Kanya King CBE is living proof of the old adage that a genuine leader moulds, rather than seeks, consensus. An internationally renowned entrepreneur through her role as CEO, founder and visionary of the MOBO Awards, Kanya has displayed the rare drive and ambition needed to help take black music from the margins of British popular culture, made by disenfranchised artists, to the heart of the mainstream culture in the UK and around the world.

In 2018 the MOBO Awards will go into its 23rd season. Since the organisation’s inception in 1996, Kanya has built MOBO into a globally respected brand, that engages with business and political leaders and allies with cultural icons and creative visionaries.With Kanya’s expert guidance, the MOBO organisation has established itself as a champion of diversity, inclusion and recognition for exceptional talent within music, culture, film, arts, fashion, media and larger society as a whole.

Always an innovator, Kanya sees obstacles as opportunities and has had a lot of practice at persuading people to come around to her way of thinking. The youngest girl of nine children born to a Ghanaian father and Irish mother, Kanya grew up in a crowded council flat in Kilburn, North London in notably less enlightened times.