The pioneer of the Race Relations Act is among leading figures in the education and legal professions addressing today’s diversity and leadership lecture and scholarship awards at the University of Law in Moorgate.

Dame Jocelyn Barrow, first black woman governor of the BBC and founder of the Broadcasting Standards Council, now in her 80s, is guest speaker at the Miranda Brawn Lecture on diversity in education, government and commerce.

She was a founding member and general secretary of the Campaign Against Racial Discrimination, the organisation responsible for the 1968 Race Relations Act who also pioneered multi-cultural education in the 1960s as a teacher and later as trainer at Furzedown College and the Institute of Education.

Other speakers today include Shadow Attorney General Baroness Shami Chakrabarti and Royal Academy of Music’s Prof Chi-chi Nwanoku.

The annual event is the brainchild of barrister and investment banker Dr Miranda Brawn, who is giving the lecture calling for wider diversity and closing the leadership gap in the next generation.

Scholarships are also being awarded to eight prospective legal students to help pursue academic studies with funding, mentoring and work experience.