David Isaac CBE

Biography

David is the Chair of the Governors of University of the Arts London.

He recently stepped down as the Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the public body that promotes equality and protects human rights in England, Scotland and Wales. He is the Provost of Worcester College, Oxford.

He was previously a partner at international law firm Pinsent Masons. He has worked in the equality and human rights field for over 25 years in his roles as Chair of Stonewall and as a Trustee of The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund.

During his term as Chair of Stonewall, huge progress was made in delivering legal equality for LGB people as his period of tenure saw, amongst other things, the abolition of Section 28 and the introduction of Civil Partnerships. He has also been involved in driving gender and LGBT equality in the City of London and was on the board of DiversCITY which encouraged businesses in the City to support the recruitment of diverse talent.

He chairs the D&I group at Pinsent Masons - until last year the number 1 employer for LGBTI staff in the UK in the Stonewall Equality Index. In his various roles he speaks about the importance of diversity and human rights.

He was awarded a CBE in the 2011 Queen’s Birthday Honours list for services to equality and diversity and was ranked 27th in the OUTstanding Top 100 LGBT executives published by the FT in October 2020 and recognised as a Diversity Role Model in the legal sector by The Lawyer.