Black British women at the top reaching back down and developing talent
Having reached the top of their respective professions, Black women are reaching back down to help up their sisters, creating opportunities where none existed before. The availability of cash is the single most heavily limiting factor for almost every business and venture capitalists have historically been extremely reticent about lending capital to Black people and business women, let alone Black businesswomen. Happily, Black women are now stepping in to fill the gap and provide seed funding for Black-owned SMEs, as well as creating platforms to support networking between Black businesspeople and connecting venture capitalists with business founders. Others are supporting their communities by setting up community interest companies that enrich and develop people from disadvantaged backgrounds, encouraging them to succeed and thrive.
Ruby-Jade Aryiku
Co-founder with two other Black women and PR Lead at entertainment, public relations and digital talent management agency VAMP, the biggest Black talent agency in the country and one with gained a reputation as the go-to choice for authentic publicity campaigns for films with diverse casts.
Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon
Dr Imafidon passed her computing A-level aged just 11 years old. She graduated age 20 from Oxford University with a combined Master’s degree in Mathematics and Computer Science. She went on to co-found social enterprise Stemettes, which has helped 45,000 young women across Europe to experience opportunities in science, technology engineering and mathematics (STEM) industries. Awarded an MBE in 2017 for “services to young women within STEM careers”, she was dubbed “Most Influential Woman in the UK’s Tech Industry” by Computer Weekly magazine in 2020.
June Angelides
Upset by the lack of technical training for women who were on or returning from maternity leave, June created the training firm Mums In Tech and began teaching new mothers to code before going on to pitch courses to big organisations, including Microsoft, Three, Investec Bank, and the Ministry of Justice. Believing in supporting women to achieve during their entire career journey, she joined a venture capitalist firm where she helps women and underrepresented business founders obtain investments and co-founding Female Founders Online which connects venture capitalists with business founders, giving them the chance they need to gain the investment and momentum to be successful.
Named “6th Most Influential BAME tech leader” in 2018, and “15th Most Influential Women in Tech” by Computer Weekly, she won the TechWomen100 Awards in 2020, the same year she was awarded an MBE for services to women in technology. She has also found time to raise three young children, mentor, speak and write.
Atinuke Awe
A creator of resources that support community and Black motherhood, Atinuke is the founder of Mums and Tea, a social platform aimed at connecting Black mums together and Learning with EZ, a company specialising in diverse educational resources, and co-founder of Five X More, a community interest corporation campaigning for Black maternal health outcomes in the UK. Described by British Vogue in 2021 as a “Force for Change” and a “Woman changing the World” by the Evening Standard in 2022, she speaks on various media platforms on topics ranging from diversity and inclusion to autism and Black maternal health.
Kike Oniwinde
Oniwinde has a strong and diverse background with an impressive straight-Aacademic record as well as competing internationally in javelin. After graduating and working in finances and a start-up, Oniwinde decided to start her own business and in 2016 she founded the BYP Network app that connects black young professionals. In 2019, the network had over 30,000 members in 65 countries and was growing steadily. In 2018, Oniwinde was named on the Financial Times’ Top 100 UK BAME Leaders in Tech, and in 2019 she was recognised as one of Forbes’ 30 under 30.
Mercedes Benson
London-based DJ, partnerships manager and social entrepreneur Mercedes Benson is on a mission to remedy the lack of Black representation in the creative industries. She launched recruitment and job-board platform SocialFixt in 2017 to connect black talent to career opportunities within the creative industry. Now boasting 20,000 members and offering everything from CV workshops to mentorship and employability events, the platform has partnered with firms from Google and YouTube Music to Nike Jordan.
Gina Nipah
Founder of Hapin Beauty Lounge and Hapin’s Daddy Haircare, plus-size model Gina is known within her industry for creating spaces for cross-collaboration and co-learning through work experience and training as she works to make the beauty industry more inclusive and accessible for everyone.
Mandy Nyarko MBE
Mandy Nyarko MBE co-founded innovation consultancy Startup Discovery School, who have designed incubators, accelerators and open innovation programmes for public and private organisations in the UK and Africa focused on building startups addressing environmental and social sustainability issues. She is also an advisor on the SME action board to the UK Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
Yvonne Bajela
The youngest investment manager of 90,000 employees at Mitsui & Co went on to lead over $200 million in investments. Realising a need to support Black female entrepreneurs, Bajela went on to found UK based venture capital fund Impact X Capital, which invests in companies predominantly led by Black and female entrepreneurs. Yvonne advises the Mayor of London’s Access to Finance programme. In 2020, she was named in Forbes 30 Under-30 list.
Image credit:
“Anne-Marie Imafidon 2018” by Doc Searls, reproduced under a Creative Commons CC BY 2.0 licence, via Wikimedia Commons.
Assistant Librarian (Promotions) at the University Library. An enthusiastic advocate of libraries, diversity, inclusion, equity, and social justice for all, inside and outside the workplace.
Leave a Comment (note: all comments are moderated)