Jefferson Osei, also known as Papa Ghana, is originally from Ghana and is now based in the Netherlands. As a co-founder of the Dutch fashion brand Daily Paper, Jefferson Osei has contributed to crafting a brand that merges contemporary streetwear aesthetics with African heritage, achieving global success and creating a dedicated community around the brand. With roots deeply embedded in Ghanaian culture, he has become a prominent name in both the creative and entrepreneurial world. Through projects where he functions as an art director, creative consultant, or sound director, Jefferson inspires and organically attracts a tribe of multidisciplinary creatives and cultivates and shares his talent and knowledge with various fields.

Nicole Ayesu Nelson is a consultant, Tech leader and Chair of Growing Hope Brockley. As the founder of Ayesu Consulting, she helps organisations foster inclusive, high-performing teams. A passionate speaker and facilitator, Nicole equips diverse talent with the skills to thrive, transforming leadership across finance, tech, and social impact.

Rumbi Mtsambiwa is a global post-sales leader driving SaaS growth and enterprise transformation across various global regions including EMEA. With 10+ years of experience leading customer success and retention strategies, she specialises in turning complex challenges into scalable results. At OpenText, she leads global post-sales strategy for cloud cybersecurity solutions, managing a multi-million-dollar enterprise portfolio and shaping how value is delivered across the customer lifecycle. Her leadership is anchored in a personal growth philosophy—rooted in competence, passion, determination, and empathy—values she weaves into hiring, coaching, and team-building. She also serves on the Advisory Board of Daya Ventures East Africa and mentors future leaders through the Black Economists Network. Known for turning strategy into impact, Rumbi creates environments where people thrive and businesses unlock the full value of both their customers and their teams.

Michaela is a leader who leads with empathy and a dash of spice! She has had a 20 year career as a tech-adjacent who's passions lie at the intersection of technology, culture and process. The last three years of her career have spent at Microsoft as a Customer Success Account Director for strategic enterprise customers.

Senior Technical Recruiter at DigitalOcean, specialising in hiring leadership and senior AI, software, infrastructure, and cloud engineering talent.

Charmaine Hayden is a bold cultural commentator known for teaching business strategy through the lens of popular culture. With sharp wit and a fresh perspective, she breaks down economics, entrepreneurship and current affairs in ways that feel relatable, thought-provoking and impossible to scroll past. Her content sparks the kind of conversations you didn’t know you craved; bridging finance and culture with clarity and confidence. Alongside her standout social presence, Charmaine is an angel investor with two exits, a former VC fund manager, a published author (Empowering Nigeria series), and a presenter across media and live events. She’s also a founding member of the UK-Ghana Investor Group, with accolades from Forbes, Financial Times and 40 Under 40 Africa recognising her influence across tech, policy and business. Whether she’s breaking down a viral headline or presenting on stage, Charmaine brings a fearless voice to the table; making complex ideas feel powerful, relevant and actionable.

Charlotte Stavrou is a multi-award-winning entrepreneur and the founder of SevenSix Agency. Charlotte Stavrou (née Williams) is the Founder & CEO of Award-winning influencer marketing and talent management agency SevenSix Agency. She has become the go-to person for brands looking for advice on how to make their marketing strategies more inclusive. Charlotte regularly speaks for and works with platforms such as Meta and YouTube, and participates in roundtables and panels with industry bodies such as ISBA and Advertising Association. For the past five years, Charlotte has been helping creators understand their value. Together with her team, Charlotte has created the first-of-their-kind influencer pricing reports that have highlighted the Influencer Pay Gap. Their yearly pricing reports have helped set an industry pricing standard. Charlotte Stavrou is a respected and influential leader in the marketing industry who is dedicated to promoting diversity and inclusion.

Ebele Okobi is the principal of Revolutionary Projects, through which she advises and creates beloved community for radical imagination. She is an advisor, board member, maker of good trouble and see-er around corners, with 25 years of experience leading, advising and building global teams and tech and consumer brands, as well supporting creators and arts institutions. She loves building, advising and launching organizations and projects that push the arc of the moral universe towards joy and justice; dismantling systems of harm and convening and connecting people who are dreaming better worlds. Her current experience, through Revolutionary Projects, includes being Advisor to the CEO at Dr. Martens, Advisor to Goodifferent, (a beauty and well-being start-up), Chair of the Development Board of the Museum of West African Art in Benin City Nigeria and Advisor to a stealth start-up cultural institution. Previously, she was Chief of Staff to the CEO at Dr. Martens, Senior Policy Advisor at OpenAI, the CEO of the non-profit news agency The New Humanitarian, a Venture Partner for Impact and Equity at Ada Ventures, built and led the Africa, Middle East & Turkey public policy teams at Facebook/Meta, built and led the Business and Human Rights Program at Yahoo, worked in the brand/Africa strategy/digital brand businesses at Nike, was a director of advisory services at Catalyst and a policy advisor at Consumers Union, and a corporate lawyer at Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York, London and Paris. She has extensive experience in board governance and raising capital for creative projects and art institutions. She is on the Frieze Connect Committee, is a Trustee of the American Friends of the Whitechapel Gallery, and previously chaired the development board of the Young Vic theatre as well as the patrons board of the British Pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale for John Akomfrah. She attended the University of Southern California, Columbia University Law School and HEC-Paris. She is married to Richard Harris III, a documentary film director; she is the mother of dragons.

