I joined The Conduit 2 years ago based on a stellar recommendation from my business mentor, Patricia Hamzahee. I was 25 year old, running an early stage education social enterprise, keen to grow my business and to meet and connect with other LGBT+ people who shared similar interests and career aspirations to me.

Like many LGBT+ people, I had a tough time at school, facing a combination of homophobic bullying (leading me to drop out of my secondary school), fear over my sexuality and what it would mean for my future. Not to mention a resentment over the feeling of missing out on friends and relatable role models as a teenager. Whilst I had a great time at University, I still felt frustrated that I had missed out in my earlier years and I felt behind in life compared to a lot of my straight peers.

Motivated by my negative experiences at school, and driven by the conviction that no young person should feel excluded, I decided to start an education social enterprise called Career Accelerator. Career Accelerator supported 14-18 year old working class students from underrepresented backgrounds, helping them to prepare for successful futures through business mentoring over a period of months and years. At this point I was still in the closer and steered clear of any discussion or focus on LGBT+ inclusion when working with schools, young people and businesses.

During my first month as a member of The Conduit I met Bisi Alimi, an international LGBT+ human rights campaigner who I was hugely inspired by. Bisi became a mentor to me. I explained I was keen to grow into an LGBT+ leader and make an impact in the LGBT+ community, and wider society, but I felt I was in need of further experience and exposure to build a foundation. Bisi generously offered to give me a 6 month internship at his foundation, The Bisi Alimi Foundation, which drives LGBT+ rights and acceptance in Nigeria. During my internship, I got to work with an inspiring team of LGBT+ Nigerians and I was exposed to areas of the world where LGBT+ communities experience serious injustice. The more I learned, the more motivated I became to campaign for LGBT+ rights.

As well as Bisi, I also met Oliver Beach at The Conduit. Oliver is the UK Chapter Lead at Out in Teach, an LGBT+ in Tech network. Oliver gave me the opportunity to use my experience and connections from Career Accelerator to help set up Out in Tech U – the UK’s first ever LGBT in Tech mentoring programme. Out in Tech U connects LGBT+ youth aged 17-24 with LGBT+ business mentors at top tech firms. I loved every second of helping build and run this programme and 1 year on, I still have the privilege of helping lead this amazing community of LGBT+ mentees and mentors. All thanks to the opportunity Oliver provided me with.

Since joining The Conduit, I finally found my voice and community and made the decision to use my platform at Career Accelerator to drive LGBT+ inclusion at the schools and businesses I work with. Career Accelerator now works with the UK’s 2 largest LGBT+ career conferences, over 20 corporate partners, including Microsoft, Snapchat, BCG, LinkedIn, Vodafone and Cisco, and supports over 200 LGBT+ mentees and mentors every year, and I cannot wait to continue building upon this work over the next 10 years of my life.

Work aside, I managed to make some of my best LGBT+ friends from The Conduit. As someone who doesn’t drink I’ve always found it hard to navigate the LGBT+ social scene in London. I massively valued the opportunity to find kindred spirits through The Conduit. Through the diverse programming, community and social events at The Conduit I have now got a close knit group of welcoming, smart and career driven LGBT+ friends my own age. For this I am hugely grateful.

LGBT+ people aren’t born into LGBT+ families; we’ve got to be proactive and find our own tribes and I can wholeheartedly say The Conduit has helped me find my aspirational tribe.

When I was giving my speech at the Conduit LGBT+ Dinner, I took a look around the room… I saw LGBT+ entrepreneurs who have built global LGBT+ charities, LGBT+ business professionals at top blue chip companies driving inclusion from the top, LGBT+ financial investors and young LGBT+ people who were starting out in their careers. That night I realised The Conduit isn’t just acknowledging and celebrating LGBT+ history month and how far the LGBT+ community has come. By bringing together society’s current LGBT+ business leaders with the new generation of LGBT+ youth, The Conduit is shaping the future of LGBT+ inclusion in business and society, and I for one, am honoured to be part of this journey.

Share This Article