WHO ARE WE?
Black Business Network is the home of black business owners and startup entrepreneurs, designed to strengthen business connections, financing and knowledge in our community.
Through our network you can learn and find support throughout the lifespan of your entrepreneurial journey. We pride ourselves in collaborating with other Black organisations and the right corporate engagement, to bring about a collective spirit of change for our entrepreneurs. Providing access to business support resources, services, educational and networking events; while staying updated on the latest news and engagement in our business community.
Join us as we shape and build the black business community while showcasing your talent, professionalism and businesses!
EDUCATING AND SUPPORTING YOU THROUGH YOUR ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNEY
SHARI LEIGH
FOUNDER
About Me: After a decade-long career in the events industry, I was inspired to use my skills to create safe spaces for Black entrepreneurs to meet, network and learn from each other. Along this journey, I have learned about the numerous areas of support needed in our business community, and I have been honoured to continue to build and share these resources with other entrepreneurs.
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NATASHA HASTICK
BUSINESS OPERATIONS MANAGER
About Me: With over a decade experience in executive office management, I joined BBN with a desire to utilise my experience in an organisation whose values are better aligned to mine.
We have come across so many businesses and organisations, who share our drive and desire to see the community thrive and it has been amazing. We've achieved so much, and I'm excited to see what else is to come!
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SHI DOLOR
BRAND MARKETING MANAGER
About Me: It’s cliche but real talk, for the last 6 years brand marketing has been my passion and I’ve been able to work with great brands like Disney, Facebook and Google on my brand marketing journey. But nothing has meant more than being able to work with the amazing entrepreneurs in our community. We have so many great businesses and innovative entrepreneurs that produce fantastic products and services every day. My only job is to make them more visible and accessible.
ATANGANA NGOE
STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS LEAD
About me: brings over 10+ year's experience gained within global teams specialising in sales, talent acquisition, operations and change management. With a passion for empowering black businesses, she excels in developing trusted relationships with corporate partners, stakeholders, and sponsors. Her authentic approach to business development and commitment to inclusivity drives meaningful change, aligning diversity goals with organizational values.
Atangana is dedicated to transforming the landscape for the Black community and is a key force behind the Black Business Network’s mission.
HIYWET BERHE
EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT
About me: I’ve been working in events for the past 4 years, including conferences in San Francisco, Cape Town and Amsterdam and I love it! Inclusion in business has always been my passion, but more particularly for the Black community in the UK. It’s amazing to be a part of a team with like minded individuals, with the same goal of amplifying Black voices and talent.
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WHO ARE WE?Launched in September 2018, Black Business Network was created to address the disparity in the availability of tools, knowledge and strategic development required to progress black SME's in the UK. We are committed to the growth and maintenance of our business community; providing resources and safe space events which allow professionals and entrepreneurs alike the opportunity to establish meaningful business connections.
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"WHY JUST BLACK?""We’re usually asked this question before any other and here’s the answer: When discussing diversity and inclusion, 'BAME' or 'BME' is usually the focus; but it’s important to recognise that BAME is an umbrella term, used to reference an incredibly diverse group of people, each of whom have diverse issues to deal with. The term BAME includes Asian Indian, Asian Chinese, White Polish and many other different ethnicities; but with such a wide range of people can one size really fit all?
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A NEW APPROACH TO DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION!Here at Black Business Network we are taking a new and more impactful approach to diversity and inclusion by targeting the specific needs of the community we know and love. By addressing the individual gaps in knowledge we can tailor and detail our outputs to provide more effective solutions to black business issues. Creating a real and progressive change that can collectively support our community! Diversity and inclusion is a huuuugge topic of discussion and we all have so much to do, so we encourage those from every community to engage with us to close the inequality gaps across every field.