Women of colour are virtually invisible in mainstream society, Foluke Akinlose, founder of the Precious Awards for black and Asian businesswomen, has said.

Speaking before the awards ceremony on Thursday, Ms Akinlose said more women of colour needed to be represented in British business as well as the media and politics to stem discrimination.

She also welcomed the Prime Minister’s pledge to tackle inequality in his speech to the recent Conservative Party conference, as well as Diane Abbott’s presence in Labour’s Shadow Cabinet.

Ms Akinlose, 40, who also founded the magazine Precious, which is aimed at black and Asian women, said it was disappointing that positive stories about women of colour were rarely reported in the media. “In terms of careers and business, being taken seriously as a business owner, there’s still that ignorance about the different roles we’re playing … The variety of businesses that women of colour are running has really changed.” Discrimination would only be resolved by making women of colour “more visible in mainstream society”.

Businesses needed to look outside their inner circle for talent and she expected more people to launch online news channels to represent themselves. The media was the “most powerful way to affect change in this country”, Ms Akinlose said. “The first thing would be to get more reporters in the newsrooms and to get more women of colour into politics.”

The Precious Awards were set up in 2007 after Ms Akinlose became tired of seeing them constantly overlooked in mainstream awards.

Ending discrimination and inequality were major themes of David Cameron’s speech at the Tory conference last week. Ms Akinlose said that discrimination against ethnic-sounding names, which the PM specifically referred to in his speech, was a “way of life” for women of colour. “I just think it’s ridiculous and sad that people are not employed on the quality of what they can do … it shouldn’t be a question of colour.”

Another catalyst for change could come from Jeremy Corbyn’s appointment as leader of the Labour Party.

“I think it makes people think anything is possible,” she said, adding that Diane Abbott’s new position as shadow Secretary for International Development had sent an inspiring message to black and Asian women, regardless of whom they voted for.

Among the finalists at this year’s Precious Awards, to be held at London’s Banking Hall, is Emily Jupp, designer of Milly J Shoes.

Ms Jupp said that discrimination against women of colour in business still existed, but the awards challenged preconceived ideas about what a businesswoman should look like: “It’s not about making a point about ethnicity … it’s about saying we’ve all got the same skills, the same aspirations.”