Edwina Dunn
Edwina D. Dunn, OBE (born May 29, 1958) is an English entrepreneur in the field of data science and customer-centric business strategy. Since 2014, she has been the Chief Executive Officer of the consumer insights company, Starcount.[1] She is also the Founder of The Female Lead campaign.[2] At the end of 2018, she was appointed to the board of Government Centre for Data Ethics & Innovation.[3][4]
Edwina Dunn | |
---|---|
Born | Buxton, Derbyshire | 29 May 1958
Education | Surbiton High School & Bournemouth University |
Known for | Co-founder of dunnhumby
CEO of Starcount Founder of The Female Lead |
Early life and education
Dunn was born in Buxton, Derbyshire. She spent her first three years in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where her father, a former Spitfire pilot, was working as a chartered electrical engineer on a power station project.
After the family returned to the U.K., Dunn won a scholarship to Surbiton High School. She attended Bournemouth University, graduating in 1979 with a B.A. in Geography.
Career
Dunn joined the London division of the American data analysis software consultants, CACI, in 1980 as a marketing assistant where she became the company’s youngest ever vice-president.[5]
In 1989, Dunn left CACI to become joint founder and CEO of global consumer insights business dunnhumby with her husband and long-term business partner Clive Humby.[6] The company applied science and technology to customer data, to help businesses understand consumer trends and behaviours.[7][8] From their relationship with Tesco, they launched the Clubcard in 1995 - the first mass customisation loyalty programme in the world.[9][10] Dunnhumby has offices in 25 countries employing 1500 people.[11]
Dunn and Humby sold their final stake to Tesco in 2011. Dunn then took some time out to create and develop “The Old Rectory Gardens at Doynton” book.[12] She also instigated the What I See project, a global collection of women’s voices based around 1500 individuals as they reflect on how they perceive themselves.[13] This later became The Female Lead campaign.[14]
In 2012, Dunn and Humby set up H&D Ventures, a business and data science team exploring the possibilities of telecoms and financial services data. In addition, in 2013 Dunn & Humby acquired Purple Seven, a UK theatre and arts analytics company.[15]
In 2014, Dunn invested in and later became CEO of the data analytics company Starcount.[16] The company acquired H&D Ventures in the process. Starcount is a data science consultancy focusing on exploring consumer behaviour and extracting data-based insights.[17]
Leadership style
Dunn espouses The Power of Two leadership principle. This teaches that the most effective way to operate is by pairing two people with complementary skills e.g. analysts and marketers. It is a model she and Humby instigated at dunnhumby, and which she continues to advocate.
Philanthropy
Dunn has been a trustee of the Science Museum Foundation since 2013. She was an NED of HMRC from 2013 to 2016, and University Technical Colleges with Lord Kenneth Baker from 2015 to 2017.
From 2014 to 2017, Dunn was chair of the government-backed, private sector-sponsored Your Life campaign, which sought to promote STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) to 14-16 year olds across the UK.[18] It involved the creation of Future Finder, a careers advice app.[19]
Dunn is the founder of The Female Lead, a non-profit organisation dedicated to offering women alternative role models to those presented by popular culture.[20] It provides a platform for sharing inspirational stories and films.[21] The accompanying book, The Female Lead: Women Who Shape Our World, was published by Penguin Random House in February 2017.[22] It is being donated to 18,000 schools across the UK and USA, to inspire the next generation of female leaders.[23]
Awards and honours
Dunn was awarded an OBE in the 2019 Queens Birthday Honours for Services to Data and Business in the UK. [24]
In 2018, Dunn received the Fashion 4 Development Award for Women’s Empowerment in New York.[25]
She holds four Honorary Doctorates: one in Business Administration from Derby University, and one in Science from Middlesex University, Kingston and Bournemouth.[26][27][28]
She also holds three Honorary Fellowships: at Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge, the Institute of Direct & Digital Marketing, and the Market Research Society, of which she is also Patron.[29][30]
References
- "Big Data And Data Science Services & Solutions | Starcount". Starcount Insights. Retrieved 2019-05-28.
- "The Female Lead - Showing how women shape the world". The Female Lead. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
- "Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation Consultation". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
- "Stellar new board appointed to lead world-first Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2019-04-24.
- "CACI Ltd Logo". CACI. 2015-06-23. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
- "Edwina Dunn - Expert Impact". www.expertimpact.com. Retrieved 2019-04-24.
- "dunnhumby - Global leader in Customer Data Science". dunnhumby. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
- "Cashing in, the couple who dreamed up Tesco Clubcard". The Independent. 2010-08-17. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
- "Tesco :: Online Groceries, Banking & Mobile Phones". www.tesco.com. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
- "How Tesco revolutionised loyalty with Clubcard: The Inside Story". Marketing Week. 2019-03-13. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
- Smale, Will (2014-11-24). "The couple who changed the way we shop". Retrieved 2019-04-04.
- "The Old Rectory Gardens at Doynton". doyntongardens.tumblr.com. Retrieved 2019-04-24.
- "The Female Lead - Showing how women shape the world". The Female Lead. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
- "The Female Lead - Showing how women shape the world". The Female Lead. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
- Williamson, Mark. "Home Page". Purple Seven. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
- "Big Data And Data Science Services & Solutions | Starcount". Starcount Insights. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
- Cave, Andrew (2014-08-30). "Tesco Clubcard creators want to get fans retweets from Rihanna and Justin Bieber". ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
- "Future Finder". futurefinder.yourlife.org.uk. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
- "Edwina Dunn, Chair of the Your Life campaign - UK Commission for Employment and Skills". ukces.blog.gov.uk. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
- "The Female Lead - Showing how women shape the world". The Female Lead. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
- "Why Everyone is Talking About The Female Lead: An Interview with Edwina Dunn". Shout Out UK. 2018-06-14. Retrieved 2019-04-24.
- Edwina, Dunn (2017). Women Who Shape Our World. Ebury Press. ISBN 978-1785033520.
- "Get Involved". The Female Lead. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
- (PDF) https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/812602/BD19_Queens_List__1_.pdf. Missing or empty
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(help) - Feitelberg, Rosemary; Feitelberg, Rosemary (2018-08-21). "Fashion 4 Development to Honor Busquets, Heard, Goulding, Dunn at Ladies Luncheon". WWD. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
- "UNIVERSITY OF ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE". www.derby.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
- "Business innovator Edwina Dunn awarded honorary degree | Middlesex University London". www.mdx.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
- "Founders of data science firm behind Tesco Clubcard Edwina Dunn and Clive Humby awarded honorary degrees by Kingston University". www.kingston.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
- "Edwina Dunn - Lucy Cavendish". Lucy Cavendish College - University of Cambridge. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
- "Fellows & Patrons | Market Research Society". Market Research Society. Retrieved 2019-04-04.