Tishauna Mullings, Black on Track Project Manager with one of the participants Clayton 'Milo' Myles of Flavours Caribbean Cuisine with his family supporting him as he provided food at an event in the Garden at Brixton Dominoes Club
Imagine an evening filled with empowering words of inspiration from the man dubbed as a most successful entrepreneur from Dragons Den UK, Levi Roots plus good Sunday evening musical vibes from a number one Vibes FM DJ, Senator B, and an excited bunch of Community Entrepreneurs sharing their stories.
Well, this was a reality that took place last Sunday. Ubele’s Black on Track Programme hosted an online celebration of community wealth building which attracted an audience that included various stakeholders from the Lambeth Council, Black Thrive, funders, community activists, and local and international Social Entrepreneurs. The over 60 participants present also included loved ones and friends who came to celebrate the achievements of budding Community Entrepreneurs who have spent over 10 weeks in a Pre-Start Up Community Enterprise Development Training Program developing their ideas.
Yvonne Field, Founder and CEO of The Ubele Initiative congratulated the participants for stepping into the unknown and taking a bet on themselves: “We are looking into pathways to support community entrepreneurs as we continue the Ubele story of intergenerational community advancement. The new skills, connections and confidence developed in this programme, no money can buy.”
“It was phenomenal to see all seven (7) of the participants able to pitch their community enterprises to a panel that included representatives from Impact Brixton, the Lambeth Council and The Ubele Initiative. They were all pitching for the first time in their lives; so to hear them articulate their financial projections and outline research findings that related to their causes really had me beaming with pride.”, said Tishauna Mullings, Black on Track Project Manager
Adjudicator, Grace Gbadamosi and Third Sector Development Manager from the Lambeth Council who gave an overview from the judges shared that, “From the panels perspective, the pitches were impressive and well structured; the caliber was excellent. These are business ideas that the participants can take forward. When you succeed as community entrepreneurs, we all succeed.”
She urged the participants to create a support network and tap into the support networks available through the council in every borough. The Ubele Director in charge of the Black on Track,, Michael Hamilton agreed as he said, “I was completely blown over by the quality of the pitches.”
The Programmes & Partnerships Manager at Black Thrive Lambeth for the Employment Project, Yasmin Ibison called the Black on Track Programme a huge success. She said, “We want to ensure that thriving is the norm for Black and Minoritised communities and reduction of inequality that often leads to poor outcomes for black people.”
Ubele is excited to help champion this mission to ensure communities are ignited and empowered to create change by the people for the people.
The project team will also commence mapping activities to identify and eliminate barriers to employment and entry into entrepreneurial ventures.
The Black on Track continues with the launch of Black on Track 2.0 (BoT 2.0) where a new cohort will be starting within the next few weeks. BoT 2.0 is open to participants from 35 years old who are seeking to maximize their employability skills and create a legacy. We are especially looking for people from Black and Minoritised Communities with long-term health conditions.
>>> Apply here for Black on Track 2.0
Tishauna Mullings
Black on Track Project Manager
