Ten years of showing up.
Here is what that looks like.
Since 2016 we have been building, connecting, and creating spaces for our community. This page is a record of that work — the events, the partnerships, the people, and the moments that have shaped Black Excellence UK into what it is today.
Events, programmes
and community in action.
We brought around 15 community members into direct conversation with elected representatives, including Nicky Morgan MP, now Baroness Morgan of Cotes. An event built on the belief that access to power should not depend on who you already know.
In partnership with PepsiCo, we hosted a free virtual careers event for Black students from universities across Loughborough, Nottingham, Derby, Lincoln, and Leicester. Attendees met hiring managers, heard from Black interns, and prepared for the application process.
Six Black students at the University of Oxford studying medicine, engineering, biochemistry, law, economics, and PPE shared their application journeys with aspiring students. Guidance that is not always easy to come by, made freely available to our community.
Panellists from Bank of America, ASSA ABLOY, HSBC, and project management brought real career journeys to our community. Around 40 to 50 attendees heard practical advice on entering and progressing in competitive professional sectors.
A GP, a registered mental health nurse, and a finance professional came together for an open community conversation about health in its broadest sense. Because leadership requires wellbeing, and our community deserves spaces to talk honestly about both.
Our annual Black History Month leadership forum at Loughborough University Business School. Senior academics, practitioners, and community leaders came together for a day of rigorous conversation about the future of Black leadership in the UK.
Taking our community
into the rooms that matter.
In 2024, members of our community visited the Houses of Parliament as part of our commitment to building genuine civic access for Black professionals. For many, it was their first time inside one of the most significant buildings in British public life.
This is what Black Excellence UK is about. Not just talking about representation, but creating the experiences and relationships that make it real. Access to institutions changes how people see themselves in relation to power, and that shift matters.
"Volunteering at Black Excellence UK's event greatly impacted me. Dr Ashiedu Joel's advice to lead with confidence and Olusiji Sanya's entrepreneurial journey gave me the push to take action on my own ideas. Huge thanks to the BE team for such an inspiring event. I left feeling motivated and ready for growth."
The work we do
that cannot be counted.
Alongside our formal events and programmes, we have spent years providing informal support to Black students and young professionals across Leicestershire. Conversations, signposting, mentoring, and encouragement that does not fit neatly into an attendance register but is no less real for that.
This is the part of our work that is hardest to evidence and easiest to overlook. But it is also the part that our community values most. Knowing that someone will pick up the phone, answer the email, or show up to the meeting matters. We try to be that for the people who need it.
We are grateful to the organisations that have worked with us, supported our events, and helped us create access for our community.
This is just
the beginning.
Our most structured programme is launching in 2026. If you want to be part of what comes next, whether as a fellow, a partner, or a funder, we would like to hear from you.