The Prince of Wales appoints Sir Kenneth Aphunezi Olisa OBE to the PWCF Board

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Sir Kenneth Aphunezi Olisa OBE to the board. Sir Kenneth was appointed by The Prince of Wales at the Trustees meeting in December 2021. This appointment further strengthens the PWCF board, provide diverse skills and additional expertise required to deliver our mission.

Born and raised in Nottingham, Sir Kenneth is an international businessman and philanthropist who has lived in the UK, the USA and Belgium and worked in many countries around the world. His long career has been centred on the IT industry in a range of technical, managerial, advisory and investment roles.

Sir Kenneth’s business career has included serving as the first British-born black director of a FTSE-100 company (Reuters) and on the Boards of major companies including Open Text, ENRC and Huawei (UK). Prior to this, he worked at IBM and Wang before founding two technology merchant banks.

His current charitable responsibilities include President of London Youth, Patron at BigKid Foundation, President and past Chairman of homeless charity Thames Reach, Chair of welfare to work charity Shaw Trust and founding Chairman of the Aleto Foundation, which promotes future leaders from the BAME community. Past public service appointments include Governor of the Peabody Trust; NED of the West Lambeth NHS Trust, member of the Independent Parliamentary Authority (IPSA) and of the Government’s Women’s Enterprise Taskforce. He was appointed as the High Bailiff and Searcher of the Sanctuary of Westminster Abbey in 2021.

In 2015 Her Majesty the Queen appointed Sir Kenneth as her Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London – the first British-born black Lord-Lieutenant in the role’s five hundred year history. He was knighted in the 2018 New Year’s Honours for services to business and philanthropy. The Lord Lieutenant and his wife are long-term residents of Hampton Wick. They have two grown-up daughters and six grandchildren.