About Nesta

Nesta is an innovation foundation. For us, innovation means turning bold ideas into reality and changing lives for the better. We use our expertise, skills and funding in areas where there are big challenges facing society.

“The people that are most in need of key solutions to aid social mobility should be the ones designing, and delivering them.” - Bayo Adelaja, CEO and founder of Do It Now Now.

How do we ensure innovation truly meets the needs of everyone? Diversity is crucial, says Bayo Adelaja.

Driven by her own experiences, in 2016 Bayo Adelaja set up Do It Now Now, an organisation committed to championing ethnic diversity in tech, entrepreneurship and philanthropy. Through its many projects and initiatives in the UK and Africa, Do It Now Now strives to create opportunities for Black people, ensuring they have access to the right skills and resources they need to develop their communities through activism and enterprise.

Bayo Adelaja and Nesta’s Chief of Staff Moria Sloan discussed the importance of open innovation and how we must empower the communities we are fighting for, in order to see successful innovation outcomes.

If you’re interested in the innovation space and want to learn more about how we can truly achieve equitable solutions to society’s problems, then catch up on the recording.

Speakers

Bayo Adelaja

Bayo Adelaja is the CEO and founder of social enterprise Do It Now Now. Over her 10 years in entrepreneurship, she has been awarded by Durham, Harvard and Oxford University Business Schools, named one of the most influential women in social entrepreneurship in the UK by Natwest bank and recognised as one of the most influential people of colour in tech by The Financial Times. Her initiatives have been named "Top in Europe" by Sifted and over the course of her career, she has helped over 2000 individual founders build better businesses.