Nurturing the next generation in STEM to achieve excellence, beyond the limitations of racial and social inequity.
For us it all began in 2020, the year of the tragic murder of George Floyd
9 minutes and 22 seconds of footage highlighted a clear perspective on how we treat each other as human beings.
Several months passed of filling in petitions, sharing social media posts, and debating on whether to attend protests in the middle of a pandemic; in that time we were inspired to start a movement to celebrate Black Scientific Excellence.
We were inspired by the efforts of our ancestors and role-models, who overcame systemic oppression and achieved success. Take the nursing pioneer Mary Seacole, or Mae Jemison, the first black woman in space. Have you heard of Mark Dean? Oh, he only co-created the PC!
We decided that it was our responsibility to highlight these unsung heroes and to use that inspiration to nurture the next wave of academics and professionals to achieve success in the STEM disciplines, by sharing our own stories, tips and skills.
It was a way of spreading positivity throughout the community, whilst drawing attention to the ever-important topics of race and equity.
Today, in the UK, black professionals are under-represented at every level in academia and industry.
GOV.UK Report (2023) Only 5 of 6,600 professors in STEM are Black, totalling 0.4%.
Green Park Report (2021) Noo Black Chairs, CEOs, CFOs in the FTSE100 companies
After completing degrees in Pharmaceutical Analysis and Forensic Analysis, we realised how saturated the STEM job market was and moved to different continents to gain valuable early career work experience.
Ali moved to Australia and Clive to Ghana, where we made our initial transition into industry.
Since then, we've garnered over 20 years of combined experience in:
Line Management
Project Management
Supply Chain Management
Product Management
Research & Development
Regulatory Affairs
Commercial Manufacturing
Chemical Manufacturing
Chemical Engineering
Formulation Chemistry
Analytical Chemistry
Method Development
Polymer Science
Pharmaceutical Science
Forensic Science
Data Analysis
Research Methods
Report Writing
In our "5-9" after work hours we have started and run an independent record label, write music, have raised over £10,000 for Save The Children projects in Ethiopia, used the latest drone technology to collaborate with businesses in Europe and Africa and mentored students into their first job roles. The sum of our experiences have led us to 3 key principles:
(1) Rejection Is Redirection
Develop a growth mindset to improve your employability skills and to build resilience.
(2) Collaborate To Elevate
Align with relevant and inspiring peers and mentors to gain wisdom, knowledge, and guidance.
(3) Your Network Is Your Net Worth
Learn the importance of growing your circle of influence to capitalise on opportunities.
We are dedicated to being a part of the solution. We might inspire the genius that can solve the climate crisis, or design a life-changing cure, or engineer an innovative renewable energy technology. This is how we stay motivated to do this work.
A wise man once said: "They tried to bury us, but they didn't know we were seeds."
We are those seeds that have been waiting, dormant, below the surface; now is the time to rise and to spread our reach far and wide so that our fruit may also bear seeds, that we hope will make the world a more equitable place to live in.
