The Black Apprentice Network (BAN)

WE ARE LIVE!⚡️ We hosted our first official event, and it was a smashing success. Sold out almost instantly every time we increased capacity! That’s what we love to see. We were a family of 100 people on Friday! Planting seeds: cultivating lifelong relationships 🌱☀️ . Just like the name of the event says, our goal was to enable young black professionals and students to develop professional relationships with each other. We wanted to provide the opportunity for aspiring apprentices to meet role models who have a similar background to each other. We started with an introduction to the mission of The Black Apprentice Network (BAN), what we plan to do, what we have done and what matters to us. We were able to share our experiences and provide advice via our two panels. Special shout-out to our panellists‼️ With our first panel consisting of Fenton, Alisha, Kwesi and Safiya. Then Sydney, Naomi, Lamar and Rubin on our second panel. Apprentices in all different industries and an aspiring apprentice who managed to land multiple offers from large organisations. We talked about their reasons for choosing apprenticeships over the traditional university route, how their friends/family reacted, how they plan to leverage their position as an apprentice for their careers and a range of questions from the aspiring apprentices. Thank you to everyone that shared their unique experience of apprentices from African and Caribbean heritage. 🗣 We had an exciting evening of networking afterwards where we made sure our aspiring apprentice and current apprentices connected. Our apprentices were excited to share their experiences, and we saw our ambitious aspiring apprentices go the mile to connect and learn. One thing that stood out was the energy of the room and how comfortable everyone was to be among their peers. Good vibes and enjoyment that’s what we expect to bring to every event🤩. If you are currently an apprentice or aspire to be one, are from African or Caribbean heritage, make sure to look at our page and join our community. https://lnkd.in/emPmHhn3 Next stop: The Midlands 👀 XX/05/2023 #community #network #blackexcellence #apprenticeship #socialmobility #opportunity #blackapprenticenetwork

On Friday, I travelled to Birmingham to attend the Multicultural Apprenticeship Awards as a finalist in the Digital and Technology category 🏆. Over 500 apprentices were nominated and out of that, 140 were shortlisted with 20 in my category so I will always be grateful for this achievement. Despite not winning, I thoroughly enjoyed the evening thanks to the amazing company of Joanna Hughes aka Auntie Jo😉 and friends. Those who know, know but I had been barricaded at home recovering from a chest infection for the entirety of last week and I didn’t think I could make it. Nevertheless, the awards ceremony is an amazing opportunity to bring hundreds of apprentices, senior leaders and organisations. It was lovely to connect with some familiar faces and celebrate the achievements of all the finalists, winners and those who were highly commended. Thank you again Joanna for the invite to your table and for the opportunity to meet Priya Dale. And I would like to thank those who have been immensely supportive towards me over the past few months at Goldman Sachs and within my network. Well done to Pathway Group for organising a successful event, I look forward to your future events! Parris Small Shadnay Ngari Kwesi Bimpong Elijah Olanipekun Rubin Poku Malachi Swen Lamar Mukundi Tawana Robertson Santina Bunting Jon A. Nathan John Baboucar Badjie Christina Dumitriu Jackson Kasundi Fernando Mehitabel Mensah Sheryl Teya #mcappawards #mcaa

It’s been a lot… I’ve been a hypocrite… I keep telling everyone to post on linkedin everytime something important for them happens so it’s time I lead by example. These past two months have been ridiculously busy in typical Rubin fashion, this has been what has been up! I have started working as an interim Shift Manager for Delivery operations. This new role means I am able to tap into more analytical skills by using metrics to improve last mile delivery execution and stakeholder management with Delivery Service Partners for my station. So far I’m enjoying thanks to the managers training me: ISRATH MAZUMDER & Victory Egwu I am officially leaning into my career as a diversity and inclusion specialist, my experience being on stages to discuss D&I solutions for international organizations to support early careers applicants to maximize their career success and social mobility. I was even a judge for the National Apprenticeship Awards for London! An amazing opportunity from the department of education! Hoping my career in people strategies takes me to help more organizations and individuals. I spoke on stage at Black Tech Fest’s future summit by Colorintech as an early careers specialist, debating how apprenticeships are a more effective method of social mobility for students and especially black youth in comparison to university. According to Gabriella Olumide the jury is still out on that one. The Black Apprentice Network (BAN) hosted one of our biggest partnership events this year with Deloitte, thanks to the team and Zion Sengulay - Thomas, the turn out was amazing and I am so proud of the direction we have taken in the past few months with partnerships and events with amazing organizations such as BT Group, EY, Accenture, Aon, KPMG UK and NHS This would be impossible without the support of the HR and careers professionals with a vision to execute such amazon events for the students. In fact here is a list of some of these amazing individuals: Sophie Willmott, Ceyda Ok Karayaka, Nikki Humes Assoc. CIPD, Joanna Hughes, Zion Sengulay - Thomas, Lucy Hunte, Victor Sosanya and a series of other people who influenced us on this journey Amazon won an award at the Multicultural Apprenticeship Awards, where I was also a finalist for Transport and Logistics Apprentice of the year. We will go again next year. Thank you Nicola Drury, Olivia Realey, Jo Simovic & Neil Travis for the support at the ceremony. It was also great seeing new and old friends like Nathan John, Malachi Swen, Shadnay Ngari, Natasha Muhamba, Christina Dumitriu Jackson, Santina Bunting and many more of which some were finalists for their own industries. I look forward to building these relationships, people I hope will be close in the community I want to build.

