You may remember that Director of M&C Saatchi School, Akil Benjamin spoke to our Chairman Jane Boardman on 30 May for Episode 1 of their Getting Back to Business series. During the ninety minute webinar they covered three key questions for insight into how to navigate future business uncertainty.
Since then, there has been a significant number of influencers, brand and industry leaders joining protests, taking action and making pledges of their own in response to Black Lives Matter movements after the murder of George Floyd. In this sentiment, Akil announced his support on @mcsaatchischool, offering free business advice and mentorship to Black businesses.
Originally, Akil proposed the support after reading the open letter from Adland in Campaign Magazine which addresses the need to support Black talent. On top, the consistent number of mentorship requests to M&C Saatchi Saturday School only spurred this on. Launching a Go Fund Me page to help him mentor 100 Black businesses for six months, Akil emphasised:
“I want to work with the entire creative industry to take some meaningful action today to get us started on a pathway to change”.
Public support has been immense, so much so that since the original launch just over a week ago, more than £18,500 has been raised to date, enabling Akil and his team to assist three times’ their original proposal and help 300 Black businesses. In addition to being able to donate to the initiative, business leaders can also volunteer as mentors to provide this support.
The Go Fund Me page is still open for donations to help expand the mentorship to a larger number of Black businesses. You can make a donation, volunteer or sign up to the mentoring sessions here.
Keep up with the M&C Saatchi Saturday School’s updates and events on their Instagram channel.
