October is Black History Month in the UK.
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It is Black History Month and I wanted to find a way to celebrate black people doing great thing in the tech industry here in the UK. To do this, I reached out to the Twitter community and asked them to nominate a black person in tech in the UK who is doing great things or inspiring them. As always, Twitter came through.
Thank you to everyone who took part and nominated someone for the list. Enjoy and share with others to bring continued inspiration to those within the tech as well as those on their way in.
1. Temi Olukoko
Temi is a Software Developer working for BT Group. Based in Bristol, Temi uses her journey into tech to inspire and educate others with her content on YouTube, Instagram and Twitter. She has already been featured in BT Campaigns for Black History Month and spoken at tech events.
2. Hossana Hali
Hosana is a Technology Strategist at Microsoft. A fellow Congolese sister-in-tech, Hosana is also the founder of her own platform, "The Tech Cornr" which she uses to give advice on how to get into the tech industry.
3. Nathaniel Okenwa
Nathaniel Okenwa is a Developer Evangelist at Twilio. He also runs a podcast called, "The Baby Developer Show" and has interviewed some amazing rising stars in the UK tech industry. You can find his platforms on all major streaming platforms.
4. Sandra Okoli
Sandra Oloki is a Software Engineer at ASOS. Entering tech after completing a coding bootcamp, Sandra is also a part-time instructor for General Assembly.
5. June Angelides MBE
Recently named on the Queen's Birthday Honours List and awarded an MBE, June Angelides is the Founder of "Mums in Tech", the UK's first child-friendly coding school for Mums. June is an advocate for working mother's rights and has used her journey and platform to getting people from different backgrounds to pivot their careers into tech as well as helping underrepresented founders gain access to funding. June is also an award winning Speaker and has been featured in publications such as The Financial Times and Stylist Magazine.
6. Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE
Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE is the co-Founder of Stemettes, an award-winning social initiative dedicated to inspiring young women into STEM. It has, so far, helped 45,000 young people across Europe! To add, Dr Anne-Marie is the host of her podcast, which was also nominated for a Weebly Award in 2020, called "Women Tech Charge". She's also an award-winning speaker and has graced stages at Google, The University of Oxford and Mercedes-Benz.
7. Richard Fagbolagun
Richard Fagbolagun is one of the co-Founders of Comuzi Labs, based in London. Comuzi Labs specialises in creating innovative products while providing services and experiences.
8. Sharmadean Reid MBE
Sharmadean Reid is the Founder and CEO of Beauty Stack, an online service allowing you to book beauty and wellness services with beauty professionals in your area. Not only has she founded her own salon in London, she showcase a Nail Design app using Virtual Reality; an incredible way to combine beauty and technology.
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9. Alex Fefegha
Alex Fefegha is one of the co-founders of Comuzi Labs; a company that specialises in creating innovative products using the latest technologies while providing services and experiences. To add to this, Alex is also a Lecturer at the University of the Arts in London.
10. Deborah Okenla
Deborah Okenla is the Founder and CEO of 'This Is YSYS'. a start-up community dedicated to connecting diverse people with opportunities in tech. 'This Is YSYS' has helped 1000s of people to get into tech and advance their careers and have been recognised by many for their work.
Here are just some talents that you should follow as nominated for by all of you on Twitter!
11. Andy Ayim MBE
Recently awarded an MBE, Andy Ayim is the Founder and Creator of the Angel Investing School; a school that offers training to professional from all backgrounds to prepare them for investing into start-ups. Formerly, Andy was the Managing Director of Backstage Capital; a venture capital focusing on investing into companies led by founders from underrepresented backgrounds. To add to this, Andy Ayim is a Public Speaker sharing his experience, knowledge and speaking on topics he is passionate about.
12. Elle Hallal
Elle Hallal is a Software Engineer at 8th Light. She is also a part of the Leadership Team and a Mentor at Coding Black Females.
13. Efua Akumanyi
Efua Akumanyi is the Head of Technology and co-Founder of Furnishful; a platform where you can purchase furniture from large and small independent retailers but also connect with the Furnishful community where you can see how others have styled and put together furniture in different space in their home for you to also get some inspiration. Along with this, she is a Software Developer and Technical Consultant.
14. Siobhan Baker
Siobhan Baker is a Software Engineer at 8th Light and a Speaker. Siobhan uses her journey into tech to bring inspiration to others and is part of the Community & Partnerships Team at Coding Black Females.
15. Alfie Darko
Alfie Darko is a Web Developer based in London. After working as a Web Developer for another company, Alfie transitioned into starting his own business and working as an freelance Web Developer. In his free time, Alfie helps companies and developers upskill their technical knowledge and also writes blogs sharing his technical knowledge.
