Hear from the Exchequer Secretary and Minister for Equalities and share your thoughts on ethnic diversity in entrepreneurship

The Entrepreneurs Network and NatWest would like to invite you to a webinar on how to ensure ethnically diverse entrepreneurs are able to flourish in the UK.

This event will be an opportunity to:

• learn what the Government is doing to support ethnically diverse entrepreneurs;

• hear from experts on what they think needs to be done;

• share your views and questions with the minister and experts.

Speakers

Kemi Badenoch MP is Exchequer Secretary and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Equalities) in the Government Equalities Office. She was previously Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Education.

In her role as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, Kemi is responsible for a wide range of policy, including: regional devolution, better regulation and competition policy, R&D and science policy, the implementation of the Rose Review and Patient Capital Review, and much else.

Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones (aka The Black Farmer) is a British farmer and founder of The Black Farmer Range, a range of British meat and gluten free organic food products. He was a BBC producer and director who first brought the most engaging celebrity personalities in the catering industry to our screens. Born in Jamaica and raised in Birmingham, Wilfred runs the Black Farmer Scholarship scheme assisting people from inner cities to experience farming.

Melanie Eusebe is an award-winning entrepreneur and business strategist, working with aspiring leaders to identify strategic priorities and initiatives for revenue generation and sustainable growth. In 2014, Melanie launched The Black British Business Awards – the largest awards programme of its kind, endorsed by Prime Minister May, the Mayor of London and esteemed business leaders. Alongside being the Chair of the Black British Business Awards, Melanie was also the Executive Producer for the Women of the World Festival (WoW) a global gender equality festival occurring with over 2 million women in 50 cities over 5 continents.

Professor Monder Ram OBE is the Director of the Centre for Research in Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship (CREME). He is a leading authority on small business and ethnic minority entrepreneurship research and has published widely on the subjects and has extensive experience of working in and acting as a consultant to small and ethnic minority businesses. Monder is a regular keynote speaker at international conferences, and advises the government on the importance and value of ethnic minority businesses through his position on the APPG for BAME Business Owners. He also holds visiting positions at Warwick University and the University of Turku.

NatWest

Earlier this year NatWest set up a taskforce led by some of their ethnically diverse colleagues to look at what more they could do as a bank, and will publish a report which will include a set of commitments aimed at making a meaningful difference for colleagues, customers and communities.

APPG for Entrepreneurship

The All Party Parliamentary Group for Entrepreneurship was set up to encourage, support and promote entrepreneurship. It ensures that Parliament is kept up-to-date on what is needed to create and sustain the most favourable conditions for entrepreneurship. The Entrepreneurs Network is its Secretariat.