Sandie Okoro (born 1964) is a British lawyer, appointed in 2016 as

senior vice-president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

and

general counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

at the

World Bank Group The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and best-known development bank in the world and an observer at the United Nations Development Grou ...

. She has previously been general counsel at

Barings Asset Management Barings LLC, known as Barings, is an international investment management firm owned by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual). It operates as a subsidiary of MassMutual Financial Group, a diversified financial services organisat ...

, and head of legal at

Schroders Schroders plc is a British multinational asset management company, founded in 1804. The company employs over 5,000 people worldwide in 32 locations around Europe, America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Headquartered in the City of London, it ...

Investment Management International.

Early life

Okoro was born in

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

, London, in 1964, and grew up in nearby

Balham Balham () is an area in south London, England, mostly within the London Borough of Wandsworth with small parts within the neighbouring London Borough of Lambeth. The area has been settled since Saxon times and appears in the Domesday Book as B ...

. Her father was a teacher from

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, and her mother a nurse from

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

. At the age of nine she decided she wanted to become a judge, influenced by the television programme ''

Crown Court The Crown Court is the court of first instance of England and Wales responsible for hearing all Indictable offence, indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals lied to it by the Magistrates' court, magistrates' court ...

'', and undeterred by a school teacher, asking the class their chosen careers, who said "Sandie, little black girls from Balham don't become judges." She attended

Putney High School Putney High School is an independent all-girls school in Putney, London. Often referred to as simply Putney, the school admits students from the ages 4–18. Founded in 1893 it is a member of the Girls' Day School Trust, a union of 26 schools ...

and then studied law and politics at the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

. After university she studied at the

Inns of Court School of Law The City Law School is one of the five schools of City, University of London. In 2001, the Inns of Court School of Law became part of City, and is now known as the City Law School. Until 1997, the ICSL had a monopoly on the provision of the Bar ...

, now part of

City, University of London City, University of London, is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, and a member institution of the federal University of London. It was founded in 1894 as the Northampton Institute, and became a university when The City Univ ...

, and joined

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

, qualifying as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

in 1988. In a change of course she re-qualified as a solicitor and in 1990 joined

as head of its trusts team.

Career

Okoro worked at

from 1990 to April 2007, rising to be head of legal for corporate services and then joined

Barings Barings LLC, known as Barings, is an international investment management firm owned by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual). It operates as a subsidiary of MassMutual Financial Group, a diversified financial services organisat ...

as its global

. After seven years at Barings she moved to become global general counsel at

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tri ...

Global Asset Management. In November 2016 she was appointed

and general counsel for the

. Okoro has been involved with organisations including the Black British Business Awards, the

Law Society A law society is an association of lawyers with a regulatory role that includes the right to supervise the training, qualifications, and conduct of lawyers. Where there is a distinction between barristers and solicitors, solicitors are regulated ...

's Diversity Access Scheme, and International Lawyers for Africa (ILFA), of which she was president in 2014.

Recognition

Okoro has been listed several times in the ''

Powerlist The ''Powerlist'' is a list of the 100 most influential people of African or African Caribbean heritage in the United Kingdom. The list is updated annually and has been published in book format by Powerful Media since 2007. The ''Powerlist'' is ...

'', a listing of the most influential black people in the United Kingdom most recently being listed in the

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

edition. In the 2015 list she was at fourth place (or fifth, as third place was shared). In 2014

awarded Okoro an honorary doctorate for her "outstanding achievements in the legal profession and financial services", noting that in her then role of general counsel at HSBC Asset Management "She is the only female lawyer from an ethnic minority holding such a position in the City". In 2014 ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' listed Okoro as one of "10 women who are changing the face of the City". At the 2016 UK Diversity Legal Awards, Okoro was given a BSN Lifetime Achievement Award. In July 2019, Okoro featured in a biography film as part of the ''First 100 Years of Women (2014–2019): Women in Law'' campaign, created to mark 100 years since British women were legally allowed to joined the professions, including law.

Personal life

Okoro has a son and a daughter, and in 2010 was on the board of governors of her daughter's school. In 1997 and 1999 Okoro completed the

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held ...

. She has said that the two people she most admires are

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

and a family member.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Okoro, Sandie 1964 births Living people British women lawyers 21st-century British lawyers Black British women English people of Nigerian descent English people of Trinidad and Tobago descent People educated at Putney High School Alumni of the University of Birmingham Alumni of the Inns of Court School of Law Schroders people 21st-century women lawyers