Marilyn Comrie OBE to Speak at Forever Manchester Women

We are pleased to announce one of our excellent speakers for the next Forever Manchester Women, taking place on Wednesday 17th January, kindly sponsored by Slater and Gordon and held at Dukes 92 Bar and Restaurant.

FM Women comprises of networking with like-minded ladies from across the region, followed by two speeches from two inspiring local women, one from a community project funded by Forever Manchester.

Marilyn Comrie OBE – Director, The Blair Project

A former BBC TV journalist and television producer, Marilyn Comrie has proven herself both a successful entrepreneur and leadership consultant; she has held advocacy roles including Women’s Enterprise Ambassador and Outreach Champion for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, was a board member of the International Business Forum, as well as the African Union Private Sector Forum, and, closer to home, the Ethnic Minority Business Forum North West.

Marilyn was honoured by Her Majesty The Queen in 2009 with an OBE for services to women’s enterprise, and has been awarded an honorary doctorate by Birmingham University for services to business.

As a Director of the Blair Project Ltd since 2015, Marilyn Comrie has championed initiatives to make motorsport more inclusive, affordable and accessible. She is also working to close the gender gap in professional motorsports by encouraging girl racers, in particular in innovative ways from the youngest of ages. In Spring 2018 she will launch Formula Girl Ltd, a new sports brand for women, in an effort to demonstrate her financial commitment to this effort, offering to set aside 40% of her company’s profits to sponsor female sporting talent, teams in motorsport and other extreme sports.

Marilyn first got into motorsport through her sons, Blair and Nile, who run a social enterprise in Wigan called The Blair Project. When Nile saw younger brother Blair unable to pursue his passion for motorsport due to the costs involved, he decided to help young people from all backgrounds build and race karts. The Blair Project helps students use technology, including 3D printers, to make and build karts to compete in the ProtoGP Schools Kart Challenge. The organisation is about to expand and has recruited a team of former servicemen to help teach teenagers digital skills required by the local labour market.

Marilyn is the project’s Director of Business Development. In September 2017, The Blair Project opened a new vocational training centre called DigiFutures to help learners of all abilities and ages to gain the skills they need to work in a variety of digital sector roles such as cyber security, computer-aided design (CAD), rapid prototyping and manufacture using 3D printers (CAM), video gaming and data analytics as well as employability skills.

Forever Manchester has been proud to support such an innovative and forward-thinking community organisation. If you’d like to see Marilyn Comrie, who has an inspirational story to share with women across Greater Manchester, join us at Forever Manchester Women at Dukes 92 on Wednesday 17th January, 5-7pm. Find out more about the event here.

Tickets are just £20, which includes a welcome drink and canapes.

Tickets can be purchased online by using the ticketing form below.

Want to be kept updated with Forever Manchester Women news? Join the mailing list.