Sir Idris Elba, OBE
Actor, Producer, Philanthropist Powerlistee #9
Media, Publishing, Entertainment, Sport
Hollywood movie star, musician, filmmaker, activist: Idris Elba is categorically not a man to rest on his (very many) laurels.
His acting career includes standout performances in Luther, The Wire and Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, with a Golden Globe and countless Emmy and Bafta nominations under his belt.
Behind the camera, Elba made his feature film directorial debut at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival with Yardie. His second feature film, independent survival thriller Above the Below, is set for imminent release.
Outside of the Hollywood whirl, he is founder of The Akuna Group, a pan-African company focused on media, entertainment, technology and infrastructure, building creative ecosystems across the continent. Akuna’s projects across Africa, including Ghana and Sierra Leone, are designed to nurture local talent, tell African stories on a global stage, and create long-term economic opportunities through strategic partnerships and innovation.
Idris’s philanthropic efforts are driven by the Elba Hope Foundation, which supports organisations working in agriculture, food security, environmental conservation and social justice. Through targeted grants and collaborations in the UK, US, and Africa, the foundation advances educational and economic opportunities for underserved communities. In 2020, Idris was appointed UN Goodwill Ambassador for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), where he champions rural resilience and sustainable agriculture.
In 2022, he publicly launched his highly influential anti-knife crime campaign, Don’t Stop Your Future, having worked with knife crime victims and their families privately for years before this. The campaign’s advocacy efforts have led to a change in the law to speed up a ban of zombie knives and the establishment of the cross-governmental Coalition to Tackle Knife Crime.
Elba founded Green Door Pictures in 2013 with the aim of developing new talent to champion inclusion, representation and diversity. He also runs international marketing agency, SillyFace, set up in 2023 to “unearth new storytellers and reinvigorate fun in brand marketing.”
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