Rob was born in Paddington and grew up in the NW London. He joined the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) in Oct 1983. Rob studied at the Civil Service College for two years, gaining a Certificate in Training Practice (CTP) and is now a member of CIPD.
Rob was a founding member of P.R.O.U.D. the MoJ’s BAME staff network in 2001 and also chaired of the Civil Service Race Equality Network (CSREN).
In the summer of 2015 Rob led the MoJ’s Diversity & Inclusion Team where he led the delivery of key priorities, including the Department’s response to the Civil Service Talent Action Plan (T.A.P) and renegotiating contracts with all Diversity Staff Networks.
In April 2016 Rob was included in the ‘New View 50’ which recognises influential Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) professionals in the public sector https://issuu.com/elevationetworks/docs/nv_final_list
In May 2016 Rob was chosen to lead the MoJ’s Race Project – an inward facing programme of work aimed at supporting the MoJ’s published Diversity & Inclusion objectives and turning the dial on race equality.
In September 2016 Rob was elected Chair of the Civil Service Race Forum an umbrella network of BAME Staff Networks across the civil service, comprising 30+ Government departments and connecting 6,000+ BAME civil servants across all levels. Rob ended his tenure as Chair of CSRF in 2018 and continues to support the CSRF as an advisor.
Rob chaired the MoJ’s Diverse Leaders Taskforce in support of the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy until March 2019 and after 35yrs with the MoJ departed in April 2019 to support the Department for Education [DfE] with Embedding Culture Change.
Rob has been a Trustee with RELATE for eleven years and also volunteers as the Social Media Director with the Reach Society @ReachSociety10.
Rob was awarded an OBE in the 2018 New Year’s Honours list for ‘Services to Race Equality in the workplace and the community’ and received his honour from the Queen at Buckingham Palace in May 2018. Rob was also the inaugural winner of Investing in Ethnicity’s Workplace Hero Award in Nov 2018.
After two years at the DfE as Head of Culture Change and a total of 38yrs with the Civil Service, Rob departed the public sector to launch his own consultancy Krystal Alliance supporting organisations across all sectors to be more inclusive. In October 2021 Rob was included in HR Magazines list of fifty ‘Most Influential Thinkers’.