don’t lie…
Boards are bottlenecks. Spencer Stuart’s 2024 UK Board Index shows that just 4% of newly-appointed FTSE directors last year were from a minority ethnic background. This is down from 15% the year before. Of first-time directors, the figure was also 4% (spencerstuart.com)
Black leadership remains dry and rare. Green Park’s earlier Business Leaders Index recorded multiple years in which there were no Black chairs, CEOs or CFOs in the entire FTSE 100. (green-park.co.uk)
The pipeline is clogged. In PR, the industry that curates most corporate keynotes, CIPR data show the profession is 90% white, with ethnic minority practitioners more likely to have training requests refused, shrinking the future talent pool. (cipr.co.uk, prmoment.com)
Add these together and you get a self-perpetuating cycle: if leadership benches are unchanged, so are the voices of the industry. The same voices that are wheeled out for conferences, white-papers and LinkedIn Lives.
Why do companies keep booking the same faces?
Risk aversion masquerading as expertise. Boards are too scared to switch it up so play it safe. They default to “seasoned” (read: older, white, male) spokespeople. Spencer Stuart notes that 91% of UK plc directors are now over 50. (spencerstuart.com)
Token thresholds, not systemic change. The Parker Review got most FTSE 100 boards to appoint one minority director. But “one-and-done” targets let companies tick the box without actually shifting culture. (thetimes.co.uk)
The “diversity of thought” dodge. Harvard Business Review warns that talking about cognitive diversity without addressing identity can sidestep uncomfortable conversations about race. (hbr.org)
Is it all just a tick-box exercise?
When 4% progress counts as a victory, it sure as hell feels that way. But it’s also a strategic flop. McKinsey’s latest global study links ethnic-diverse executive teams to a 39% greater likelihood of smashing all financial goals. (mckinsey.com) Edelman’s 2025 Trust Barometer echoes this: consumers are more likely to buy from and advocate for brands whose leadership reflects society. (edelman.com) Representation is no longer a moral nice-to-have; it is business intelligence.
Flipping the script. 5 moves companies can make now…
Replace “one” with “many, and meaningful.” Set targets for sustained representation across all public-facing roles. Keynotes, articles, podcasts and not just the board table. Track them quarterly and publish the data.
Pay and promote new voices. Don’t expect a Black woman with less live event experience to speak about her lived experience “for exposure” when Black History Month rolls around. Compensation legitimises expertise.
Audit your speaker supply chain. Event agencies and PR teams hold informal “go-to” contact lists. Demand a 40-40-20 rule (40% women, 40% ethnically diverse, 20% flex) before you sign off.
Sponsorship, not mentorship. Mentors advise; sponsors open doors. Tie senior leaders’ bonuses to how many under-represented experts they actively put forward for external opportunities.
Move beyond DEI fatigue. Lily Zheng’s 2025 What Comes After DEI proposes a FAIR framework. Fairness, Access, Inclusion, Representation. This links equity work to measurable organisational outcomes. Use it! (hbr.org)
My lived reality and yours…
As a Black British woman, I decided a long time ago that I was done waiting while my white peers were deemed ready. I was also done gaslighting myself that I was not equipped to dance and hustle amongst big organisations. There’s only so many stale unconscious-bias webinars we all can handle right now! Black leaders, experts and creatives need back up, stage time and the budget to say something that matters.
So what now?
If you curate events, diversify your roster by Q3. If you run PR, publish your speaker demographics. If you sit on a board, demand more than a solitary “ethnic” face… demand a whole chorus!
Corporate thought leadership will stay white only as long as we allow the paint to dry. So, to every light skinned cousin reading: when the next panel invite hits your inbox, ask “Who else is at the table?” If the answer is “mostly people who look like me,” pass the damn mic!