Joanne Anderson
Category
Purpose-driven Leader Award
Social Handle:
@joanne_anderson_2025
About
Joanne Anderson's 30-year career has established her as a leading expert in equity, diversity, inclusion, inclusive prosperity, social impact, and net zero. Notably, she was the UK's first Black woman directly elected mayor, serving Liverpool from May 2021 to May 2023.
As Mayor, Joanne introduced a triple-lock framework for decision-making, emphasising people, planet, and equality. This framework led to the adoption of significant policies on social value, community-led housing, and community asset transfers.
Her leadership drove major improvements in services, governance, and financial stability, and secured Eurovision 2023 for Liverpool, yielding a £20m return on a £2m investment and a projected £250m boost for local businesses.
Joanne is the founder of Innervision, the Liverpool City Region’s first Black-led social business, currently delivering its second business growth programme supporting 25 Black and ethnically minoritised led enterprises. She is project lead for a £50 million Social Investment Pathfinder to unlock capital for the region’s social economy and is founder and Director of BlaST, a Black social trading network, with an ambition of being a £12.5 million standalone fund, driving dedicated investment for Black-led socially trading organisations.
Joanne holds a degree in Business Studies and a Master’s in Business Scale-Up. She is an Adjunct Professor and Chair of the Strategic Advisory Board at Liverpool John Moores University Business School.
What’s the most exciting part of being a DiNN Award winner for you or your organisation?
The most exciting part of being a DiNN Award winner is the recognition that purpose-driven leadership rooted in lived experience can create real systemic change. For me, this award is not just personal recognition, it is recognition of the communities, organisations, and Black-led enterprises that have too often been excluded from power, investment, and opportunity.
It validates the work we are doing through Innervision and BlaST to shift how support, social investment, and economic opportunity reach Black and ethically minoritised-led organisations. It also creates a stronger platform to influence institutions, attract new partnerships, and amplify the voices of the communities we serve.
Most importantly, it shows that leadership grounded in equity, accountability, and community impact matters. I hope it inspires others to lead with purpose and to believe that structural change is possible when communities are trusted to shape their own futures.
