The African Diaspora Economic Inclusion Foundation (ADEIF) was founded in 2021 by Shereen Daniels, bestselling author of The Anti-Racist Organization: Dismantling Systemic Racism in the Workplace (Wiley, 2022), Managing Director of anti-racism and racial equity advisory firm HR rewired and former Vice Chair of the Black Business Association with the London Chamber of Commerce.
As an entrepreneur herself and being acutely aware of the barriers facing Black female professionals and business owners, she intrinsically understands there is an increasing need to promote economic inclusion in order to bring about structural change.
Rather than reinvent the wheel, Shereen wanted to create a consortium of exceptional executive talent within the African diaspora community and provide them with an opportunity to give back and access knowledge via curated events hosted by ADEIF throughout the calendar year.
Recognising the sheer abundance of intellectual capital, willingness and influence that exists within corporate brands and institutions, it’s her desire to bring together like-minder partners who are willing to contribute through offering financial and non-financial support to uplift African Diaspora female-owned businesses .
Change needs to happen. For change to succeed, it needs to take place at an economic level.
By focusing on female economic empowerment, it directly benefits the African Diaspora community yet also provides opportunity and prosperity for all.
We position ourselves with The African Union Commission’s definition of the “African Diaspora” as,
“…peoples of African origin living outside the continent, irrespective of their citizenship and nationality and who are willing to contribute to the development of the continent and the building of the African Union.” (Source: https://au.int/en/diaspora-division )
A basic definition of “economic inequality” refers to the disparities in income and wealth in society. Economic equality looks at how much money the most well off in society make, compared to the least, and how that wealth is distributed.
We refer to the disparity in income and wealth experienced by the African Diaspora by reason of disadvantage due to race and the prevailing disparities in incumbent wealth for the African Diaspora. These disparities have a knock-on impact in respect of access to financial products and funding opportunities, which in turn exacerbates inequalities in income and wealth in society and makes it extremely difficult to reduce the disproportionate representation of people from the African Diaspora in lower socio-economic groups.
We reject any language that feeds into a deficit narrative, yet we know acutely that part of feeling disempowered is the reinforcement through our ‘minority status’ by government officials, employers and mainstream media.
We commit to building strong ties on the African continent in particular, recognising the importance of our collective cultural heritage.
Bestselling author of The Anti-Racist Organization: Dismantling Systemic Racism in the Workplace (Wiley,2022), Shereen Daniels’ story has been featured in Forbes, and with over 85,000 followers, she has been recognised twice as a LinkedIn Top Voice and is a former winner of HR Most Influential Thinker 2021.
As Managing Director of anti-racism and racial equity advisory firm HR rewired, Shereen is a sought-after speaker, educator and commentator who supports global brands and household names as they work towards dismantling systemic racism across their organizational structures.
Shereen is the former Vice Chair of the Black Business Association with the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry and has held a number of senior HR leadership roles with notable national and international brands. Shereen holds a BA (Hons) in Business with Psychology and an MSc in International Human Resources.
Kit Ahweyevu-Jones is the CEO and Founder of Mindweaver, a consulting organisation driven by the mission to bring diversity and antiracism to the world of emerging technology.
Kit has over a decade of experience supporting organisations to deliver their transformation agendas. She supports and challenges organisations and business leaders alike to centre diversity and antiracism in technology as part of their strategies for business growth, organisational development, people management, and cultural change.
Kit is committed to furthering an understanding of the interplay between technology and race and believes technology to be a mechanism for increasing the economic and social empowerment of the systematically underemployed and overlooked. In this vein Kit uses an intersectional framework and values led approach to help leaders and organisations to develop strategies for dismantling of systemic racism within their organisational structures.
Kit is particularly passionate about supporting the progress of marginalised women and dedicates her time to coaching Black women in technology and business to navigate their experience and realise their value.
A Human Resources, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, and employment law expert. The CEO of two organisations – Inclusive Recruiting – an organisation that combines expertise in EDI transformation and inclusive recruitment practices to create inclusive workplaces where everyone belongs and – A Little Bit of HR – an organisation delivering HR services and employment advice to SME and scaling businesses to support them as they grow and support their teams.
As a Chartered Trade Mark Attorney, Adjoa helps organisations protect, enforce and exploit their brands and other ideas. She enjoys getting to know the nature of the organisations, their objectives and priorities, to get the best outcomes for any brand protection and wider intellectual property (IP) related challenges they may face.
Adjoa advises clients at different stages of their IP journey, including those at the start-up phase. She has given talks on IP protection to various organisations and is an IP Expert-in-Residence at the Imperial Enterprise Lab, part of the Imperial College London.
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Charity Registration No. 1201183
