Paulette heads The Voice Media Group and is the strategic force behind the revitalising of Britain’s oldest black newspaper, which celebrated 40 years of publication in 2022. 

She is also the Country Head for Jamaica National Bank and was integral to the historic formation of JN Bank UK Ltd, the first Caribbean-owned digital bank in the UK, launched in October 2020.

Born in England, Paulette’s grandmother thought it best for her granddaughter to be raised in Jamaica and so she returned there as a child. After coming back to the UK, Paulette studied at the University of Stirling in Scotland, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Studies (Finance and Marketing). Today, she is a major player in improving the lives of Jamaicans in the UK and Jamaica, bridging, and maintaining Jamaica’s connection with its diaspora.

In May 2021, Paulette announced a ground-breaking research collaboration between The Voice newspaper, the University of Cambridge and black-led consultancy I-Cubed. The Black British Voices project aimed for the first time to understand how the British black community feels about key issues and cover the spectrum of experiences and views. The survey, which attracted over 11,000 responses, covered subjects including an interrogation of the use of the term BAME.

Paulette said: “This study is about engaging with the everyday black person – to be part of something that will help us to understand the reality of what it is like to be black and British. We hope to be able to use this insight to prompt real change for our community.”

Paulette is also Deputy Chair of the government’s Windrush Commemoration Committee and was awarded a CBE in the 2020 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to the Caribbean community in the UK.

This year marks the sixth time Paulette has appeared on the Powerlist, and the second time she has ranked in the Top 10.