Babette Brown is the Coordinator of Persona Doll Training United Kingdom, and the founder of the Early Years Trainers Anti-Racist Network, launched in 1986. She is a recipient of the Guardian ‘Jerwood’ award for charity work, and remains an active voice in the anti-bias and anti-racism movement. She was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1931. In 1963, she and her family went into exile in the United Kingdom during the state of emergency declared after the Sharpeville massacre in 1960. As a South African who had experienced first-hand the effects of racism and apartheid, Babette was shocked to discover that racism, sexism, and classism were deeply embedded in the British education system and broader society. This awoke a lifelong interest in anti-bias work to tackle the roots of prejudice and discrimination in society. In 1985, she launched the Early Years Trainers Anti-Racist Network, and she remains a strong advocate in the anti-racism movement in the United Kingdom. Babette is a writer on race and diversity, and has published several books, including Unlearning Discrimination in the Early Years and Combatting Discrimination: Persona Dolls in Action.

Babette Brown sadly passed away in 2019. Her life work is entrenched in PDT SA and her legacy still lives on  through our work with young children from disadvantaged communities in  South Africa. We will always be grateful for the contributions that she  had made to advance and strengthen the work of PDT SA.