Individuals Who Built Supporting Networks To Empower Others In The Diaspora

[Music] hello and welcome to another inspiring edition of diaspora Network where we celebrate Nigerians making remarkable strides around the world I'm Teno on today's program we focus on harnessing the power of collaboration and Community highlighting individuals who are building supportive networks to empower others in the diaspora Our Guest this week is Y adak data governance consultant and the founder of Bloom L A thriving community that supports women from Minority ethnic backgrounds in the UK but first let's get up to speed on the latest news from the diaspora Nigerian born track star Toby amusan has secured a new world record becoming the world's fastest woman in the women's 100 meter hurdles during the Jamaica Athletics Invitational the 12.40 victory surpasses the previous world record which was held by America's T Marshall who clocked in at 12.42 seconds in late April the 27-year-old is a two-time commonwealth games winner and she became the first ever Nigerian World Champion and World Record holder in an Athletics event when she won the 100 meter hurdles at the 2022 World Championships this record has sparked hopes that the nation might secure a big win at this year's Olympic Games in France following the news Nigeria's minister of Sports Development Senator John oan Ino posted his congratulations on social media platform X stating Paris is around the corner with the hash renewed hope what's up class of 20124 let another Nigerian woman dominating the headlines is uami dosumu ogunjobi who has become the first black woman to bag a PhD in robotics at the State of Michigan University uami also known as wami is a daughter of immigrant parents next to roboticist she holds many titles including engineer mentor and teacher she has been offered several Awards and fellowships over the years most recently she won the 2024 Martin Luther King Spirit award and was was given an invitation to speak at the Microsoft Future Leaders in robotics and AI event at the University of Maryland wamy who is currently serving as a researcher in the robotics department at the university has stated that through her post-doctoral work she is eager to make the field of Robotics more accessible to a wider audience and that her long-term goal is to become a [Music] professor the new York African Film Festival has announced Nigerian produced documentary brain drain as the official closing film for its 2024 Edition under this year's theme convergence of time so being first generation one thing that our parents always instilled into US was to never forget where you come from and just a pride about being ebo being Nigerian the film is produced by Collings AK papam the CEO of Effy worldwide a production house based in Lagos it has been described as an expose which focuses on the socioeconomic implications of The Exodus of skilled workers in Nigeria as well as success stories of Nigerians who are living in the United States founded in 1993 the New York African Film Festival has been at the Forefront of celebrating the unique storytelling of filmmakers in Africa and the African diaspora this year's installment will be running from May to June in celebration of International Nurses Day the UK's NHS has recognized 24-year-old damilola oser for uplifting sick patients by playing the saxophone at several health centers in Essex dami laa who revealed that his mother is a singer started playing the Sachs in 2016 he has previously performed to Crow of thousands of people at church events and student concerts in Nigeria but now he plays song songs such as Three Little Birds by Bob Marley and the Whalers in dedicated music sessions on his Ward the nurse says that he is encouraged to play despite how busy he is because patients have voiced how wonderful the music makes them feel some patients have even written poems and thank you cards to express their appreciation Juliana oinka with the diaspora Network news RP in London in our special report today we explored the impact of collaboration and Community Building showcasing how Nigerians in the diaspora are creating supportive networks to empower others let's take a closer look at some of these inspiring initiatives in the last decade the emergence of Africans mostly Nigerians in the diaspora has risen exponentially making the continent a force to be reckoned with [Music] although migrating from one country to another is usually motivated by different reasons a common denominator amongst immigrants is the reality of starting a fresh as settling down in a new territory comes with its challenges in a bit to make the experiences of newcomers less challenging some Nigerians are building platforms to equip newly arrived immigrants especially esally from Minority ethnic backgrounds with the clarity and support they need to navigate their path by harnessing the power of collaboration and Community they share their Journey socialize partner Inspire and support others especially in areas of personal and career advancement here are some Nigerians whove created communities organizations to support immigrants navigate life in various ways benal gimi founder the Nigerian Center one of the first immigrants and cultural centers for the Nigerian diaspora in the United States the organization offers Financial inclusion and social justice opportunities for members of the African immigrant Community the