Dame Vivian Yvonne Hunt (born July 1967) served as a senior partner for consulting firm McKinsey & Company, where she provided strategic advice to leading firms in the private, public and third sectors, and also served as Managing Partner for the UK and Ireland for seven years. She is the Chair of charity Teach First, the UK’s leading education charity, and Black Equity Organisation, the UK’s first national Black civil rights organisation. She has been named as one of the ten most influential black people in Britain by 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 ...

Foundation, and one of the 30 most influential people in the City of London by ''

The 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 ...

''. She was made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in Queen Elizabeth's 2018 New Year Honours for "services to the economy and to women in business".

Early life and education

Vivian Hunt was born in July 1967, and holds dual British and American citizenship. She graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

after which she joined the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F ...

for whom she worked in Senegal as a midwife and primary care worker for over two years before studying for an MBA with Harvard Business School.Harriet Agnew and Patrick Jenkins
"The FT selects the City’s most influential people"
''Financial Times'', 31 January 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2018.

Career

Hunt was a senior partner for the consulting firm McKinsey & Company based in the United Kingdom and Ireland. As of January 2022, she had been with McKinsey for 27 years and, before becoming managing partner of the UK and Ireland offices, she was in charge of the company's Life Sciences division in the

EMEA EMEA is a shorthand designation meaning Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The acronym is used by institutions and governments, as well as in marketing and business when referring to this region: it is a shorthand way of referencing the two ...

region for eight years. She has been named as one of the ten most influential black people in Britain by the Powerlist Foundation, and one of the 30 most influential people in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

by ''

''. In January 2018, she was criticised by ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' when it was revealed that McKinsey & Company paid its women employees salaries that were 24% less than male employees and bonuses that were 76% lower than men despite Hunt having received her DBE for services to women in business. In November 2019, she was appointed as the Chair of education charity

Teach First Teach First (also Teach First Cymru) is a social enterprise registered as a charity which aims to address educational disadvantage in England and Wales. Teach First coordinates an employment-based teaching training programme whereby participa ...

, taking over from Paul Drechsler CBE. In 2022, she co-founded and became Chair of Black Equity Organisation, the UK’s first national Black civil rights organisation.

Personal life

She is married to Nicholas Basden, and they have two sons.

Honours

Hunt was made a

Dame Commander Commander ( it, Commendatore; french: Commandeur; german: Komtur; es, Comendador; pt, Comendador), or Knight Commander, is a title of honor prevalent in chivalric orders and fraternal orders. The title of Commander occurred in the medieval mil ...

of the

Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in Queen Elizabeth's

2018 New Year Honours The 2018 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for "services to the economy and to women in business".Alan Tovey
Retail's 'power couple' recognised for achievements in New Year's Honours
''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'', 29 December 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2018. She has honorary doctorates in law from the

University of Warwick , mottoeng = Mind moves matter , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £7.0 million (2021) , budget = £698.2 million (2020� ...

and the University of York and an honorary fellowship from University College London (UCL).

References

External links

Vivian Hunt talking on "Why Diversity Matters".
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, Vivian 1967 births American emigrants to the United Kingdom American expatriates in Senegal American midwives American women chief executives Black British businesspeople British women chief executives Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Date of birth missing (living people) Harvard Business School alumni Harvard College alumni Living people McKinsey & Company people Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Place of birth missing (living people)