David Gustave, known as Dawood Gustave (February 23, 1967), is a British businessman, lawyer, former

youth advocate A youth advocate is a person who acts in the best interests of the youth that they are working with. The overall purpose of a youth advocate is to ensure that youth maintain their human rights while aiding in skill development in all areas of l ...

and one-time political figure.

Early life and education

Gustave is of mixed Irish and St. Lucian heritage. He was raised in

Peckham Peckham () is a district in southeast London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon p ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

where he suffered verbal and physical abuse from neighbours.Cohen, David. "Can this 'British Obama save us from knife Crime?", ''

The Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'', London, 9 June 2008. At 16,he left school. That same year, unable to cope with a difficult relationship with his father, he also left home. At age 30, Gustave enrolled in an

adult education Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained self-educating activities in order to gain new forms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ralp ...

course where he took ‘A’ level and

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-lev ...

equivalency courses. Among the external readers of a research paper he wrote was an

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

professor who encouraged him to apply to Oxford. At age 32, Gustave enrolled as an undergraduate to study history at

Wadham College Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy W ...

Career

After Oxford, Gustave won a number of scholarships from the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

to pursue a career at the Bar. Straw, Will. "David Gustave", ''

GQ Style ''GQ'' (formerly ''Gentlemen's Quarterly'' and ''Apparel Arts'') is an American international monthly men's magazine based in New York City and founded in 1931. The publication focuses on fashion, style, and culture for men, though articles on ...

'', London, 1 March 2010. He started working with young gang members at Kids Company as an Educational Motivator. Gustave has been described as a ‘Social Visionary’. He was featured in

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

's ‘Disarming Britain’ debate alongside

Dawn Butler Dawn Petula Butler (born 3 November 1969) is a British Labour Party politician who has been a Member of Parliament (MP) for Brent Central since 2015. Butler was elected as the MP for Brent South at the 2005 general election. She served in P ...

Dominic Grieve Dominic Charles Roberts Grieve (born 24 May 1956) is a British barrister and former politician who served as Shadow Home Secretary from 2008 to 2009 and Attorney General for England and Wales from 2010 to 2014. He served as the Member of Parl ...

and

Peter Hitchens Peter Jonathan Hitchens (born 28 October 1951) is an English author, broadcaster, journalist, and commentator. He writes for ''The Mail on Sunday'' and was a foreign correspondent reporting from both Moscow and Washington, D.C. Peter Hitchens h ...

and in the ‘CNN Heroes’ Series alongside Russell Symonds. Gustave states ‘he is not content with fulfilling his own ambitions, but is determined to help others to set and reach theirs’. Gustave has been described in the media as the ‘British Obama’ Gustave is a member of the Labour Party. Gustave founded Reluctantly Brave in 2012 to guide leaders and businesses to reach braver goals - to be successful through being their true, radically authentic selves. As CEO of Reluctantly Brave he advises companies from

start-ups A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship refers to all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend t ...

to multinationals on leadership, strategy and creativity.

Awards and honours

*2018: ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'' / EMPower Top 100 Ethnic Minority Leaders, placed 30th *2017: Financial Times / EMPower Top 100 Ethnic Minority Leaders, placed 62nd *2009: One of the 100 people who make Britain a happier place. *2008:

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

's list of the 1000 most influential people in London

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gustave, David 1967 births Living people