Derek Bardowell

Background

About Derek Bardowell

Derek A. Bardowell is a writer, qualified executive coach and CEO of Ten Years’ Time. He is the author of No Win Race (Mudlark/Harper Nonfiction, 2019), which explores race and racism in modern Britain through the prism of sport and Giving Back, which reimagines philanthropy through a reparative lens (Dialogue Books/Little, Brown, 2022) Derek started his career in journalism. He was the music editor of The Voice newspaper and he contributed to the BBC World Service and MTV. Derek has since written for a variety of publications (The Times, The Guardian, British GQ, Time Out, NME, The Source) and contributed to many anthologies (Black British Lives Matter, Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture, The Weeklings: Revolution #1). He moved into the social sector, directing programmes for the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust (winning awards from NASA and University of the Arts), Headliners and HMP Wormwood Scrubs. From 2009 to 2019, Derek directed portfolios for Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Laureus Sport for Good and the National Lottery Community Fund, where he launched seven funding programmes and was responsible for managing the distribution of over £150 million to good causes in 34 countries. He was also a trustee of Leap Confronting Conflict and the author of the racism in education report They Just Don’t Know (Churchill Fellowship). Derek is currently the CEO of philanthropy advice and education company Ten Years’ Time, which helps ambitious donors and foundations to repair harm and rebalance power by resourcing racial and economic justice with care and confidence. He also hosts the podcast Just Cause, exploring the intersections of race, culture and philanthropy and he is a trustee of Thirty Percy Foundation and Mission 44. Derek’s first book, No Win Race was a Sunday Times and Financial Times Book of the Year and longlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award in 2019 and shortlisted for Non-Fiction Book of the Year at the Indie Book Awards in 2020. He is a Knowledge Equity Fellow at the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford and a Churchill Fellow. Derek’s new book, Giving Back (Dialogue Books/Little, Brown), was released in August 2022. He is represented by AM Heath.