Introducing Octavius Black CBE as Chair of the Jobs Foundation Employer Taskforce

When we launched the Jobs Foundation, a key pillar of our roadmap was to create a practical accreditation standard for employers, defining the standards that demonstrate an employer’s commitment to creating jobs, providing opportunity, and helping people from welfare into work. 

Just as with the launch of the Jobs Foundation, we want to be purposeful and systematic in how we launch our Accreditation, the ‘Jobs Foundation Pledge’. That’s why we are launching a Jobs Foundation Employer Taskforce, a one-year initiative to design and build the new Jobs Foundation Pledge.

The Taskforce will comprise three key groups: senior individuals, core businesses, and the wider business network. Each group will play a distinct role in shaping and delivering the Jobs Foundation Pledge, ensuring both strategic leadership and broad business engagement – a model that moves from research to implementation, uniting senior leadership, practical expertise, and a broad base of business support to make the Jobs Foundation Pledge a reality.

Leading this new taskforce, we are very pleased to announce, is Octavius Black CBE. Octavius is the Co-Founder and Executive Chair of MindGym. An entrepreneur, philanthropist, best-selling author and former business columnist, Octavius was awarded the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in King Charles III’s 2023 New Year Honours for his services to entrepreneurship, business, life sciences, and community. 

Under the leadership of Octavius, we look forward to announcing the full membership of our Taskforce, around 20 leading employers, in early 2026. You can read Octavius’s recent piece for the Telegraph, in which he wrote “The truth is simple. Bad work harms. No work isolates. Good work heals”, here.

We are delighted to have the support of Octavius, as we look towards the launch of the Jobs Foundation Pledge in Q4 2026.