Two fold triumph ... the black women on FTSE boards ... but where are the Brits?

There are 8 outstanding black women on the boards of FTSE 350 companies but unfortunately there are no Britains among them with 7 of the 8 African and one American.   The group are all non-executive directors on the FTSE boards but the majority have served as CEOs on South African or American companies.

Ngozi Edozien

PZ Cussons

Born in Nigeria, Ngozi graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard and was an investment banker with Solomon Brothers and JPMorgan in New York before returning to Harvard Business School for an MBA.  After 7 years with McKinsey in London and Paris she joined Pfizer in 1999 in New York as VP for Strategic Planning and Business Development.  After moving with Pfizer to Lagos in 2004, she was Managing Director of Pfizer Nigeria from 2005 - 2008.  In 2009 she joined Actis the private equity specialist in emerging markets as CEO Actis West Africa.  She was appointed to the FTSE listed PZ Cussons board in 2012.

Mamphela Ramphele

Anglo-American

Born in South Africa in 1950 Mamphela Ramphele qualified as a medical doctor before studying for a PhD in Social Anthropology.  She was appointed a research fellow at the University of Cape Town in 1986 and was appointed Vice Chancellor in 1996.  In 2000 she was appointed as a Managing Director at the World Bank and has since occupied a range of non-executive positions in South Africa including Medclinic, Remgro and Veolia and Gold Fields Limited where she was appointed Chair in 2010.  She had 2 children, 1 of whom died as a baby, from her relationship with the anti-Apartheid activist Steve Biko.  She was appointed to the FTSE listed Anglo-American in 2006 as a non-executive director.

Nonkululeko Nyembezi-Heita 

Old Mutual

Born in 1960 Nonkululeko is currently CEO of Arcelor Mittal, (the global steel and mining company), in South Africa.  She started her career as an engineer with IBM in the USA before taking on commercial roles at Alliance Capital Management and Vodacom where she was Head of Alliance and Mergers.  She has an MBA in addition to a BSc from Manchester University and an MSc from California Institute of Technology.  She is married with 2 children.  She was appointed a non-executive at Old Mutual in 2012.

Cheryl Carolus

Investec

Born in 1958, South African politician Cheryl Carolus was appointed as South African High Commissioner to the UK in 1998.  Subsequently she was CEO of the South African Tourist Board and has been Chair of South African National Parks, South African Airways and the investment company Petona Holdings.   She has been a non-executive director of the FTSE listed Investec since 2005.

Ann Marie Fudge

Unilever

Born in 1951 Ann Marie Fudge had senior roles at General Mills and General Foods in the USA before serving as CEO and Chair of the marketing agency Young and Rubicam between 2003 and 2006.  She has an MBA from Harvard Business School.  She has served as a non-executive director of Novartis Infosys, General Electric, Honeywell and Marriott Hotels and as an advisor to the Gate's Foundation and President Obama's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.  She has two sons and took time out from her career before being appointed CEO at Young and Rubicam.  She was appointed to the Unilever board in 2009.

Imogen Mkhize

Mondi

Born in South Africa in 1963, Imogen Mkhize has a computer science degree from Rhodes University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.  She started her career as a business analyst and programmer with Anglo American in 1986 and spent 3 years at the technology consulting company Accenture.  She was Managing Director of Lucent Technologies in South Africa and between 2003 and 2006 CEO of the World Petroleum Congress. She is currently Chair of of Richards Bay Coal Terminal and non-executive Director of energy group Sasol and of Mobile Telephone Networks Pty.  She was appointed to the board of Mondi the paper and packing group as a non-executive director in 2007.

Dambisa Noyo

Barclays

Dambisa Noyo was born in Zambia and has a Masters degree from Harvard and a doctorate in Economics from Oxford.  She worked at the World Bank and as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs.  She came to wider prominence in 2009 with her best-selling critique of AID to the developing world, “Dead Aid”, which was followed by “How the West Was Lost” and “Winner Takes All: China’s Race for Resources”.  She joined the Barclays board in 2010 and has also served on the boards at SAB Miller, Barrick Gold and Lundin Petroleum.

* There is a extended profile of Dambisa in the post http://womenonboard.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/women-on-board-at-barclays.html

Hixonia Nyasulu

Unilever

Born in South Africa in 1954 Hixonia started her career at Unilever in 1978 where she worked for 6 years before founding her own marketing and research company.  In 2004 she founded Ayavuna Women's Investments a specialist investment vehicle which is controlled women.  She has been a non-executive director since 1992 of companies including advertising agency Paton Tupper Associates, the agri-processing business Tongaat-Hulett, JP Morgan in South Africa and the South African based conglomerate Barloworld.  She is currently Chair of the South African chemical company Sasol.  She was appointed as a non-executive director on the Unilever board in 2007.  She is married with three sons.