The ladder is still there - How to get that first role

Stephen established Beyond Education in 2019 as an initiative to help his peers struggling to secure job opportunities after graduation. Today Beyond Education is a talent and employer branding agency with an online community of over 120,000 followers, helping underrepresented talent access career opportunities with inclusive employers. Beyond Education has helped employers save £131,000 in recruitment related cost to date, reached over 16 million candidates online through content and has worked with organisations across various industries: LinkedIn, HSBC, BBC, Octopus Energy, BNY Mellon, St James Wealth Management, IQ-EQ, Federated Hermes, Octopus Investments, Octopus Money, 10,000 Black Interns Foundation, Wasserman, Uswitch, JumpStart Careers, CISI, EY Foundation, Samsung. Stephen graduated with first-class honours in Banking and Finance from the University of Northampton. Despite attending a ‘non-target’ university, he has worked in competitive industries such as FinTech, Consulting, Private Equity, and Asset Management before progressing into the CEO position at Beyond Education full-time. He is a passionate advocate for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, spearheading Beyond Education’s growth efforts through marketing, sales, and strategy development.

Imani Artwell is an award-winning author, leader, visionary, and change-maker making waves in the fields of tech, access, and education. She leads with quiet confidence, transforms institutions, mentors FTSE CEOs, and is known for her servant-hearted leadership. A first-class graduate of the University of Cambridge, winner of The Sunday Times Rising Star Award (Women in Academia) (2018), and the Top 100 Powerful Media Future Leader Award (2017), Imani serves as a Senior User Experience Researcher at some of the UK’s best-loved brands. Over the last 6 years, she’s showcased a stellar track-record of seeding new propositions for those brands from discovery to delivery and sustained success, delighting businesses and their customers. Having led UX research as part of the team at Waitrose & Partners for 4 years, most recently seeding the Business’s flagship proposition of the year to success, Imani will now carry her notable insight, acumen, and expertise into the exciting world of FinTech and Banking, as she joins the team at J.P. Morgan Chase in November to lead research for the global finance firm’s newest ventures. With a spotless academic record, Imani is a passionate advocate of education and access. In 2020, she founded The ISLA Gift to tackle underrepresentation at Oxbridge and beyond. When only 15 Black men had been admitted to Cambridge out of 2,600 freshers in her year (2015), she created the Gift to support underrepresented students of Black heritage with a cash gift towards their study resources and/or a personal academic mentor, with the help of 50 friends who signed up to mentor and/or donate. The Gift is now entirely run by Churchill College, Cambridge University, and has offered nearly £10K in financial cash gifts, as well as personal mentorship support, to over 70 black students. The black student population at Churchill increased by 45% from 3.1% in 2020 to 4.5% by 2024, helped by the Gift towards a goal of 5% (representative of the national population aged 16-24). Imani transforms institutions and leads leaders with her quiet, unwavering, servant-hearted confidence. Whether she’s authoring books to empower others to excel, reverse-mentoring FTSE 100 CEOs such as Steve Rowe (M&S) directly leading to the creation of a Group Head of D&I role on the M&S C-Suite team, or leading a 50-strong team of mentors and donors for The ISLA Gift and partnering with leaders of renowned institutions like Cambridge University to bring about positive change for black students -- Imani is a trailblazer who embodies empathy, kindness, and a commitment to impact and excellence, without any need to be in the limelight.

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.

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.