I would like to thank the people - who I deeply admire - behind the Multicultural Apprenticeship Awards. I am sure that lots of you feel the same way. It is thanks to Safaraz Ali FIEP, Kasim Choudhry and Brad Edwards, and Jagdeep Soor FIEP at the Awards' sister organisation the Multicultural Apprenticeship & Skills Alliance, that almost 1000 of us were able to celebrate all apprentice finalists and apprentices and apprenticeships generally. Every time I hear Safaraz and Kasim speak I am struck by their effortless grace as well as the impact of their words. I have never felt this more strongly than listening to Kasim speak about Yusuf Mumtaz, an award-winning Engineering Apprentice who lost his life in the summer. The tribute to Yusuf came at the beginning of the evening, with a video of this talented young man and an invitation to everyone in the room to stand as a mark of respect. The Awards team honoured Yusuf's commitment to apprenticeships with a new award in his in name. ✨ The Yusuf Mumtaz Award for Commitment to Apprenticeships ✨ It would be an understatement to say that I was surprised that the great honour of being the first recipient of this very special award was awarded to me. Thank you to my table guests for supporting me with the shock of this. An incredible honour. This year I wanted to host a table for apprentices. It felt like the right thing to do. Following an open invite on LinkedIn, I was BLESSED that my table ended up being made up of a founder, office holders and members of the The Black Apprentice Network (BAN), some of whom were finalists also. Thank you so very much for your company Kwesi Bimpong, Natasha Muhamba, Shadnay Ngari, Jonathan Tembo and Massif Sabwe. Tawana Robertson and Lamar Mukundi were there with us in spirit ❤ Also with us were members of my City Century community Priya Dale, Hannah Pastuszka and Emma Whitfield. They have their own news from the evening! Have a browse through the Awards brochure 👇🏽 https://lnkd.in/eQGEjf7x The brochure includes an item about last year's Apprentice of the Year Joseph Lennox CHA (bottom row photo) - WHAT a Keynote Speech he gave 🙌🏾 Let me finish with the words of Founder Safaraz Ali FIEP: "the Awards are a special event with a cause to honour the exceptional apprentices, learning providers, and employers driving the impact of apprenticeships programmes across all sectors." I have tagged below all the great events and communities run by Pathway Group: Multicultural Apprenticeship Awards Multicultural Apprenticeship & Skills Alliance Apprenticeship Branding Conference The Apprenticeship Diversity & Social Mobility Forum Multicultural Apprentice Network Festival of Apprenticeships ThinkFest (Corporate Events & Networking) Get involved. It is a beautiful community. #MCAppAwards #Apprenticeships Apprenticeships

"You guys are great but..." 🤷♂️ ...but what... 😡 "We don't know how to join your community." We have been getting so many messages on what the steps are to join the community so we had to outline how to do it.. 1. Go to our website at: https://lnkd.in/e_AHbkRv 2. Click "Join the Network" button 3. Fill out the appropriate form whether you are a current apprentice or an apsiring with the appropriate details. 4. Submit the form. 5. We will get back to you in the next 24 hours with the link to our community Now... 🤔 ...get into our community 😁

We are tired... 😩 ...super tired... 💤 ...coming back to London from the Multicultural Apprenticeship Awards. Incredible night, loved meeting those within the The Black Apprentice Network (BAN) that were nominated and our beloved partners that were there. Congratulations to all that were nominated and all the companies that continue to be trailblazors in creating diversity for apprenticeships across the UK. ...now we sleep 🛌

See you there 👋

The best type of apprenticeship applicants aren't the people that instantly get a role in September. It isn't the ones who get great grades. It isn't even the ones who show incredible professionalism. What is it then? It is the ones who stay consistent. Even in the midst of your A-Level and college exams, it's the ones that are still applying and putting themselves out there. Good luck to those still doing it.

The best type of apprenticeship applicants aren't the people that instantly get a role in September. It isn't the ones who get great grades. It isn't even the ones who show incredible professionalism. What is it then? It is the ones who stay consistent. Even in the midst of your A-Level and college exams, it's the ones that are still applying and putting themselves out there. Good luck to those still doing it.

We are delighted that Tawana Robertson has been shortlisted as a finalist for the Multicultural Apprenticeship Awards 2024 in the Management, Legal & Professional Services category. This is a fantastic achievement for both Tawana and our industry-leading Apprenticeship Programme. Best of luck at the awards on 1st November 👏 Learn more about the awards here: https://lnkd.in/gkAfhVyZ #Dentons #Apprenticeship #Law #EarlyCareers #ExceptionalTalent