Victor Adebowale, Baron Adebowale: Difference between revisions

'''Victor Olufemi Adebowale, Baron Adebowale''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE}} ({{Audio|Yo-Victor Olufemi Adebowale.ogg|Listen|help=no}}; born 21 July 1962) is the former Chief Executive of the social care enterprise [[Turning Point (charity)|Turning Point]], and the current Chair of the [[NHS Confederation]], and was one of the first individuals to become a [[People's peer|People's Peer]].

Adebowale was born to [[Nigerian]] parents Ezekiel and Grace Adebowale, who both worked in the UK's [[National Health Service]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nhsemployers.org/~/media/Employers/Publications/Lord-Victor-Adebowale-trailblazer-June-2013.pdf|title=BME trailblazers in the NHS|last=Adebowale|first=Victor|website=nhsemployers.org}}</ref> His name "Adebowale" means "the crown comes home" in [[Yoruba language|Yoruba]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.behindthename.com/name/adebowale|website=Behind the Name|title=Adebowale|access-date=5 October 2014}}</ref> The use of [[Yoruba names|last names]] that reference crowns in this way by the [[Yoruba people]] is usually indicative of [[bloodNigerian royal#Africachieftaincy system|royal ancestry]] within their various clans.<ref> {{cite web|url=https://www.yorubaname.com/entries/Ade%CD%81|website=Yorubaname.com|title=Adè}} </ref>

Adebowale was educated at [[Thornes House School]], [[Wakefield]] and the [[Polytechnic of North East London]]. He began his career in Local Authority Estate Management before joining the housing association movement. He spent time with Patchwork Community Housing Association and was Regional Director of the Ujima Housing Association, Britain's largest black-led housing association. He was Director of the Alcohol Recovery Project and then Chief Executive of youth homelessness charity [[Centrepoint (charity)|Centrepoint]]. Adebowale was a member of the Social Exclusion Unit's Policy Action Team on Young People and was Chair of the Review of Social Housing Co-ordination by the Institute of Public Policy Research.

Adebowale has been involved in a number of taskforce groups, advising the government on mental health, learning disability and the role of the voluntary sector. He is Co-Chair of the Black and Minority Ethnic Mental Health National Steering Group and is a member of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. He is a patron of Rich Mix Centre Celebrating Cultural Diversity, a patron of Tomorrow's Project and of the [[National College for School Leadership]]. He was a member of the National Employment Panel, the [[New Economics Foundation]] Board and is a member of the [[Institute for Fiscal Studies]] Council. He is a Director of Leadership in Mind organisational development consultancy, a non-exec of the health IT consultancy IOCOM, Chair of Collaborate and in 2015/16 chaired The London Fairness Commission. He has advised governments of all parties on Employment, Housing, Poverty and Public Service Reform. In 2017 he was appointed to be the chair of [[Social Enterprise UK]], an umbrella body for social enterprises in the UK.<ref name="civilsoc2017">{{cite web|url=https://www.civilsociety.co.uk/news/lord-adebowale-appointed-chair-of-social-enterprise-uk.html|title=Lord Adebowale appointed chair of Social Enterprise UK|website=www.civilsociety.co.uk}}</ref> In February 2020 he introduced a Commission on Social Investment to record experiences of how the social investment market worked with social enterprises and then produce recommendations for any changes or improvements.<ref name="PioneersPostFeb2020">{{cite web |title=UK's social investment market to face scrutiny by new independent commission |url=https://www.pioneerspost.com/news-views/20200221/uk-s-social-investment-market-face-scrutiny-new-independent-commission |website=Pioneers Post |date=21 February 2020 |access-date=16 September 2021}}</ref> The commission's work continued into 2021.

In 2015, Turning Point was involved in an [[employment tribunal]] claiming that Adebowale had unfairly dismissed the charity's IT director, Ibukun Adebayo.<ref name="Corfe" /> TheAdebayo reported that "the emails she discovered included messages from deputy chief executive David Hoare referring to sex acts, mocking her religious beliefs, and descriptions of Adebayo as “looney tunes” and someone who “employs nutters”."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cio.com/article/202389/ex-turning-point-it-director-ibukun-adebayo-reveals-lessons-learned-from-employment-tribunal-and-unf.html did| title=Ex-Turning Point IT director Ibukun Adebayo reveals lessons learned from employment tribunal and unfair dismissal ruling }}</ref> The initial tribunal findfound that Adebayo's actions in accessing lewd emails about her from the charity's deputy chief executive to Adebowale, constituted [[gross misconduct]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/sacked-turning-point-director-ibukun-adebayo-says-she-rather-job-back-05m-payout/management/article/1363388|title=Sacked Turning Point IT director Ibukun Adebayo says she would rather have her job back than a £0.5m payout|last=Cooney|first=Rebecca|date=9 September 2015|website=[[Third Sector (magazine)|ThirdSector.co.uk]]|publisher=[[Haymarket Group]]|access-date=23 December 2016}}</ref> but ruled that this did not justify Adebowale's actions. Both Adebowale and Hoare remained in post without scrutiny. Adebayo's lawyers said that the actions were unfair because the deputy chief executive's behaviour "was more serious than the claimant's by way of his seniority and position as sponsor of Turning Point's equal opportunities policy.".<ref name="Corfe">{{Cite web|url=https://www.civilsociety.co.uk/news/turning-point-denies--black-on-black-racism--after-accusation-from-former-director.html|title=Turning Point denies 'black-on-black racism' after accusation from former director|last=Corfe|first=Emily|date=26 October 2015|website=civilsociety.co.uk|publisher=Civil Society Media|access-date=22 December 2016}}</ref>