An inspirational evening sharing the entrepreneurial journeys of three black, female founders from our region plus Q&A and Networking.

In celebration of the theme of this year’s Black History Month ‘Saluting our Sisters’, Warwick Innovation District will be joined by three Black female founders from the Higher Education, Creative and Mental Health sectors. Join us for an inspirational evening sharing the entrepreneurial journeys of Jessica Agboola, Shaquira Lue and Nikki Adebiyi followed by a Q&A session and Networking.

Jessica Agboola is the Founder of KINSIS, a social enterprise serving the needs of Black women in Higher Education. Jessica graduated with a first-class Sociology degree concentrated in Public Policy from the University of Warwick. She works as a Parliamentary Researcher and Community Organiser and avidly follows the development of the UK start-up ecosystem. She brings together the worlds of social research, service design, grassroots approaches and business. She founded The Black Women’s Project in 2015 with the goal of supporting Black women at university by equipping them with the things they need to succeed in Higher Education and beyond.

Shaquira Lue is the Founder of the The Open A cappella (OAC), a national network for artists and groups founded in 2020.

During her undergraduate degree, Shaqiura channelled her entrepreneurial spirit through the Student Union and established Warwick A cappella Society. While completing her Masters, she founded the UK’s sole national Open A cappella Competition (The OAC) at Warwick Arts Center. This then transformed into a start-up company and was part of the first cohort on the Creative Futures Incubator. Under her leadership, this thriving community has grown to encompass over 300 groups and organises an annual national competition with 130+ competitors and 350+ audience members. Shaquira also provides consultancy and regional events to support local a cappella communities. An immigrant from the Caribbean, Shaquira also uses her freelance career to produce theatre and art for voices of the global majority.

Nikki Adebiyi is the Founder of Bounce Black, a social enterprise supporting the workplace and wellbeing needs of Black students and professionals. She launched the platform in 2020 as a culmination of her journey of recovery from anxiety and depression, seeking to help fill in the gaps she previously fell through. Aside from social entrepreneurship, Nikki is also a writer, keynote speaker, life coach, and consultant.

This is part of our regular series of business networking events held on the fourth Wednesday of every month. We aim to provide an opportunity to make in-person connections in a space increasingly dominated by online events.

Meet like-minded individuals and professionals from across our network to discuss innovation, business challenges and solutions, and the SME and start-up environment. It’s an opportunity to broaden your connections and have interesting and meaningful discussions with people who can help with your business challenges. Hear from industry experts and gain insights into new topics.

All are welcome to our networking sessions; Warwick students, graduates, entrepreneurs, small business owners, local government business support, academics, and anyone with even the seed of an idea they’d like to pursue.

Warwick Innovation District (powered by the University of Warwick) is a crucible of creators, technologists and humanitarians, collaborating and colliding with energy, purpose and direction. We support businesses of all shapes and sizes who want to innovate and grow.