Celebrating female leaders this Black History month
Written by Orlaith, Anya, Tiziana – Connect Team – ELBA
The theme for Black History Month 2022 is all about ‘sharing journeys’.
We wanted to take this chance to celebrate the journeys of five fantastic female leaders we work with, and the invaluable work they do in the community:
– Bisola Popoola, Founder, Safe House London
– Jeorgina Soares, CEO, JDS Striving for Excellence
– Victoria Ijeh, CEO, Iconic Steps
– Hazel Durrant, Head of Operations, UD Music Foundation
– Yolanda Lear, Project Officer, Account Hackney
Read below to find out what they do, why they do it, and what Black History Month means to them.
This month, we also heard from Ali Kakande, founder of Carib Eats, as part of ELBA’s Community Spotlight piece. Click here to read more.
Would you like to share a journey with ELBA this Black History Month? Get in touch and let us know: community@elba-1.org.uk.
BISOLA POPOOLA, FOUNDER, SAFE HOUSE LONDON (Instagram, Go Fund Me)
What do you do?
Safe House’s mission is to educate, entertain, and elevate the hearts and minds of families, through multidimensional events, workshops and sessions. By cultivating safe and inspirational spaces, we are able to spotlight young people, particularly those who are marginalised and dealing with educational failure, family destruction, financial deficiency, mental health problems, unemployment or violence in London. Providing access and information, we are making a generational shift and investing in future leaders to prevent them becoming a product of their environment.
Why do you do it?
Utilising my experience within the creative industries as a communication specialist and an avid community leader, I broke out of my internal paradox of reality and a career that was lacking the authenticity I required for growth and development. I love helping people, it’s a big part of my purpose and Safe House allows me to exercise this, with a lot of hard work and grace.
What does Black History Month mean to you?
Black History is experiencing a divine shift in comparison to the negative and debilitating education I had in school. Personally, Black History Month doesn’t begin and end in October, it’s an ongoing pursuit, that I passionately explore and am automatically featured in, as a black woman. Therefore, I hope the good work we’re doing will continue to be acknowledged and celebrated in years and years to come.
JEORGINA SOARES, CEO, JDS STRIVING FOR EXCELLENCE
What do you do?
JDS Project is a solution-oriented community asset tackling young people’s core issues by providing training and creating online platforms to voice their issues.
We aim to encourage youth from different backgrounds, faith, gender and predominantly from challenged communities to be active whilst enjoying a holistic programme of activities and reducing feelings of isolation and loneliness.
Why do you do it?
Being a single mother of 4 boys is my passion to provide a safe space and encourage youths to be more active, feel more engaged in their local community, meet other residents, due to the lack of opportunities and financial resources. This is what pushed me to start the work that I do for my community, seeing every young person striving for excellence.
What does Black History Month mean to you?
Means celebrating Black visionaries, global Leaders locals community people who have made a possible change and contribute globally against all odds in order to impact the lives of others and yet still striving for excellence
VICTORIA IJEH, CEO, ICONIC STEPS
What do you do?
Iconic Steps is a creative agency with a social impact! Our mission is to produce with purpose and create a more diverse, more equal media industry.
Alongside being a Creative Agency, we also train and upskill young people (16-25) from diverse backgrounds to increase their opportunities in entering the media industry. We deliver a range of free, media-centred courses, led by experts in their field and support our young people into employment with work opportunities from our Media Partners – Disney, ITV, Warner Bros, and See Saw Films to name but a few.
As CEO I steer the ship ensuring we stay on track with the vision and mission of Iconic Steps, for a small company this means I wear many hats but the most important one is making sure our community of young people have a voice and agency to make change in Iconic Steps.
Why do you do it?
I founded Iconic Steps following my own experiences of trying to break into the media industry. As a young black female and an award-winning filmmaker I understand the struggles and my desire was to create a bridge into the industry.I also wanted to take a holistic approach to supporting young people to develop a growth mindset to succeed in all areas of their lives.
What does Black History Month mean to you?
At the heart of it Black History Month is a time of celebration for me, I especially love learning about the unheard stories and successes of black people. I like that the information is easily accessible to all during Black History Month but do wish it was the case all the time.
HAZEL DURRANT, HEAD OF OPERATIONS, UD MUSIC FOUNDATION
What do you do?
Over the last 20+ years, I have developed a successful career in business development for charities, not-for-profit organisations and social enterprises. My career has involved working with and raising funds for artists and creative practices and to develop large-scale and small-scale projects in partnership with the public and private sector.
In 2020, I started as Head of Operations for UD Music to prepare for the opening of its new £4M home. I support UD to bring about talent development for high potential underrepresented young people, mainly aged 14 to 25, interested in Black Music genres.
Why do you do it?
I have built a career in social action for the benefit of communities and people who face multiple barriers to positively changing their lives and the circumstances they find themselves in. Trying to ‘change the world’ is a vocation and I seek out organisations that share the same drive as I have.
For more than 20 years, I have been unwavering in my commitment to helping all, living within our city, to understand how art and creativity can be useful and powerful tools. I care deeply about empowering people, who are facing socioeconomic deprivation, with the tools to positively change their lives. Social drives me, feeds my soul and motivates me to keep going. Even when all the odds are against me and those I serve.
What does Black History Month mean to you?
BHM is great for those not thinking about racial inequality all year round. From time to time, there is a bit of knowledge I pick up that I had not known before though this is rare. But I do realise there are loads of people who are ill-informed or cling to stereotypes. So BHM has to remain for them.
We all have to learn to be vigilant so that we can work to eradicate what holds us back as a society, and to celebrate what makes us all human. So maybe we should call it Black Human Month!
YOLANDA LEAR, PROJECT OFFICER, ACCOUNT HACKNEY
What do you do?
I’m the project officer at Account Hackney, a youth-led, police monitoring and scrutiny group, which runs under Hackney CVS. We use research and creative outlets to help spread knowledge about knowing your rights, the injustice that happens within policing and the disproportionate rates of stop and search within the African and Caribbean diaspora.
Why do you do it / what pushed you to start this work?
I got involved with Account by chance. I had just come out of being homeless, jobless and feeling hopeless. I met Deji Adeoshun and Tim Heard and they encouraged me to be involved with Hackney CVS and with what Account was doing. David Smith, who at the time was helping run Account, showed me the power in our voice, and how to use it and how to affect change in a positive manner. Growing up, as a young person I always felt like I was silenced and I could never really find places where I could talk and be heard.I see how important and valued it is to young people to have spaces at the table where changes happen.
I am also developing my own workshop and building a business around my book, ‘The Journey to An Undefeated Mind’. I want to support and empower individuals to learn how to fight and find strength and resilience as they face battles with mental health.
What does Black History Month mean to you?
Black history month to me is every month. I don’t just celebrate it once a year because Black History it’s about my external and internal make up. I feel like it is important for us as Black people to know our real history, our roots, where we come from, and what we had to go through. Black history month is a chance to celebrate the amazing people of our past and present.
To stay up to date with the latest news, opportunities and success stories, please sign up to receive our monthly newsletter, here.