Payal Jain is the Global Head of Application Engineering & Platforms for Citi, she also runs the GenAI engineering team that builds the core AI machinery and platforms for the bank. Prior to joining Citi, Payal has been a hands-on engineering leader building planet scale software at Google and Salesforce - she has a passion for building innovative software. Her current focus includes engineering the core GenAI building blocks that will enable Citi to make the most of generative AI. She is also a Citi Tech Fellow.

Khalifa is a Senior Software Engineer at Apolitical with experience building AI-powered solutions, including creating an AI course assistant and implementing semantic search systems. Throughout his career, he has led major technical migrations and infrastructure overhauls. With his practical experience in both traditional software development and cutting-edge AI integration, Khalifa brings valuable insights into how development practices are evolving in the age of AI-assisted coding.

Arinze is an experienced software engineer, passionate about building impactful products and leveraging technology to solve complex problems. At Monzo Bank, his focus is on building the systems that shape the search and discovery experience powering everyday use of the app. He also has extensive experience in advertising from his time at Deliveroo, helping to build and scale the in-app advertising platform. He is committed to mentoring aspiring professionals, fostering community, and continually learning along the way.

Hosanna Hali, Founder of The Tech Cornr, transitioned from business studies to the tech industry over five years ago after learning to code. Her dream role at Microsoft opened her eyes to the tech world’s potential—and its lack of diversity. Determined to change this, Hosanna launched The Tech Cornr in 2020, providing accessible career insights, learning resources, and advice on navigating the corporate world. Through her content, she’s helped multiple women kickstart their careers in tech. Her relatable approach quickly grew a community, leading to collaborations with top brands like Google, IBM, Logitech, Norton, Sony, and Amazon, as well as speaking opportunities at events such as Black Tech Fest, Oxford University, Warwick University, and Clifford Chance. A 2024 and 2025 Diversity Champion Finalist for the Black Tech Achievement Awards, Hosanna continues to support those entering tech through content, speaking partnerships, and events that connect and embolden her community.

Senior Software Engineer with a Cybersecurity background, building secure, scalable, and user-focused web applications with React, TypeScript, JavaScript, and Java.

Tola is a Senior Vice President at Citi with over 15 years of international banking experience spanning across six global hubs- Lagos, Johannesburg, Libreville, Nairobi, Dublin, and London. Tola previously led the bank’s Commercial Cards operations in Nigeria. Now, Tola partners with some of the UK’s most innovative Digital, Technology, and Communications companies, drawing on her expertise in Fintech and general banking solutions. Beyond her client work, Tola is co-chair of Citi London’s Black Heritage Network where she helps drive inclusion and engagement across the firm. Tola enjoys flower arranging, theatre, travelling, listening to podcasts, and she collects African Contemporary Art.

Yassmin Abdel-Magied is a Sudanese born writer, broadcaster and award-winning social advocate. A former mechanical engineer, Yassmin has published five books, and her literary novel AT SEA is forthcoming with Canongate in 2026. She is also a core writer on British Continuing Drama, Emmerdale. An award-winning speaker and seasoned broadcaster, Yassmin has delivered workshops and keynotes in 25 countries. Her internationally acclaimed TED talk, “What Does My Headscarf Mean to You” was chosen as one of TED’s top 10 ideas. In all her work, Yassmin advocates for transformative justice and a fairer, safer world for all.

Donna Otchere is a PhD researcher at Loughborough University and co-founder of SISTEM UK, a platform empowering women in STEM through creative events and community initiatives. Her research explores how relatable role models shape girls’ aspirations to pursue engineering, with a focus on mechanical engineering. Donna is also a speaker and non-executive board member, dedicated to making STEM more inclusive and inspiring for the next generation.

Elijah is an entrepreneur and business leader best known as the driving force behind the Black Apprentice Network. Through BAN, Elijah is dedicated to empowering apprentices from underrepresented backgrounds, creating a platform that fosters connection, mentorship, and career progression across industries. With more than 6,000 community members and 25,000 followers on social media and partners such as BT, Freshfields, Deloitte and more, his leadership has positioned BAN as a key voice in advocating for diversity and inclusion within the UK apprenticeship landscape.

BioCaleb Oniwinde is a Cloud and Cybersecurity Engineer, YouTube Creator and TEDx Speaker, dedicated to empowering the next generation of tech talent. He shares real, relatable insights from professionals across the tech industry.

Arsema Fessehazion is the founder of the Black Recruiters Network, a community driving visibility, opportunity, and impact for Black recruiters and the talent they champion. Back for the third time on the Black Tech Fest stage, Arsema continues to spotlight the power of community in reshaping the future of hiring. Beyond founding the Network, Arsema is a committed advocate for inclusive hiring and workplace equity. Through hire|py, she partners with tech startups and scale-ups to build inclusive teams, supporting companies in accessing Black & Ethnic Minority talent and creating environments where diverse teams can thrive.