Josh Rivers is the Founder and Managing Director of Black Fruit Media, a community interest company founded to support, sustain and promote the visibility of Black LGBTQ people in the UK. He’s the Creator and Host of the award-winning podcast Busy Being Black and a social justice communications professional with over ten years of experience leading storytelling projects for civil society organisations in the UK and across the Commonwealth.
He’s the former Communications Manager of Glitch, the award-winning charity working to end online abuse, as well as the international LGBTQ human rights charity Kaleidoscope Trust, where he helped deliver communications strategies and training for civil society organisations upholding LGBTQ human rights across the Commonwealth. As the Director of Communications for the sexual health charity NAZ Project London, he produced the British HIV Association's first-ever event with Black British heterosexual men about their HIV and sexual health needs. He was part of the founding team behind Second Home, a cultural venue and creative workspace in East London, where he led on membership, communications and community-building; and he's one of the original co-founders of Series Q, a network for LGBTQ entrepreneurs.
Josh volunteered as the Head of Communications and Cultural Partnerships for UK Black Pride, from 2018–2023, where he co-led the delivery of UK Black Pride’s Community Action Fund, a growing resource for community organisations working to uplift LGBTQ Black people and people of colour across the UK. PRWeek named Josh one of the UK's most influential communications professionals in 2022 and 2023, and he was nominated in the Top 10 for Outstanding Contribution to LGBTQ Life at the 2023 British LGBT Awards.
He’s hosted conversations for Netflix, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soho House, Google, Black Tech Fest, NYC Pride, the British Film Institute and many others. He is available for public speaking engagements, and to curate and convene enlivening conversations that address themes like social justice, intersectionality, Black joy, queer history, LGBTQ rights and storytelling.