organization also educates empowers uplifts and assists migrant families to adjust to life in the United States through policy advocacy cultural Legal Aid Services entrepreneurship and Home Ownership opportunities the center also provides a platform for members of the African diaspora to learn about their Ian Heritage while connecting them to the current Nigerian American culture in the US often time when you think of returning citizens there are challenges that come to mind this program is changing the narrative and we see the opportunity of leaders in the community taking authority over their own story their brand identity and creating a path for themselves in entrepreneurship and contributing to the sustainability of the DC local economy was acknowledged as one of the top most inspiring immigrants in Atlantic Canada for the year 2024 an award which celebrates his impactful contributions towards assisting other immigrants across Canada he is dedicated to supporting newcomers mentoring International students and promoting Talent while fostering meaningful integration within local communities he is the immediate past president of the Nigerian Canadian Association of new brunwick a nonprofit Association that promotes cultural awareness and supports families by uniting all Nigerians in New Brunswick Canada these are many more Nigerians in the diaspora believe the potential of Nigerians to reach extraordinary Heights and so are relentlessly contributing their quota to provide the tools encouragement and connections that propel them forward changing the n as always we've been following the activities of the Nigerians in the diaspora commission as they continue to engage citizens living abroad through various progr programs chairman of the Nigerian and diaspora commission Mrs abik Dai era receives the Duke and Duchess of Sussex Prince Harry and Megan marle at a welcome banquet held in their honor by the chief of Defense staff General Christopher Musa in Abuja the nitom boss commends the couple for their innumerable philanthropic Works to society especially the injured sick traumatized soldiers and even War veterans Mrs D erah who learns that Megan marle is 43% Nigerian after having a genealogy done in 20122 commends The Duchess for being an embodiment of the Nigerian woman prin the Niger woman has much the woman is elegant beautiful intelligent Harding dental and the of everything shout out to all the n in the h and guess what Harry you marry the very best for Mar our sister daugh friend princess you Mar the most handsome man in the [Applause] world so we welcome you home today it's your first visit but hopefully not your last visit and we hope you come back home again and again and again the ni B also took the opportunity to extend to the Dutchess an invitation to the annual badagri door of return Festival in Lagos now let's turn our Focus to our guest for today y adak a true advocate for community support and collaboration born from her experience as an international student in the United Kingdom she founded Bloom L to create a Vibrant Community that off offers support to other women with a similar experience in the UK being a woman to me is embracing my unique identity that is deeply rooted in my journey of self-discovery is a data governance consultant and digital entrepreneur with a legal background spanning over a decade she combines her experties in both fields to provide strategic advice and guidance to companies across diverse Industries within the UK y obtained a bachelor of laws degree at the obam University in osun state Southwest Nigeria after attending the nigeran law school she worked in one of the topmost law firms in Nigeria before pursuing her Masters at the University of War UK she then worked with a top asset management company before transitioning to an in-house Council role subsequently she pursued her Masters at Sheffield hem University graduating with an MBA degree degree of Master of Business Administration y adak she currently serves as a board member of an education board her journey from Nigeria to the United Kingdom provides her with a firsthand perspective on the Immigrant experience committed to making a difference in her community yij founded blel a beacon of support for women from black and diverse cultural backgrounds that is committed to helping women thrive in every aspect of life [Music] [Music] blel currently has almost 1,000 women in over 100 cities within the UK Beyond her professional achievements Y is passionate about sharing knowledge and insights through articles videos and other content she educates and empowers individuals using her social media platforms being a woman to me is embracing my unique identity that is deeply red in my journey of self-discovery it is embracing my strength and vulnerab ative being Unapologetic about who I am wearing my crown with Grace it is building other people around me giving myself the grace and permission to become whatever I want to be it also means supporting and advocating for fellow women and girls on various fronts this creative Outlet allows her to share insights stories and advice inspiring and connecting with a diverse audience when we return in just a moment y adak speaks to us about the importance of collaboration and Community away from home and how her organization Bloom L is making a difference please stay with us joining us on diaspora network is y ad data governance consultant