Championing Community:

Celebrating African Women’s Collective Action Across the Diaspora

Date: March 20th 2025 |Time: 8am PDT/11am EDT/3pm GMT | Type: Panel Session | Location: Virtual

About this Event:

In honor of women’s history month, the African Diaspora Network brings together this critical Impact and Innovation Forum on the importance of convening, connecting and collaborating. With a focus on women’s collective action and leadership across regions and sectors, we create an opportunity for meaningful dialogue, cultural exchange, and celebration of African excellence and innovation across the globe.
In light of recent geo-political changes around the world, including the sweeping cuts to aid budgets, communities and organizations are asking themselves difficult questions around how to navigate the path ahead. Despite the obstacles, one thing is clear: we are stronger when we work together. African and African diaspora/descendant communities have a long history of championing community efforts to solve difficult problems. Our community has a powerful way of coming together in times of adversity to celebrate and co-create.
Through this virtual session, we discuss the power of convening and seek to learn and connect across sectors and regions. During this session, we hear from distinguished voices representing various facets of our community and sharing unique expertise across business, policy, culture and more. However, one thing our speakers all have in common is their ability to bring people together and lead community change at scale. We will have an opportunity to learn from their best practices in collective action in order to forge a path forward in addressing the current challenges of funding cuts and geo-political shifts.
The African Diaspora Network values providing a platform for the global African community and our friends and allies to come together, celebrate our shared humanity and the diverse experiences that drive innovation. By bringing people together to share ideas and seek opportunities to partner and collaborate, we strengthen our community, open doors and make change possible by working together.

Event Objectives:

Speakers

Henrietta Bankole-Olusina

Vice President, Africa at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors

Henrietta Bankole-Olusina is Vice President at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA). She leads RPA’s efforts in Africa, working with partners and stakeholders, while leading or
participating in advisory, thought leadership, donor funded sponsored projects, and other work advancing RPA’s mission which is to accelerate philanthropy in pursuit of a just world.

She was formerly Nigeria Program Director at RPA, where her responsibility was to liaise with
Nigerian government stakeholders to assess the needs, challenges and opportunities to enable
the government to drive financial inclusion regulatory reform with a focus on strengthening
pro-poor financial inclusion policies and support an enabling regulatory environment for
Digital Financial Services (DFS) in the emerging market.
Before joining Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors in November 2020, Henrietta was the
Managing Director at ARM Financial Advisers where she was responsible for digital financial
services, innovation, retail distribution and Group Corporate Transformation and IT. Prior to
that, she was Management Consulting Lead for Financial Services and Head of Payments and
Mobility at Accenture. She has served as the Chairperson of the Financial Inclusion Channels
Working Group and member of the National Financial Inclusion Technical Committee for the
implementation of Nigeria’s Financial Inclusion strategy.
She is a graduate of the University of Lagos, Nigeria and holds a Master’s in Business
Administration (MBA) degree with specialization in Corporate Strategy and Economic Policy
from the Maastricht School of Management, The Netherlands. She is a certified trainer, Change
Management and Balanced Scorecard professional.

Bayyina Black

Bayyina Black

Executive Global Director of Sustainability and Impact at R/GA

Bayyina Black is an award-winning Executive Global Director of Sustainability and Impact at R/GA, dedicated to lifting up the “unders” to overcome barriers limiting their greatness. Over her 10+ year career, she has led creative and strategic purpose-driven work, championing global innovation wherever she opens her laptop.

As the self-proclaimed Queen of Pivots, Bayyina has gained experience in advertising, film, television, media venture capital, and tech industries. Within R/GA, she has worked in the Ventures Studio, Content Studio, and Creative Department as both a Producer and Art Director. Her passion for purpose-led action led to her appointment as R/GA’s first Global Director of Sustainability and Impact, where she created the flagship pro bono program, Make/Good. This initiative has supported 25+ underrepresented businesses and non-profits, helping secure $2.5M in funding and providing award-winning design services.


Bayyina has been recognized as a Humanitarian and one of the Most Influential People of African Descent under 40, an ADCOLOR Change Agent nominee, and a Rising Star of Madison Avenue by Business Insider. Her impact spans international borders and knows no bounds, as co-founder and executive sponsor of the Afro-Brazilian business resource group, GDN. In addition, Bayyina takes great pride in serving as an advisor for ESG-focused entrepreneurs and a mentor to students and professionals seeking to live more fully in their purpose.


