Afua Hagan
Most boards still treat diversity as a reputational tile to manage, not a working capability inside the business. Inclusion programmes are written, signed off, and quietly underfunded. Leaders need someone who has watched the gap between policy language and lived practice from inside a public-facing industry, and can describe it without flinching.
Afua Hagan is a UK broadcast journalist and event host who helps organisations move diversity work from public statement into operational practice.
Full Profile
Why organisations work with Afua Hagan
- A working national broadcaster, not a consultant: she speaks on inclusion from inside ITV, BBC, Sky and CNN newsrooms, with a live view of how representation is decided in real time.
- A practiced live host across high-stakes formats, including news anchoring, awards ceremonies and large corporate stages, where audience handling is the deliverable.
- Her TEDx talk “Too Dark for Daytime TV” gives her D&I work a specific, named provocation, drawn from a colleague’s comment about her on-screen suitability, rather than a generic equity argument.
- Recognised by the Black Women in Business Awards for broadcasting, and trusted as Royal Commentator for CTV News and Managing Editor at Black Business Magazine, which gives her credibility across both mainstream and Black British business audiences.
- Brought in by clients across very different sectors, from Cambridgeshire Police and the NHS to Compare the Market, Lidl and CMR Surgical, indicating a wide register: regulated public bodies, retail, financial services and medtech.
Biography highlights
- TV news anchor and commentator on ITV’s This Morning and Good Morning Britain, Channel 5’s Jeremy Vine, BBC, Sky and CNN.
- Royal Commentator for CTV News and host of The Royal Tea, covering UK royal affairs for international audiences.
- Managing Editor at Black Business Magazine; International Correspondent for News Central Africa.
- Former Editor-in-Chief of Glam Africa Magazine; Features Editor at Pride; Editor of Blackhair; columnist for The Voice Newspaper.
- Host of CNBC’s Sustainable Energy; producer and anchor at Arise News.
- TEDxKingstonUponThames speaker, “Too Dark for Daytime TV”, February 2024. Honoured by the Black Women in Business Awards for broadcasting.
- Speaking and hosting clients include Retail Week, NHS, Cambridgeshire Police, Compare the Market, Inmarsat, Lidl, B&Q, Karcher, CMR Surgical, Syngenta, IQ Student Accommodation, WildBrain and London Metropolitan University.
Biography
A colleague once told her she was too dark for daytime television. That line became the title of her TEDxKingstonUponThames talk in 2024 and the spine of her speaking work. It is also why her perspective on diversity does not read as theory: it comes from inside the studios that decide who appears on a sofa at nine in the morning.
The day job is broadcast journalism. She anchors and contributes across ITV’s This Morning and Good Morning Britain, Channel 5’s Jeremy Vine, BBC, Sky and CNN, and serves as Royal Commentator for CTV News. She is Managing Editor at Black Business Magazine and International Correspondent for News Central Africa, with prior editorships at Glam Africa, Pride and Blackhair, and a columnist seat at The Voice. CNBC’s Sustainable Energy and Arise News sit in the same editorial line.
For corporate audiences, that breadth becomes hosting craft. She moderates panels, hosts awards and chairs internal town halls for clients including the NHS, Cambridgeshire Police, Compare the Market, Inmarsat, Lidl, B&Q, Karcher and CMR Surgical, where the brief is to keep a room engaged and a programme on time, not to deliver a thesis.
When she does deliver a keynote, the argument is concrete: how representation gets negotiated in commissioning meetings, what tokenism looks like from the side of the person being booked, and how organisations can stop confusing public statements with internal practice. The Black Women in Business Awards have honoured her broadcasting work; she uses that platform to push the conversation about race and inclusion past the comfortable middle.
Key speaking topics
- Diversity, equity and inclusion in practice
- Representation in media and broadcasting
- Race, ethnicity and culture in the workplace
- Inclusive leadership and workplace culture
- Social mobility and opportunity
- Event hosting and panel moderation
- Royal affairs and current affairs commentary
Ideal for
- CHROs, heads of DEI and internal communications leaders running inclusion programmes that need to move beyond statements.
- Boards and executive teams commissioning panel moderation or hosting for high-stakes internal and external events.
- Awards organisers, conference programme leads and industry associations needing a credible broadcast host.
- Public sector and regulated organisations briefing leaders on representation and community trust.
Audience outcomes
- A clearer view of where diversity policy stops working in practice, and what a serious response looks like.
- Specific language for talking about race, ethnicity and culture without retreating into euphemism.
- A working frame for distinguishing tokenistic from substantive inclusion decisions.
- A panel or programme that runs sharply, with a host who can hold the room and the agenda.
Talks
A keynote drawn from her TEDxKingstonUponThames talk on diversity and representation in mainstream media.
Key takeaways:
- How representation decisions are made inside major broadcasters, and where the unspoken filters sit.
- The difference between being booked for ability and being booked to fill a diversity slot, and why that distinction matters to leaders running their own inclusion programmes.
- What organisations can learn from media’s public reckoning after 2020, and what they should not copy.
A talk that separates three terms organisations routinely confuse, and shows why the distinction changes how inclusion work is designed.
Key takeaways:
- Why race is socially constructed and what that means for HR language and policy.
- How ethnicity and culture operate differently inside teams and customer bases.
- Practical implications for recruitment, progression and internal communications.
A talk on the difference between inherent and acquired diversity, and what genuinely inclusive workplaces look like in operation.
Key takeaways:
- Where inclusion programmes typically stall after the first year.
- How leaders can audit their own teams without defaulting to compliance theatre.
- The link between inclusion and commercial performance, drawn from named organisations.
Videos
Testimonials
Fees
| EUR | GBP | USD | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home Country | Under €12000 | Under £10,000 | Under $15000 |
| Asia Pacific | Under €12000 | Under £10,000 | Under $15000 |
| Europe | Under €12000 | Under £10,000 | Under $15000 |
| Middle East & Africa | Under €12000 | Under £10,000 | Under $15000 |
| South America | Under €12000 | Under £10,000 | Under $15000 |
| United Kingdom | Under €12000 | Under £10,000 | Under $15000 |
| US East Coast | Under €12000 | Under £10,000 | Under $15000 |
| US West Coast | Under €12000 | Under £10,000 | Under $15000 |
| Virtual | Under €12000 | Under £10,000 | Under $15000 |