I was watching The Sky at Night on BBC4 last night and Chris Linott interviewed Dr Maggie Aderin who leads the optical instrumentation group for EADS Astrium.
Thought I would post this as she does a lot of outreach activities to engage young people, especially those from ethnic minority communities, with science, especially physics and astronomy. She herself is from a Nigerian background and a great role model for those seeking a high profile black female scientist to inspire their children.