SPEAKERS' SCHEDULE

Wednesday 6 October - 9:30-10:30

Professor David Olusoga OBE - Black British Contributions

Join David Olusoga OBE as he shares his thoughts on what it means to be Black and British, exploring the challenges faced and the contributions the Black community has made to the fabric of British society. This event will be co-hosted by Oli Young, Chief Diversity Officer for the Business School and Anastasia-Eziche, President of the Exeter and Falmouth African Caribbean Society.

David Olusoga is a British-Nigerian historian, broadcaster and film-maker. His most recent TV series include Empire (BBC 2), Black and British: A Forgotten History (BBC 2), The World’s War (BBC 2), 3 seasons of A House Through Time (BBC 2) and the BAFTA winning Britain’s Forgotten Slave Owners (BBC 2).

David is also the author of Black & British: A Forgotten History which was awarded both the Longman-History Today Trustees Award and the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize. His other books include The World’s War, which won First World War Book of the Year in 2015, The Kaiser’s Holocaust: Germany’s Forgotten Genocide and the Colonial Roots of Nazism and Civilizations: Encounters and the Cult of Progress. David was also a contributor to the Oxford Companion to Black British History and writes for The Guardian and is a columnist for The Observer and BBC History Magazine. He is also one of the three presenters on the BBC's landmark Arts series Civilizations. 

Wednesday 13 October - 13:00-14:00

Dr Angelina Osborne - Putting the Black into British History: New Perspectives

Join Dr Angelina Osborne as she explores the African and Caribbean presence in the history of the UK from the Roman era to the present, with a focus on the South West of England, demonstrating that Black history is British history, and whether one is talking about one or the other, Britain is always at the centre.

Dr Osborne is an experienced independent historical researcher, writer and editor, having worked on a range of projects related to slavery, memory, citizenship and cultural heritage. She has a wealth of experience on the public history of slavery and emancipation, having worked on these subjects with museums, libraries and archives, NGOs, and community organisations, and presented programmes on slavery and the Black presence in Britain on radio and television.

She received her PhD in History from the Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation, University of Hull. Her book 100 Great Black Britons, co-authored with Dr Dr Patrick Vernon OBE, was published last year.

Wednesday 20 October- 13:00-14:00

Dr Muna Abdi - From Allyship to Solidarity: Moving Forwards an Inclusive Culture and Language

Join Dr Muna Abdi as she looks at why it is important to create an inclusive culture and language, looking at the concepts of privilege and allyship, and why there is a need to move beyond this towards solidarity.

Dr Muna Abdi is the Founder and Director of MA Education Consultancy CIC. Dr Abdi holds a PhD in Education and has over 10 years’ experience in education, research and community engagement.

Her innovative approach to research and engagement uses sharing circles and community contracts to redefine what it means to ‘actively participate’. The approach has been used to develop community-centred research, co-created curricula and restorative practice programmes. In addition to this Dr Abdi has worked with a vast array of Higher Education institutions, charities and commercial organisations to offer support and guidance in regard to racial literacy, leadership training and more, helping them to learn, apply, reflect, embed and sustain anti-racism and racial equity practices into their structures, policies and procedures.

Her aim as an individual and leader within her field is to not only increase the awareness and understanding of being an active participant within education, professional and social settings, but also to highlight the importance of disrupting and dismantling systemic and institutionalized racism across the board. Dr Abdi's work and organisation creates opportunities and spaces to provide meaningful, equitable and inclusive practices that reinforce the significance of gradual implementation, flexibility, reflection and practical guidance.

Wednesday 27 October - 13:00-14:00

Katie Donovan-Adekanmbi -Cross Cultural Leadership : Back to the future workshop

The pandemic has pushed the EDI agenda for many organisations to the fore, making the values of Diversity, Inclusion, Cohesion and Equity (DICE) and anti-racist practice priorities for HR and people managers. In her workshop, Cross Cultural Leadership - Back to the future, Inclusion specialist Katie Donovan-Adekanmbi will help attendees reflect on how bias permeates in the workplace, focusing on DICE values and cross-cultural leadership and how we can go about building genuinely cohesive communities.

Katie is an Inclusion and Cohesion Specialist and founder of BCohCo Ltd has over 10 years' experience in building sustainable communities and delivers with a unique intersection of professional, personal, and academic knowledge in Diversity, Inclusion, Cohesion and Equality (DICE®).

Katie led and coordinated a multi-agency partnership which worked together to elevate an area qualifying as a Priority Neighbourhood (PN) with a population of 10,000, out of PN status and developed the Anti-Hate Crime Ambassador Programme, delivered to 60 young people, before attracting £90k in funding to roll out on a wider scale.

Katie likes people in all their magnificent difference and thrives off of finding the solutions in the challenges these differences present, for both the individual and the system. As a Woman of Dual Heritage she is continually navigating her Black & White world. Katie has dedicated her academic journey to Social Psychology and her career to Building Cohesive Communities. Katie also delivers training, development, and consultation in DICE®; a continual, interconnected process designed to provide the skills, tools and ‘know how’ to embed DICE® in personal and professional practice.

Black History Month 2021