Korrine
Sky.

Korrine Sky is a cultural brand strategist, entertainment executive and commentator with 14 years as an entrepreneur. Her work rests on one conviction: talent deserves access to the rooms where decisions are made. In 2022, she mobilised support for African students fleeing Ukraine, helping raise over £300,000 and supporting more than 2,000 evacuations, work that led her to address the United Nations Security Council.

As CEO of SMADE Group, Korrine leads strategy and partnerships for an entertainment business that brings African artists and audiences together through live shows and experiences. Recent SMADE productions include Timaya's 20th anniversary show at indigo at The O2 and Afri-East Festival, both of which sold out. Independently, she has long worked with Exec Branch on its annual conference, and this year's Legacy edition sold out too.

She is also the founder of First Name Basis (FNBPR), an independent public relations agency built on the belief that the right story, told well and placed in the right company, can change a trajectory. FNBPR works with talent, founders and brands to build their reputations. It brings particular insight into African and diaspora audiences, including communities that mainstream campaigns often struggle to reach.

Through Culture & Commerce, the publication she founded, she explores who creates value, who owns it and how creative influence becomes economic power. She is Editor-at-Large of The Southern African Times and presents Tiripanze on Radio2Funky. Her own story has been told in a documentary with BBC Africa and in her first-person accounts for Elle and Marie Claire.

Zimbabwean and British, Korrine speaks candidly about representation, leadership and the business behind visibility, drawing on her experience as both an entrepreneur and an advocate.