Dr Marilyn Comrie OBE

Marilyn Comrie is an award-winning entrepreneur, green tech innovator and social justice campaigner.

She is a director of motorsport STEM education provider The Blair Project, principal founder of the Black United Representation Network which exists to tackle racial inequalities in Greater Manchester through wealth generation, and CEO of the Manchester Innovation Activities Hub (MIAH).

Opening in April 2022 within Manchester Science Park, the MIAH will accelerate clean growth by upskilling and reskilling people to fast-track them into hard-to-fill roles that require specialist technical skills. It will also provide access to industrial-grade equipment and technical expertise to help SMEs repivot, prototype and manufacture clean growth products, and scale up to achieve sustainable growth.

Marilyn is passionate about developing the pipeline of diverse talent needed to fuel the green industrial revolution and save the planet. This includes girls, Black Asian and Minority Ethnic youth, and those from low-income backgrounds. Her determination, persistence and Northern grit, have earned me a growing reputation as a transformational leader, influencer and change agent. Her goal is to inspire other women and people of colour to assume leadership roles.

Marilyn was honoured with an OBE for services to women’s enterprise in 2009 and has received the prestigious Kofi Annan African Leadership Excellence Award as well as an honorary doctorate from the University of Birmingham in 2018.