and founder of the bloom El Community thank you so much for joining us on the program thank you so much for having me it's really lovely to be here to share my story moving to a new country that's completely different from home in terms of uh culture and traditions can be quite challenging what was your experience like and how did you and your family manage to uh make that move smoothly so I don't think the word smooth is you know the right word to use because I was quite challenging so when I initially moved here I moved with two toddlers uh my kids were aged two and three and I moved alone and it was quite challenging so you can imagine coming into a city you don't have a sport system it was really hard so back at home I had my own circle of close friends extended family members that I could always reach to you know talk to about child care if I needed to you know balance all my responsibilities but moving here was totally different I struggled so I initially moved and stayed with a friend for a couple of months before I could secure my accommodation and um I struggled first and foremost you know in terms of being able to make meaningful connections make new friends and uh there's also the cultural adjustment bit it's different when you come here on holiday you know and I have traveled here a couple of times for holiday but when I moved in here fully you know with my family was a different reality for me and boy God I struggled I felt isolated I felt vulnerable at a point you know because I'd had to do like different type of jobs trying to work within because I moved here as an international student so work within a confines of 20 hours uh was really challenging for me and I felt like I lost my identity so it it took a bit of uh trying to find myself again getting the kind of job that would suit my circumstances for me to be able to eventually find myself so I wouldn't say it is it was smoth yeah and I know you mentioned jobs which I think you know is another difficult aspect of the japa Trend you know that daunting career shift I mean you studied law and you've worked across diverse sectors how would you say the move to the UK um has impacted your career path so as I mentioned earlier I moved as an international student and before then I've worked as a lawyer back home in Nigeria with over a decade of experience in and Commercial transactions so when I moved here having to juggle childcare number one as well as having to work within the confines of 20 hours was really hard you don't find recruiters willing to get International students even if they have the best experience working with those hours so I I would say one of the things that I did first and foremost was first and foremost was to prepare myself so I prepared myself by literally having that positive outlook saying to myself that it doesn't matter if you know I keep getting those rejections I'm just going to be putting in my application until I ask someone say you know yes to me uh I started investing in myself upskilling is one thing I always talk about so being a lawyer you know I'd worked uh in a top couple of sectors and I worked in the top most um asset management company where I dabbled into personality identifiable information working with data uh did a bit of data privacy regulations and so I knew that I wanted to get into that uh sector that is you know the tech industry without me having to be involved in coding roles so I said doing a research just looking out there what are those kind of jobs rules I can do that fit my skills and you've now founded the uh Blue maal Foundation or organization to help support other women not just from Nigeria but other ethnic minority backgrounds uh to navigate life in the UK speak to us about how this came about and the reception so far so I started Blue Mill out of the shared struggle I shared earlier you know coming here with two kids no support system lack of access to information and I struggled and at a point I was working in a very toxic environment trying to you know balance being a student being a mom and also as well to work and I thought to myself you know um I didn't want any other woman to feel the way I felt isolated lot of identity vulnerable and that's where Blue Mill started from so I created blue maill like you said Blue Mill is that Beacon of Hope it's an inclusive Aven for women from different countries so I'm always quick to say that we have women from Nigeria from Ghana uh afro Caribbean Heritage you know majorly black Heritage in Blue Mill and we provide resources we provide access to information whether that we spring of you know support system because we want every woman to feel like you know there is that someone there's that body in your community that understands your journey so as you're navigating your part here in the UK you have someone you know just helping you and when we initially started it was from zero and right now we have almost 1,000 members like I said in different countries and they all live interestingly in diverse cities in the UK so we have people in Wales in Scotland Northern Ireland England and it's really beautiful it's just that bit about you you have someone who totally understands what you're going through like for instance there was um a change to the immigration um uh policy here in the UK and a lot of the women in the community were just talking about how they were worried about that the impact of that on