Women To Watch Awards 2026 honors Yetunde Hofmann
Yetunde Hofmann is the Founder and Managing Director of Solaris, a pioneering global executive leadership development academy targeted at the black and brown professional and executive woman in organisations.
She is the Managing Director of Synchrony Development Consulting an international leadership and change advisory practice that partners with organisations in the delivery of change initiatives, executive leadership team eAectiveness, inclusive leadership programmes and immersive storytelling workshops.
Yetunde is also the Founder and Managing Director of The Enjoyable Life Series CIC, a non-profit organisation where their annual storytelling conferences are run to raise money for the currently disadvantaged in community.
Yetunde built a successful career in a variety of HR leadership roles in FTSE 100 Global companies including Imperial Brands, Unilever, Allied Domecq, and Northern Foods. Recognised as HR’s 12th Most Influential Thinkers by leading UK national magazine HR Magazine in 2021 Yetunde has also been named one of the top 100 women to watch in the UK by the Cranfield University Female FTSE 100 Board Report. In 2020, she won the Dress for Success Greater London Award for Women’s Empowerment and in 2021 was made a Chartered Companion of the CIPD in recognition of her contribution to the achievement of the institute’s global ambitions and service to the HR profession.
In 2025 she was recognised by the African Business Chamber UK as one of the top 100 African Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders in the UK. In 2026 she was nominated by the same organisation for their Global Diaspora Excellence Award.
Yetunde is a Non-Executive Director on the Board of Cranswick Plc a FTSE 250 leading UK food producer where she is the designated Board Director for Workforce Engagement and also sits on the Audit and Remuneration Committees. She is a former Board Director and Chair of the Remuneration Committee of Treatt Plc, a global ingredients manufacturer with operations in the UK, USA, and China and a former Board Trustee and Chair of the People, Culture and Remuneration committee of The Education Development Trust. Until March 2023 Yetunde was a Board Trustee of the Institute of Business Ethics (IBE). She has also been a Non-Executive Director of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) where she chaired the People, Culture and Remuneration Committee, was the Board Race Champion and the Board Champion for the Middle East where she played a business mentoring role for the Middle East Leadership Team based out of Dubai. The CIPD is the Governance Body for the People Profession in the UK. Yetunde has contributed to the development of business leaders at the University of Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership where she has given an opening or closing keynote presentation on their world renowned Masters Programme. She also is a Visiting Fellow at Henley Business School, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) a TEDx Speaker and a classically trained pianist.
She is a Board Mentor with Criticaleye - the CEO and Leadership Community where she mentors senior executives at Board and/or C-Suite level and has been invited to be a judge on the panel of judges of the Top 100 most influential people in the UK Awards. She has written several articles and blogs all with a theme of Love which she believes is the most critical leadership and organisational capability needed in the world today. Yetunde is the author of Beyond Engagement, The Value of Love-Based Leadership in Organisations, which provides practical insights from over 30 senior business leaders across a variety of industry sectors into how love-based leadership can transform organisations.
In addition to being a classically trained pianist, Yetunde loves travel, visiting museums, and is in the process of researching her second book which will be published in 2027.
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