Lord Michael Hastings CBE will visit Guernsey on 22nd and 23rd May to ensure Sustainable Development is high on the Island’s agenda. The esteemed businessman, who is visiting the Island on behalf of KPMG in the Channel Islands, will attend school numeracy workshops and chair a business seminar.
Lord Hastings became KPMG International’s Global Head of Corporate Citizenship in 2006. Since then, he has presented widely and driven change in regard to global business sustainability and responsibility.
On 22nd May, Lord Hastings, who began his career as a teacher, will be attending Amherst Primary School to facilitate numeracy workshops as an extension to the wider firm’s sponsorship of National Numeracy Day held on the 16th May. Alongside the headmistress, Tracey Moore, and several KPMG volunteers, he will host two maths sessions titled ‘Max’s Marvellous Maths’, focusing on basic numeracy support, and the ’24 Club’, focusing on advanced numeracy support. In addition, Lord Hastings will be discussing the importance of numeracy skills at a school-wide assembly.
On 23rd May, Lord Hastings will present to an audience of senior business leaders, governing bodies and politicians at a KPMG seminar. The event will focus on the UN’s set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which are aimed at making the world more prosperous, inclusive, sustainable and resilient. Lord Hastings will talk about KPMG International’s involvement in this initiative and will foster a wider debate on the role of businesses around the world to support these global goals.
In addition to business leaders, KPMG have also extended the seminar invitation to sixth form students from a number of schools across Guernsey, to give them the opportunity to engage and contribute to the wider debate.
Prior to becoming KPMG International’s Head of Citizenship, Lord Hastings joined the BBC as Head of Public Affairs and then became its first Head of Corporate Social Responsibility. He is also a trustee of the Vodafone Group Foundation and previously served for nine years on the Board for Responsible Business at British Telecom. He has represented KPMG on the Global Corporate Citizenship Committee of the World Economic Forum (2008-2010) and in 2009 became a Member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Council on Diversity and Talent. He is listed as one of the 100 most influential black people in Britain and No.6 on the 2016 list of 100 Black British Business Leaders.
In 2005, he was awarded the honour of an independent peerage to the House of Lords by Her Majesty The Queen. In the same year, he also received the UNICEF award for ‘outstanding contribution to understanding and effecting solutions for Africa’s children’. Lord Hastings is also Chancellor of Regents University London.
Neale Jehan, Managing Partner, KPMG in the Channel Islands, says:
‘It’s a great privilege to be hosting Lord Michael Hastings CBE in Guernsey. 2018 will no doubt be another year of significant and unpredictable change and against that backdrop, it’s never been more important for Guernsey to participate in the debate on sustainability and resilience in relation to business and the global economy.
‘I know he is also particularly looking forward to participating in Amherst Primary School’s numeracy workshops. Instilling a thirst for learning and passing knowledge from one generation to the next is something that both Lord Hastings and KPMG are extremely passionate about.’