Recent accomplishments include co-leading the creation of PAM, Founderland’s AI-powered pitch mentor supporting women of color founders in raising capital; co-creating and launching RISE, Interpublic Group’s first global inclusion framework; and partnering with Black Women for Black Lives to create an NFT for #blackinukraine, aiding over 5,000 people of African descent stranded in Ukraine.


An avid traveler and digital nomad, Bayyina calls Brooklyn, NY, and Salvador, Brazil home. When grounded, she can be found in her art studio painting, capturing breathtaking views with her drone, or blowing bubbles at live music concerts.

Anika Hobbs

Anika Hobbs

Founder & Chief Curator of Nubian Hueman

Anika Hobbs is a visionary retail strategist, curator, and economic change agent with over 15 years of experience in multi-level, national, and international retail trade. After earning a degree in Environmental Design (Interiors) from Syracuse University, she began her career with one of the world’s leading fashion-retail brands during its early U.S. expansion.

This experience, combined with extensive international travel across Africa, Central America, Asia, and Europe, deepened her expertise in design, business strategy, and social responsibility.

As the Founder & Chief Curator of Nubian Hueman, Anika has transformed the brand into a retail social enterprise dedicated to elevating emerging product-based brands of Africa and the African Diaspora. Under her leadership, Nubian Hueman has:

  • Managed partnerships with 650+ U.S.-based emerging brands and artists
  • Invested over $3 million in emerging businesses across Africa and the African diaspora
  • Curated a network of 100+ international brands and artists from 35+ countries and 6 continents to access the U.S. market
  • Established a South African Residency Program for fashion designers, fostering global creative exchange
  • Donated to 40+ organizations, shelters, schools, and camps that support underserved youth in Washington, DC, and Baltimore City, as well as emerging businesses across Africa.

Through Nubian Hueman’s brick-and-mortar locations in Washington, DC, and Baltimore, MD, Anika has cultivated a catalyst for culture, community, and the creative economy connecting consumers with independent artists and fostering economic impact, global responsibility, and collective community engagement.

Anika is also a dedicated advocate for social impact and entrepreneurship, serving on multiple boards and leadership initiatives:

 

  • 11th Street Bridge Project Equitable Development Team
  • Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture Ambassador
  • Valley Place Arts Board Member
  • Shopify Merchant Advocacy Collective Member
  • MakeSpace Mentor & Designer
  • Project Create Board Member (former)
  • Tuck Executive Education at Dartmouth College Graduate
  • Global Entrepreneurship Summit Invitee – Hyderabad India

Her leadership has positioned her as a sought-after speaker and panelist, engaging audiences on entrepreneurship, social impact, and retail innovation, including panels for HERImpact by Ford Motor Company. Nubian Hueman’s influence has been recognized by President Barack Obama, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, Forbes, Women to Watch Award from Washington Business Journal, Fast Company, The Washington Post, NPR, and more.

 

Paddy Siyanga Knudsen

Paddy Siyanga Knudsen

Vice President, Global Research Forum on Diaspora & Transnationalism

Paddy Siyanga Knudsen is a Zambian national with over 17 years of professional experience as a Development Economist. She holds a Master in Financial Economics from SOAS and BSc Development & Economics from London School of Economics. Her work covers development cooperation, regional integration and migration governance.

Her experience includes supporting governments, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), bilateral development partners, EU institutions, Civil society and UN agencies in engagement strategies, research, programme formulation, implementation as well as monitoring and evaluation. On migration governance, she has worked with IOM, UNESCO, UNHCR, EU institutions, civil society, foundations and diaspora organisations in continental Europe, Jordan, China, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe as well as other assignments in West and East Africa. Her areas of interest in migration governance include labour migration, migration and development as well as diaspora engagement. She is a Vice President of the Global Research Forum on Diaspora & Transnationalism (GRFDT), member of GFMD civil society International steering committee, member of UN network on migration worksteam on remittances/diaspora as well as member of the GIZ Diaspora Advisory Board. She also coordinates the African nonstate actors platform on GFMD/GCM