Maxine Horn, the chief executive of British Design Innovation (BDI), has been shortlisted for the prestigious First Women Awards, created by the CBI and Real Business magazine in 2004 to recognise female pioneers across British business, professional and public life.
Maxine has been shortlisted in the Manufacturing category alongside Dr Deborah Allen of BAE Systems, Emma Bridgewater, Julie Moore of Green Gourmet and Michelle Rushbrook of BAE Systems. A business facilitator, design industry expert and opinion-former, Maxine is founder and CEO of British Design Innovation (BDI), the trade organisation for leading industrial designers, service designers and innovation professionals.
Maxine began her career in design media publishing before taking on new business development roles at board level within strategic design consultancies. She launched British Design Initiative Ltd in 1993 to assist exporting design firms share market knowledge and costs - the first membership organisation to put the commercial design sector on the UKTI export map - and launched the national online Design Directory in 1996. In 2005 Maxine licensed the assets of British Design Initiative to British Design Innovation as an independent not-for-profit trade association. Maxine's strategic proposition skills enabled the creation of the BDI's pioneering Open Innovation Challenge, Innovation Bank and Shared Risk and Reward Guide.