Edwina Dunn

Dunn was born in Buxton, Derbyshire. She spent her first three years in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where her father, a former Spitfire pilot, was working as a chartered electrical engineer on a power station project.

After the family returned to the U.K., Dunn won a scholarship to Surbiton High School. She attended Bournemouth University, graduating in 1979 with a B.A. in Geography.

Dunn joined the London division of the American data analysis software consultants, CACI, in 1980 as a marketing assistant where she became the company’s youngest ever vice-president.[5]

In 1989, Dunn left CACI to become joint founder and CEO of global consumer insights business dunnhumby with her husband and long-term business partner Clive Humby.[6] The company applied science and technology to customer data, to help businesses understand consumer trends and behaviours.[7][8] From their relationship with Tesco, they launched the Clubcard in 1995 - the first mass customisation loyalty programme in the world.[9][10] Dunnhumby has offices in 25 countries employing 1500 people.[11]

Dunn and Humby sold their final stake to Tesco in 2011. Dunn then took some time out to create and develop “The Old Rectory Gardens at Doynton” book.[12] She also instigated the What I See project, a global collection of women’s voices based around 1500 individuals as they reflect on how they perceive themselves.[13] This later became The Female Lead campaign.[14]

In 2012, Dunn and Humby set up H&D Ventures, a business and data science team exploring the possibilities of telecoms and financial services data. In addition, in 2013 Dunn & Humby acquired Purple Seven, a UK theatre and arts analytics company.[15]

In 2014, Dunn invested in and later became CEO of the data analytics company Starcount.[16] The company acquired H&D Ventures in the process. Starcount is a data science consultancy focusing on exploring consumer behaviour and extracting data-based insights.[17]

Dunn espouses The Power of Two leadership principle. This teaches that the most effective way to operate is by pairing two people with complementary skills e.g. analysts and marketers. It is a model she and Humby instigated at dunnhumby, and which she continues to advocate.

Dunn has been a trustee of the Science Museum Foundation since 2013. She was an NED of HMRC from 2013 to 2016, and University Technical Colleges with Lord Kenneth Baker from 2015 to 2017.

From 2014 to 2017, Dunn was chair of the government-backed, private sector-sponsored Your Life campaign, which sought to promote STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) to 14-16 year olds across the UK.[18] It involved the creation of Future Finder, a careers advice app.[19]

Dunn is the founder of The Female Lead, a non-profit organisation dedicated to offering women alternative role models to those presented by popular culture.[20] It provides a platform for sharing inspirational stories and films.[21] The accompanying book, The Female Lead: Women Who Shape Our World, was published by Penguin Random House in February 2017.[22] It is being donated to 18,000 schools across the UK and USA, to inspire the next generation of female leaders.[23]

Dunn was awarded an OBE in the 2019 Queens Birthday Honours for Services to Data and Business in the UK.[24]

In 2018, Dunn received the Fashion 4 Development Award for Women’s Empowerment in New York.[25]

She holds four Honorary Doctorates: one in Business Administration from Derby University, and one in Science from Middlesex University, Kingston and Bournemouth.[26][27][28]

She also holds three Honorary Fellowships: at Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge, the Institute of Direct & Digital Marketing, and the Market Research Society, of which she is also Patron.[29][30]