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Brenda Emmanus

Brenda Emmanus

Title
Honorary Doctor
Person Type
Honorary
Brenda Emmanus

Biography

Honorary Doctor

Brenda Emmanus is a familiar face in the UK TV Industry, having had an impressive 18 year-long career at the BBC as its Arts, Culture and Entertainment correspondent. She started her journalism career with a Media and Communication degree from University of Westminster, while freelancing with The Voice newspaper as a student journalist. After graduation, she joined their team full-time, eventually taking on the role of an Arts and Features editor. Her journey with the BBC began with Kilroy, a morning chat show as its researcher before coming under the spotlight for co-presenting BBC 1's,The Clothes Show, which gained popularity with over 10 million viewers.

As a former visiting professor at London College of Fashion, she has previously worked with the College’s staff and students and in 2018, worked in collaboration with UAL academic professor Sonia Boyce to present a BBC Channel 4 show named Whoever Heard of a Black Artist? Britain’s Hidden Art History. Brenda is a well-respected broadcaster who has used her platform to champion arts and share stories of creatives in an engaging manner that connects them with her audience. She has interviewed some of the biggest names like Oprah Winfrey, Sir Elton John, Angelina Jolie and Clint Eastwood to name a few.

Brenda is passionate about diversity in newsrooms and has been a part of many initiatives designed to encourage women and those from minority backgrounds to pursue arts, for which she received a Community Honours Award at the House of Lords, a Baton Award for mentoring and inspiring other media professionals and a Legacy Community Award. Stemming from her own experience of being a black female presenter, she hopes that journalism becomes more inclusive and changes for the better. As a supporter of the arts, she is the Chair of the Board of Trustees for Sir Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures Dance Company; a founding member of the Creative Industries Alliance, Patron of The Black Women’s Network and on the Board of Action for Diversity and Development. In 2019, she received an OBE for services to Broadcasting and Diversity.