Black History Month Series 2021 - Online Making Waves: Voices Of Young Leaders in partnership with BCU

Due to popular demand, we are really excited to announce TAG Network Midlands upcoming Black History Month celebration event Making Waves: Voices of Young Leaders. 

This event series will be showcasing Midlands-based Leaders, Entrepreneurs, and Young Professionals who have inspiring stories to share celebrating their successes and the positive impacts their standing will have on fellow professionals and young people.

The Making Waves event format will be a panel discussion exploring the inspiring personal and professional journeys of young leaders/young professionals who's outlook and mindset of representational Leaders has motivated them to be determined, keen to achieve more, and become more.

Our Guest Panel:

Marissa Jacquet is an award winning Associate Solicitor specialising in Commercial Property at law firm Grove Tompkins Bosworth. Born in France, Marissa grew up in Birmingham and went to King Edwards Camp Hill School for Girls before attending Nottingham Trent University for her undergraduate law degree and post-graduate qualifications. She has worked in real estate for 7 years and been a practising solicitor for 3 years. Within Marissa's professional achievements, she is a board member for the TAG Network Midlands' Young Professional Board, Vice-Chair of the Birmingham Solicitors Group Committee, and she also sits on the Birmingham Law Society's Equality, Diversity and Social Mobility sub-committee.

Anton Leon is an adept property professional, creative and anti-racism advocate. Currently appointed as Branch Director at Rhubarb Property, Anton is committed to supporting his team, company and wider community to flourish, holistically. With a background in architecture, Anton honed his aptitude at leading practice, Glenn Howells Architects where he was integral to the design and development of the National Film and Television School’s campus.

At Anton’s core is an authentic passion for facilitating equal access to opportunity; he is a leader in the truest sense – open, honest and thought-provoking - a doer.

Mikayla Sinead joins with a passion for leading with inclusive intersectional mindset whilst centring joy. Mikayla’s career has focussed on developing more inclusive workplaces & future leaders. Mikayla now combines her love for video gaming & professional experience through her company Bridge Network Group which focusing on boosting representation in the gaming industry and content creation on the streaming platform Twitch to build a Black Women centered community for future change-makers in the video game industry. Mikayla is the curator of the GameJoy series encouraging under-represented people to carve their space in the gaming world whether through play or leadership and community. Mikayla joins the panel with a wealth of experience in supporting young and diverse talent to reach positions of influence and leadership. Mikayla is in the 2019 cohort of Birmingham Live’s 30 under 30 in recognition of her work with young people in the city. Mikayla is a confident public speaker with experiences with MAIA Group, Clore Leadership, Amplify DEI, The British Council, UpRising Leadership, West Midlands Combined Authority, Ultra Education, The University of Birmingham, Enrol Yourself: The Learning Marathon, West Midlands Women's Voice, iDNetwork and 2018 Mikayla spoke in Brazil at the Women of the World (WoW) Festival and Freira Preta.

Jacqueline Maya is qualified as an Associated member of the Chartered Institute of Personal Development (CIPD) and an approved person under the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Senior Manager Regime, holding the Money Laundering function for the firm. Jacqueline read Business Management and Human Resources at Birmingham City University and a master’s degree in Human Resources Management from Coventry City University.

Naturally passionate about diversity and inclusion, women empowerment, youth entrepreneurship and providing black and ethnic minority groups access to finance and actionable information. Her personal ‘legacy’ goal is to engage with likeminded individuals to build a movement for change that can tackle the spiralling social and economic disparities

faced within her community. Her appointment as Vice-Chair of TAG Network Midlands Young Professional Board marks a pivot point in her career.

Howard Richards specialises in the delivery and management of multiple projects, providing support and opportunities for young people in the community. He draws upon his own personal circumstances growing up and real life industry experiences to inspire, relate and engage through creative arts. His most current project involves leading The MAC Project, which aims to inspire and support those who may feel disconnected within their education or community through the provision of theory and practical workshops and mentoring. He has also partnered closely with the Warwickshire Youth Offending services to offer a referral scheme to promote anti-crime and to provide a positive alternative.

This event will be presented by BBC WM's Nikki Tapper who started her broadcasting career with presenting on local restricted service licensed stations in Birmingham and Solihull. Then in 1998 she presented a show on Galaxy 102.2 Birmingham. She was subsequently invited to join BBC WM. Since joining BBC in March 2003, she has become one of the station’s familiar voices, presenting not only ‘the Gospel Lounge with Nikki Tapper’ for nine years but also a plethora of other programmes and specials on both BBC WM and Coventry & Warwickshire. These included BBC Sport relief, Children in Need and the 2012 Olympic Torch relay to mention a few. Nikki was also a regular Presenter’s friend with Richard Bacon on BBC 5 Live’s late night programme in 2004/2005. During her radio career to date, she has interviewed an array of local community personalities, sports celebrities, international musicians and singers that includes: Cliff Richard; Motown’s Mary Wilson of the Supremes; Ronny McNeir of the Four Tops; British actors from Eastenders and Holby City, Rudolph Walker and Jimmy Akinola; Football legends (the late) Cyrille Regis MBE and Brendon Batson MBE; International singers of Black oral tradition, Black Voices with music director Carol Pemberton MBE and Gospel artists Mary Mary, Fred Hammond & Kirk Franklin.

This session welcomes attendees to interact during the Q&A segment