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Women of Colour

Yakhani

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Originated from the African name Akani which in the Xsonga language means: To Build. 
This is a new Manchester based collective that I am part of, founded by Yan Nagaya. We aim to bring together and empower young women of colour in the UK.  

 We started off with the Aviwe series, which will be an ongoing collection of talks on topics that affect women of colour. We would like to create a platform for young women to be heard and inspired. 
The first event was held on Saturday 15.08.15. This event served both as an introduction to the collective and our Aviwe series - a collaboration with Eminent Youth Journal. 


 The discussion on the day was focused on notable women of colour from around the world. 
By posing some key questions to the audience I lead the discussions. My questions covered women in: Politics.  Technology/STEM. Entertainment. Sport and Authors. 
 


 This is what I discovered:

The highest number of women recognized as notable was in the entertainment and sport industry. And the lowest number was in technology and or STEM. Although I knew this would be the case, I was still shocked at the very few women mentioned. This made me realize that most young women today are immersed in what the media portrays: which is that the most successful careers are in the entertainment and sport industry.  And that the most celebrated women of the world are in these sectors. This is especially the case for many notable women of colour. 

Personally, I know a great number of innovative and successful women in STEM industries 
because of my own personal interest and research. And I would say that throughout my life I have had many inspirational people around me that encourage and present me with a variety of career paths that I can follow.


This response from the audience gave me a clear indication that more needs to be done to promote STEM careers to young women today. And that is something I am passionate about.
I am blessed to have a number of opportunities to advertise STEM careers to many young people and this was also a chance for me to plant a seed to the audience.
I was  compelled to share my own background in engineering and inform them about many other successful women I know who are excelling in STEM careers. Many of which are working on ground breaking projects. 


I am now more determined to become one of those women who can inspire, encourage and empower other women to find a career that is not only focused on success in the public eye but success in changing the world we live in today.

I am grateful to be part of Yakhani, which is a wonderful project that I hope will grow into a powerful hub of successful women in all sectors with a greater increase in Politics and STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths.

Photo Credits: Yan Nagaya
The Aviwe series will continue to hold events with a variety of topics and we hope to see many more new faces there. Keep updated by following us on these social platforms:

Twitter: @YakhaniUK
Instagram: instagram.com/yakhaniuk/

A big big thank you to the Yakhani founder Yan Nagaya for inviting me to be part of the team. Check her out on twitter or Instagram: @yansight


As always love, comment and share!
NC-Liberty x


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