16. Abadesi Osunsade
Abadesi's career has been fascinating to learn about and witness. Her career shows that you can excel in the tech industry without having technical roles. Abadesi is the VP of Global Community & Belonging at Brandwatch. She is also the co-Host of the podcast, Techish. Abadesi is also the Founder and CEO of Hustle Crew; a company that is on a mission to make tech more inclusive. The company she already been featured in Forbes, TechCrunch and more since it was established in 2016.
17. Kathryn Lilliana
Kathryn Lilliana is a FTSE 100 Technical Product Manager, Startup Business Growth Strategist and Speaker. Her journey is another example of excelling in the tech industry without having to be in a technical role. Kathryn has also previously worked for one of the "Big 4" as a Strategy Management Strategist.
18. Hana Codes
Hana Codes is a Software Engineer and Brand Strategist. She is also the Founder of HanaCodes; a company that provides services for social outreach, brand strategy and web design.
19. Buki Thompson
Buki Thompson is a Software Engineer and Product Specialist by day and a Fine Artist by night. Her passion for tech led her to quit her job in sales, learn how to code and pursuing a role as a Developer. To inspire more people of colour, especially women to explore the tech industry, she founded a masterclass called #CodeXHipHop. The idea of the masterclass was all about demystifying the stereotype that coding is not meant for creatives and that technology can only be fuelled through innovative solutions.
She is also a member of Witty Careers, an organisation on a mission to equip Black & Minority Ethnic women with skills to succeed in the tech industry. Buki has been feaetured on Buzzfeed, The BBC and has also spoken at City Hall to discuss ways of tackling inequality in STEM.
20. Abi Mohammed
Abi Mohamed is a Programme Manager at TechNation. With previous experience as a Software Developer, she provides workshops for founders introducing them to coding, UX, D&R and more. Abi is also one of the co-founder of the Community Growth Venture Fund where they focus on investing pre-seed and seed-stage underrepresented founder-led startups.
21. Michael Berhane
Michael Berhane is the co-founder and CEO of ‘People of Colour in Tech’, a platform sharing the stories of people of colour in tech and ‘POCIT Jobs’. A former Software Engineer himself, Michael is also one of the presenters and creators of the popular podcast, ‘#Techish’.
22. Amina Aweis
Amina Aweis is a Software Engineer at BT Group. She also runs her own publication, a YouTuber and is one of three presenters on her podcast, The Black Muslim Girl. Aside from this, Amina uses her platform to give back by providing resources on how you can learn to code as well as providing technical tips.
23. Flavilla Fongang
Flavilla Fongang is an award-winning Brand Strategist, International Keynote Speaker. Author and Brand Advisor for the BBC. Along with this, she is also the host of her own podcast, 'Tech Brains Talk' and the Founder of Tech London Advocates' Black Women In Tech Group; a community of black women in tech of all levels aiming to educate, inspire and mentor each other in order to provide them with access to opportunities to excel in the tech industry.
24. Joyann Boyce
Joyann Boyce is a Social Media Consultant and Founder of The Social Detail. The company works with SMEs within the technology sector to maximise their impact through social media. Her company has worked with many incredible clients including Adobe XD and SETSquared. To add to this, Joyann is also a Data Fellow at South West Creative technology Network where she focused on researching bias within data.
25. Tolulope Ogunremi
Tolulope Ogunremi is the Founder of 'Coders of Colour'; am award-winning not-for-profit working to insipre and encourage teens of colour to pursue a career in Computing.
26. Rioch Edwards-Brown
Rioch Edwards-Brown is an award-winning Founder of 'So You Wanna Be In TV?'; a social enterprise working to address the skills gap and lack of diversity in TV. Rioch went on to expand her concerns into tech, AI and Procurement. She is also a Speaker and has graced many stages to talk more about this issue.
27. Dionne Condor-Farrell
Dionne Condor-Farrell is a Senior Java Developer specialising in Mobile App Development. Dionne is also a Technology Coach, Mentor, Public Speaker and has won awards for her work. She is also one of the Founders of UK Black Tech.
28. Izzy Obeng
Izzy Obeng is the Managing Director of Foundervine; an award-winning social enterprise focusing on providing start-up acceleration programs for young people from underrepresented backgrounds.
29. Andy Davis
Formerly a part of Backstage Capital, Andy David is an angel investor at Atomico; a venture capital firm that focuses on investing with Europe's most ambitious founders. To add, Andy is also the co-Founder of the "10x10 Fund" which focuses on investing in talented black founders. Along with his company, Andy teamed up with Google for Startups to product 'The Black Report'; the first qualitative report on Black startup founders in the UK.
30. Tara Ojo
Tara Ojo is a Senior Software Engineer at the Financial Times. To add to this, Tara is also a technical blogger and tutor teaching at non-profits such as Coding Black Females.
Final note...
There were so many nominations and thank you all for taking part to them all in. No matter whether your nomination is on the list or not, they are still doing amazing things in the tech industry in the UK as black people and we all love to see it!
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