Attitude 101 2025: Here are the 10 influential figures who made our Third Sector list
The changemakers of Attitude 101, empowered by Bentley are transforming communities and championing social causes, making lasting impact through nonprofit and advocacy work.
The selection spans 10 sectors: Media & Broadcast; Film, TV, and Music; Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics; Third Sector & Community; Financial & Legal; Fashion, Art & Design; Sport; Travel; Business; and The Future, supported by Clifford Chance.
Below are the LGBTQ+ leaders who have dedicated themselves to creating positive change through charitable organisations, grassroots activism, community service, and more.
Category leader – Friedel Dausab
LGBTQ+ activist
A pioneering Namibian activist who achieved a historic victory in June 2024 when he successfully challenged colonial-era laws criminalising same-sex relations in Namibia’s High Court. After being diagnosed with HIV in 1999, Dausab dedicated his career to LGBTQ+ and HIV advocacy, working with organisations including IBIS, Positive Vibes Trust, and OutRight Namibia. His legal challenge led to the overturning of laws criminalising ‘sodomy’ and ‘unnatural sexual offences’, though the government has since appealed. With nearly 30 years of activism experience, he continues to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights while highlighting the need for intersectional collaboration across social justice movements.
Josh Babarinde OBE
Liberal Democrat MP
Babarinde displayed a drive for social justice when, in 2015, he founded Cracked It, a social enterprise that trains young ex-offenders in smartphone repair. In 2019, it was named Social Enterprise of the Year by both the Centre for Social Justice and the Evening Standard. Babarinde was later appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to criminal justice, social enterprise and the economy at the age of just 27. Since 2024, Babarinde, now 31, has served as Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Eastbourne.
Char Bailey
LGBTQ+ advocate
Bailey is a passionate speaker and neurodiversity champion. As director of people and culture at Birmingham Pride, she fosters inclusion and celebrates diversity. She also volunteers as education and wellbeing officer for UK Black Pride and is one of the driving forces behind Lesbian Visibility Week. A board member of Neurodiversity in Business, Bailey advocates for increased accessibility and understanding for those with autism and ADHD. She is also a fundraiser for Stonewall Housing. Bailey’s unwavering dedication to representation, equality and inclusion drives positive change across multiple communities.
Simon Blake OBE
Chief executive, Stonewall
When Blake joined Stonewall last year, it was a full circle moment, echoing the time he spent campaigning alongside Stonewall for the repeal of Section 28 and the equalisation of the age of consent when he worked for the National Children’s Bureau. He has previously served as chief executive of Mental Health First Aid England, as chief executive of the National Union of Students, and as chair of the Support After Suicide Partnership. He was awarded an OBE for his services to the voluntary sector and young people in 2011.
Rev Richard Coles
Broadcaster and author
Coles has led an unusual life, first rising to prominence as keyboardist for 1980s pop band The Communards. He later became a Church of England vicar, but maintained a regular presence on TV and radio, including a decade as co-host of BBC Radio 4’s Saturday Live. His memoirs, including Fathomless Riches and The Madness of Grief, explore faith, fame and personal loss. In 2017, he became a Strictly Come Dancing contestant, and last year, he appeared on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, coming third.
Carla Denyer
MP and Green Party Co-leader
Serving alongside Adrian Ramsay, Denyer has co-led the Green Party since October 2021. In a sign of her party’s growing strength, the former councillor for Bristol’s Clifton Down ward was elected as the member of Parliament for Bristol Central, securing 56.6 per cent of the vote, in July 2024. This made her the first publicly bisexual MP to serve in Bristol. By joining the Trans Pride Bristol annual march in the southwest city last November, Denyer showed that she is a proud ally of the trans community at a time when other party leaders flip-flop on the issue or are outright transphobic.
David Furnish
Chairman, Elton John AIDS Foundation
Husband to pop icon Elton John, Furnish, along with the rest of the team at the Elton John AIDS Foundation, has so far raised a staggering $600 million to fund programmes to prevent HIV, to educate people about the condition, and to provide care to those living with HIV. Last year, busy bee Furnish also directed the documentary Elton John: Never Too Late and served as a producer on The Devil Wears Prada musical. He is also CEO at Rocket Entertainment, a company he co-founded with Elton, which has film, theatre, sport and music arms.
Jude Guaitamacchi
Activist and founder, Trans+ Solidarity Alliance
As CEO of advocacy network Trans+ Solidarity Alliance, Guaitamacchi spearheaded last year’s Trans Youth Are Loved campaign, which saw celebrities including Will Young and Spice Girl Emma Bunton record messages of love for gender-diverse youth. The campaign became a national talking point. The Alliance also hosted the first all-trans panel for politicians, chaired by Guaitamacchi and co-hosted by Labour MP Kate Osborne, Conservative MP Caroline Nokes and former SNP MP Hannah Bardell. Guaitamacchi was also named Campaigner of the Year at the 2024 Bank of London Rainbow Honours.
Manvi Madhu Kashyap
Trans pioneer
In India, transgender people have a constitutional right to change their legal gender, and a third gender (non-binary) is recognised. In a further sign that the world’s most populous country is moving in the right direction for LGBTQ+ rights, Kashyap made history last year when she became India’s first-ever publicly trans woman to be appointed sub-inspector (equivalent to a police sergeant in the UK). A resident of a small village in Bhagalpur, Bihar, she was given the role after passing a rigorous examination conducted by the Himachal Pradesh Police Department.
Sarah McBride
US Representative
The 2024 US election wasn’t all doom and gloom, with McBride blazing a trail by becoming the first publicly trans person to be elected to Congress, beating Republican candidate John Whalen III, and winning the state of Delaware’s only seat in the House of Representatives. The 33-year-old has been a member of the Delaware Senate from the 1st district since 2020 — and as such, is the first out trans state senator and the highest-ranking out trans elected official in US history. In the current political climate, it’s an amazing achievement.
The full Attitude 101 list appears in issue 363 of Attitude magazine, available to order here or alongside 15 years of back issues on the Attitude app.