International Women's Day Tribute

Mohand Nour a politics student at the University of Westminster, and currently an intern at OBV has chosen Marcia Ann Hutchinson for his International Woman’s Day tribute.

Mohand writes:

‘Inspirational’ is a word that is often overused and should only be reserved for the people that warrant it.

Marcia Ann Hutchinson MBE is certainly one of these people. She is a pioneer in British primary education. Marcia, who grew up in Bradford, Yorkshire, is the founder and CEO of Primary Colours, an innovative company which is changing the face of diversity teaching in primary schools in this country. So how did she become such a leading entrepreneur?

Marcia, clearly a bright and intelligent individual, was the first person from her comprehensive school to go to Oxford University where she studied law and subsequently worked as a solicitor in the city. Her journey from solicitor to founder of Primary Colours is a moving one. It started the day her three year old daughter announced that she wanted to have "white skin" not "brown skin".

The observation of black skin as negative is morally and socially wrong, yet the fact this observation was made by someone as young as three spoke volumes about race in Britain.

Marcia was understandably alarmed. The incident emphasised the necessity of providing positive images of black children. She wanted to find a way to help her daughter and others have pride in their identity.

So in 1997, she set up Primary Colours, described on her website as ‘the leading providers of high quality, culturally inclusive resources’. Essentially, the company provides resources that present black and minority ethnic children in positive ways, whilst supporting teachers and schools in delivering the national curriculum.

To date, Primary Colours has published over twenty books, collected in teaching packs that have been used by over a thousand schools. Moreover, another segment of Primary Colours is its Theatre-in-Education programme, which brings to life the stories in the books using interactive theatre techniques. The final section of Marcia’s company is teacher training; the company has, to date, worked with over two thousand teachers showing them innovative ways to promote diversity in their schools.

She deservedly won the award for Social Enterprise at the Precious Award in 2010, which recognises the achievements of entrepreneurial women of colour as well as being awarded an MBE in the 2010 Queen's Birthday Honours list.

Marcia Hutchinson is living proof that change can be achieved; she is a true inspiration to men and women alike.

I asked how she felt about this tribute to her, she responded; "I am absolutely delighted to have been chosen as an inspirational leader" said Marcia. "I have always tried to make a difference both in my legal career and with Primary Colours.  So often individuals believe that they are too insignificant to change anything but this is simply not true.  

"There are over 100,000 children and 10,000 teachers whose learning and teaching has been positively affected by our work at Primary Colours and each year thousands more hear about the stories of people of colour who have made Britain a better place than it would have been without us.  My mission is to make sure our stories continue to be told and told to everyone from three year-olds to ninety-three year-olds."

Mohand Nour

Image: Marcia Ann Hutchinson MBE