Top award for racial equality

6:38pm Tuesday 13th January 2009

GOVERNORS of the College of North West London were celebrating last week after their Chair of Corporation scooped a top award for his contributions to black leadership and racial equality in further education writes Sean Marland.

Leading Brent education expert, Gerry Davis, 60, from Greystone Gardens, Harrow, was one of three people honoured with the Leadership Award for Race Equality awarded by the Network for Black Professionals (NBP) during the annual conference of the Association of Colleges.

However a couple of weeks after receiving his award on November 18, Mr Davis snapped his achilles tendon playing badminton and has been in plaster since December. “Because of my accident, I have been a little pre-occupied over the last 5 weeks. But I am thrilled and delighted to receive this prestigious honour. I feel very gratified to think that the work done in this College to promote black leadership, not just by myself but by many others, has been so significantly recognised.”

Robin Landman, chief executive of the NBP, said the award was richly deserved.

“Gerry has been a long-term supporter of the Network for Black Managers and the associated Black Leadership Initiative, as a board member, mentor and coach. He has supported and encouraged many members of staff to attain the seniority that their experience and attributes merited.”

Mr Davis, who was born in St Vincent in the Caribbean but came to Britain as a child, is one of only a small handful of black Chairs of Governors in the country.

He has chaired the Corporation of the College of North West London in Brent since 2000, overseeing a governing body of 18 members who include Euro MP Robert Evans, former Brent Council Leader Ann John and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Middlesex University Professor Margaret House.