Michael Hastings, Baron Hastings of Scarisbrick

Lord Hastings of Scarisbrick CBE at the World Economic Forum's India Economic Summit.

Michael John Hastings, Baron Hastings of Scarisbrick, CBE (born 29 January 1958) is KPMG International’s Global Head of Corporate Citizenship. He was previously the BBC’s Head of Public Affairs and then the first Head of Corporate Social Responsibility (2003-2006).

Hastings is a trustee of the Vodafone Group Foundation and previously served for 9 years on the Board for Responsible Business at British Telecom (BT). He first represented KPMG International on the Global Corporate Citizenship Committee of the World Economic Forum (2008-2010) and was a Board Director of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) (2010-2012). In 2009 he became a Member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Council on Diversity and Talent; in 2010 he served on the 'Global Agenda Council on the Next Generation'; and in 2011 he became a member of the 'Global Agenda Council on the Role of Business'. In 2012 he led the WEF Agenda Council - The Future of Civil Society, as Vice Chairman. Given the impact the group has had over the year that led to the launch of the WEF report (The Future of Civil Society) in January 2013, he has been invited to lead the Council for the second consecutive year until July 2014.

In 2005, Hastings was awarded the honour of an independent peerage to the House of Lords by Her Majesty The Queen, taking the title Baron Hastings of Scarisbrick, of Scarisbrick in the County of Lancashire.[1][2] In the same year he also received the UNICEF award from the then UK Chancellor for his ‘outstanding contribution to understanding and effecting solutions for Africa’s children’. Hastings is president of ZANE - a development aid agency focused on Zimbabwe.

In 2014, Hastings was conferred with an honorary doctorate in civil law from the University of Kent,[3] Canterbury in recognition for his leadership at KPMG, and the BBC on the work he has led towards International Development and Corporate Responsibility.

Hastings is chairman of Millennium Promise UK and a member of the global Millennium Promise Board. He was also the vice chairman on BiTC's (Business in the Community) International Leadership Board. In 2010 he was a leading advisor to the Chatham House enquiry into the Future Role of the UK in Foreign Affairs. Hastings sits on the council of the Overseas Development Institute in the UK and previously on the partners council of the Center for Global Development in the US. In 2011 he became a vice president of UNICEF - the UN Children's and Education Fund.

In January 2002, Hastings was awarded a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) [4] in recognition of his services to crime reduction, including 15 years as Chairman of Crime Concern and 21 as a Trustee. He led the merger of Crime Concern with the Rainer Foundation to create Catch 22. He served on the Commission for Racial Equality for nine years as a Commissioner (1993-2001). He is listed as one of the 100 most influential black people in Britain.

Hastings began his career as a teacher and then moved into Government service in 1986 supporting policy initiatives to bring employment and development to Britain’s inner cities. In 1990 he moved to work at TVAM on education programming and then GMTV as Chief Political Correspondent and then the BBC in 1994 as a presenter of the weekly Around Westminster programme before joining the BBC Corporate Affairs division in 1996.

References

  1. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 57788. p. 13364. 17 October 2005.
  2. ↑ "HOLAC Appointments". House of Lords Appointments Commission. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  3. ↑ Hastings, Michael (3 July 2014). "Honorary Graduates". University of Kent News Centre (Kent Life). University. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  4. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 56430. p. 8. 31 December 2001. Retrieved 26 November 2009.