them you know there was the mental health aspect of it so we had um an immigration lawyer just come share with the women in the community the implication of all of this how that affects them we've had people come talk about mental health you know how to safeguard your mental health and all of that reception has been really amazing really really really amazing and of course apart from uh blel you also create content online um advising others on adapting to the uh professional landscape in the UK what advice would you give anyone who is in that new phase not just in the UK but in a new country generally I say that coming into a new country uh comes with its own uh set of challenges so I'm always going to tell people to be patient with themselves when you move in it's so easy to look at other people who are settled and you're comp comparing yourself to them be patient with yourself give yourself time apart from that you need to prepare sometimes people come in here and they are not prepared to be honest when you come unprepared you're going to struggle so start thinking of what you want to do uh one of the things I'm quick to add is because I knew that I wanted to come here I wanted to work in a global landscape um I wanted to start working in the manager role so I chose an NBA that's got um work experience so it took me you know being able to work fully to be able to understand the job landscape here and be able to prepare myself I did a lot of research like I mentioned LinkedIn was my best friend just being on there looking at what other people are doing so please reset most importantly I'm quick to say that the people that you associate yourself with the first two months of you coming to the UK can actually make or my you it's not even only the UK it's abroad and because it determines your mindset so if you have the people that are saying the right thing to you you can Thrive you can do better if you have people that are saying the wrong things to you you probably will be there and you know just struggling and investing yourself it's okay to do a survival job like a lot of people do that just to build themselves up and you know pay their bills but don't just leave yourself there cuz in the next couple of years you realize that you know people are doing so many things and you're just stuck where you are are in that position so um investing yourself it's it's really important to do that and you know reflecting on your journey so far you've come a long way from being an international student to where you are now what would you consider your most significant achievements and what motivated you you know during those times to keep going so um I would say one of my most significant achievement would be professionally so like I mentioned at transitioned um being a data governance consultant based on experiences working with data and uh reading up on that and also networking with people that are in the industry that I wanted to work in so I started working as after I graduated as a data governance consultant with a top uh Tech F and i' had the opportunity to create a data quality framework for this top Global organization there's something about dreaming about something and then you know seeing it come into achievement and then it was for me the the accolate I got you know just being able to create that it was the first ever they've never had that before and it just made me really happy and that's one thing about data governance CU you are trying to get people to see their data as a strategic asset uh you're making sure that they have the right people who are doing the right things they have the proper policies and the procedures as well as technology to be able to manage the life cycle of their data so it was just really amazing being able to do that and I think another significant achievement would be when I became a board executive member of uh an education trust as an international student and that's big for me you know coming here as an international student being able to achieve that dream of just being a b executive uh and committed to ensuring that you know uh kids within the city that I'm in and also neighboring cities are able to get quality education and being able to achieve all of that you know is it fills me with so much and um there were challenges along the way like I said you know being trying to find a job when I became the board executive for instance I was writing my dissertation so I used to like literally shuttle you know being in the library and then juggling all of this responsibility but it's the motivation that this is what I want be able to be a part of a global organization being able to make a difference in the community that I am in you know that sort of pushes me on and just paa me to be the best version of myself all right then you it's been a pleasure speaking to you on the program thank you so much for joining us on diaspora Network thank you so much for having me it's been a pleasure just sharing my experiences and telling my story and that wraps up another inspiring episode of diaspora network but remember you can find more insightful stories of Nigerians making their mark on the global stage on our YouTube channel and website Channel tv.com until next time I'm Teno bye for now

Channel: Channels Television

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Id: rpMGO_Wp73w

Length: 25min 30sec (1530 seconds)

Published: Sat May 18 2024