Trevor Phillips

Trevor Phillips is the co-founder of the Equate Organisation, the social change consultancy, and a Director of Pepper Productions, founded in 1995. Trevor has been a senior executive figure in the TV industry for nearly two decades, serving as Head of Current Affairs for London Weekend Television and Granada TV.

He remains a respected creative leader in the industry as a Vice President of the Royal Television Society. Trevor has been a regular writer and columnist for several of the UK’s principal national newspapers, writing for the Guardian, Independent, the Mail and the Telegraph amongst others. He also wrote a column for the minority weekly, The Voice. On 8 September 2006, Trevor was appointed Chair of the new Equality and Human Rights Commission. Trevor was previously Chair of the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) from 1 March 2003. Prior to this he had been elected as a member of the Greater London Authority in May 2000, and became Chair of the Assembly later that month.

Born in London in 1953, Trevor attended secondary school in Georgetown, Guyana, and then studied chemistry at Imperial College London. Between 1978 and 1980, he was President of The National Union of Students. At present, he is a board member of Aldeburgh Productions and The Bernie Grant Centre in Tottenham. He is a patron of The Sickle Cell Society. Between 1993 and 1998 Trevor was Chair of the Runnymede Trust. From 1993 to 1997 he was Chair of the London Arts Board.

In 2007 he received the award of Chevalier de la Legion D’Honneur to add to the OBE he won in 1998. He holds several honorary degrees and fellowships.