Funke Abimbola, a multi award winning lawyer and diversity campaigner, has been appointed Patron of Power Up, a BAME-focused community initiative aimed at empowering and upskilling young professionals from a multi-ethnic background. Funke won both the Outstanding Diva of Colour and the International Diva of Colour awards at this year’s Divas of Colour awards in March.
A recognised diversity campaigner within the legal profession and wider business community, Funke was recently ranked as being a top 20 BAME leader across the UK, US and Ireland (UPStanding100 BAME Executive Powerlist, published in the FT, 26th May 2016 – http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/c91d1d08-1876-11e6-bb7d-ee563a5a1cc1.html#axzz49jgGVU4u).

Power Up aims to empower and inspire young people to reach their full potential by creating and seizing opportunities which consequently enables them to shape their personal and career paths.

Coleen and Dawn, co-founders of Power Up, both work within the legal industry and are also YouTubers and vloggers. They founded Power Up out of their passion for helping people achieve their goals and also, bringing their advice videos to life. Their Power events are always eagerly anticipated because of the real life and practical advice given each time. For example, a recent event held at YouTube called ‘Confident You’ was oversubscribed.

Commenting on her appointment as Patron of the initiative, Funke said, “I feel very honoured to be Patron of this wonderful initiative. The BAME community continues to experience an underlying confidence issue resulting from on-going cultural biases experienced within UK society. I am delighted to be supporting Coleen and Dawn with this important initiative. Having presented motivational talks and tips at a couple of Power Up events since inception, I look forward to supporting the growth and impact of Power Up going forwards”.