Lord Dr Michael Hastings

Lord Dr. Michael Hastings of Scarisbrick CBE is Chair of the SOAS Board of Trustees.

Lord Hastings has had a deeply purposeful career across the public, private and non-profit sectors, working within education, philanthropy, justice and commercial business to support and develop communities around the world.

Lord Hastings began his career as a teacher then worked across government agencies on policies to build racial equality, including as a Commissioner with the Commission for Racial Equality for nine years. He is Chair of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Black Business Association and Chair of the Advisory Board of the Black Business Institute.  He was conferred with a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) in 2003 for services to crime reduction; with Peerage to House of Lords in 2005 as an Independent Baron. He is currently a Vice President at UNICEF UK and a trustee for the Africa Philanthropy Foundation.