Board Racial Diversity UK (BRDuk) is delighted to announce the appointment of Yeme Onoabhagbe as the new Chief Executive with effect from 20 April 2026. She succeeds the charity’s visionary founder, Malcolm John.
Yeme is a freelance EDI and Change Consultant and has been Chief Executive of University of York Students Union and interim Chief Executive of Student Minds. She also brings significant governance experience as a Trustee and Chair of MindOut – LGBTQ Mental Health Service.
Reflecting on her new role, Yeme said, “I’m thrilled to be offered this exciting opportunity to help shape the next stage of Board Racial Diversity’s strategic vision. As a previous trustee myself, and passionate advocate for equity in the charity sector, I can’t wait to make a positive impact on charity Boards, hopefully contributing to transformative change for our sector at large.”
Founder, Malcolm John, commented, “I’m delighted by our appointment of Yeme. I’m hugely looking forward to working with her in the immediate future to realise Board Racial Diversity’s vision. The organisation has had considerable impact on equity, diversity and inclusion on boards in the charity sector since its work began six years ago as Action for Trustee Racial Diversity. However, I now believe that it’s important to bring into the organisation new thinking and fresh perspectives.”
This appointment on a consultancy basis marks an exciting and challenging new chapter for BRDuk as it pursues its goal to increase representation of Black and Asian trustees on not-for-profit Boards, and embed diversity and inclusion at the heart of leadership and governance.
Co-Chairs, Dalton Leong and Lena Bheeroo, added, “Following an open and inclusive recruitment process, we’re delighted to be appointing someone with Yeme’s skills, expertise and personal qualities to lead the next stage of our journey to achieving proportionate representation of Black and Asian trustees on not-for-profit boards. We’re also thrilled to announce that Malcolm will be staying on as a Partnership Development Consultant, to advise and support Yeme and her team in the wide range of approaches and activities necessary for achieving our strategic and operational objectives.”
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Note to Editors:
About Board Racial Diversity UK (BRDuk): The charity (registration number 1210841) was registered in November 2024 and builds on the work undertaken since 2019 by Action for Trustee Racial Diversity UK, an organisation founded by Malcolm John.
BRDuk aims to increase the number of Black and Asian Trustees on not-for-profit Boards (Charities, education and public sector). Today, 8% of Trustees are from Black and Asian backgrounds against the UK population of 17%.**
To achieve proportionate representation, we need to recruit and retain an additional 60,000 Black and Asian trustees.
BRDuk works by advising and supporting non-profit organisations to take practical steps to increase the racial diversity of their Boards and embed racial equity in governance.
For further information, please visit www.boardracialdiversity.org.uk or contact Malcolm John at malcolm@boardracialdiversity.org.uk