For the fourth year running, we’re supporting local people from Black, Asian and minoritised ethnic backgrounds with an interest in entrepreneurship. Powered by GoDaddy, the New Roots programme helps turn ideas into thriving enterprises and careers while accelerating diversity and inclusion in the entrepreneurial sector.
For the first time ever, we ran both a start-up and an alumni programme. Meet the amazing individuals who took part in the programmes.
PaletArt are Colombian Artisanal Ice Creams and Desserts
We work with natural and fresh ingredients, at their best flavour and nutrients! You won’t find the same combination, texture and flavour anywhere else. We are innovative, we create proposals with fruits and ingredients that provide memorable experiences. We are strong believers that all food products must provide nutritional value. We work to reduce our carbon footprint. Our goal is to make our products eco-friendly which is why we have made sure our ice cream packaging is made from corn starch, making it 100% compostable and biodegradable.
I’m Zey, the founder and CEO of Displaced; we create workshops and games around ethnic identity. I’m also the daughter of parents who fled war and discrimination in their home countries. My background is Kurdish Cypriot German; growing up, I struggled with my ethnic identity and mental health. After my self-reflection, speaking to academics and my peers, I learned that there is a deep connection between being from a minoritised community and poor mental health. This combination of insights gave birth to Displaced.
At Displaced we gamify exploring ethnic identity to improve mental well-being for people from 1st and 2nd generation migrant/refugee/asylum-seeker backgrounds. Through workshops and a card game, we explore complex topics in a fun, engaging and provocative way.
I started Teqie because everyone deserves to be empowered by technology, live healthier lives, and enhance our environment. As a built environment professional, and a social resident, I have been particularly focused on social housing quality and resident engagement.
Our services are offered to asset owners and operators, and ideally help to ensure the occupants, end users, tenants, residents and other stakeholders. Are able to comply with quality and safety standards, meet and comply with net zero, and ESG benchmarking. Most importantly, we’re giving the digital tools and infrastructure to the people who need it most.
Marcia Michael is a UK-based multidisciplinary artist that works on creating a discursive art practice around the auspices of the black family archive.
Marogmi by Marcia Michael is free flowing colourful artistic encounter in luxury sustainable home linens that is inspired by Michael’s African-Caribbean heritage. The brand aims to bring a fresh, colourful and creative take on the world of luxury home linens.
Anneka Russell is both the Founder of Enjoy EY (an early years consultancy service) and inventor of the JEKA toy and furniture range which provides schools and nurseries with both Wooden handmade and manufactured learning resources.
Jeka Play is the early years’ sector-only furniture provider to combine its furniture collection with business support to enable early years entrepreneurs to start their own early years’ businesses. Whether that be a pop-up creche or a traditional pack-away nursery.
Kelly Cooke-Mwangeka is a London-born Graphic Designer of Caribbean heritage, with over 13 years of experience within the creative industry. She is also the Founder & Creative Director of Antealles, an upcoming Caribbean Afternoon Tea Parlour. She is passionate about her profession and enjoys getting stuck into new & exciting design projects.
Antealles is an upcoming Caribbean Afternoon Tea Parlour that specialises in promoting authentic cuisine from all Caribbean Islands in a traditional British setting. Antealles aims to educate guests about the breadth of cuisine in the Caribbean and to give representation to each Island. Our aim is to expand the Caribbean narrative to give a more complete view of all Islands that encompass this well-loved paradise. Our business celebrates the unique fusion of cultures and cuisines within the Caribbean & welcomes all to learn more & enjoy a taste of the Islands with us.
I have been working in the charity and community organizations sector for five years and am currently working with Rafiki Wema as the project manager. I am currently engaged with minority communities with African heritage. From many years long experience, my work with various communities in the UK developed my understanding of what would work for them and what would not. I genuinely believe that investing in community networks and support systems have always had the highest impact, by helping them withstand crises and emergencies and develop resilience. at Rafiki Wema, I am currently leading digital inclusions, community media projects and mental health programs. Our aim is to empower disadvantaged communities with skills, information and mechanisms that enable them to thrive and flourish.
Rafiki Wema means ‘good friends’ in Swahili. We provide health and wellbeing services through a culturally tailored and focused approach targeting our communities. Rafiki Wema launched a series of Community media programmes and services to increase media literacy and amplification of authentic community voices.
As a passionate baker, I have found solace in the kitchen for many years. After realising my previous job wasn’t fulfilling, I decided to pursue a degree with a focus on Childhood and Youth Studies and followed my passions for a while. This lead me to work as a chef and eventually a sourdough baker. I even ran food and growing workshops across four London schools. Fast forward seven years, and I am working as a child and family support practitioner in a London primary school, where I help children improve their emotional regulation and social skills with a focus on food education. Throughout my journey, bread has been my constant companion, and I am now an Ambassador for the Real Bread Campaign. I firmly believe that baking bread can have therapeutic benefits, create communal experiences, and bring people together regardless of their backgrounds or financial situations.
To share my passion for baking and its benefits, I founded The Flour Union. I design and run bespoke baking workshops, embedded with reflective practices to improve mental health and well-being, that are tailored to support all children and parents. My workshops emphasise understanding where and how our food and ingredients are sourced and produced. I believe this knowledge is key in helping children develop an appreciation for food and the processes involved in making it. Most importantly, my workshops are accessible to all, by leveraging those who can afford to pay against those who cannot. My goal is to make baking and its benefits available to everyone.
My name is Linda Anna and I am the founder of Liv Foods. Liv means life in Swedish where I was born.
Liv Foods produce wild fermented vegetables that have an increased vitamin and mineral content compared to raw vegetable and contain live cultures which are good for your belly.
Packaged in compostable packaging, Liv Foods also aims to tackle social isolation by offering job opportunities for older people on low incomes.
I have a passion for learning how to take ownership of my own health and well-being, consuming whole foods and using natural methods to prepare, cook and preserve food.
I came across the benefits of fermented foods on my journey to improve my own health- mind, body and spirit, and I subsequently make and eat them daily.
Liv Foods came about because I wanted to share my understanding, knowledge and produce with others who are curious and also want to learn, improve and develop.
Rosemary’s struggle with dry, brittle hair came to a head during the first UK lockdown when she found herself balancing a hectic work schedule from home and the ever-dwindling capacity for her own haircare routines. After a 10-year banking and consulting career and with an engineering background, she made the jump into haircare and launched Lava Cap in 2020 due to a desire to create access to simple, convenient haircare solutions, share her knowledge to help others and use business as a vehicle for social good!
About Lava Cap
Lava Cap is a natural, microwavable deep conditioning cap that helps you achieve beautiful tresses that are less frizzy and prone to breakage by using gentle heat to help rehydrate hair. The award-winning London-based brand offers hot caps in vibrant colours for adults and children to help hair better absorb moisture & active ingredients from your favourite hair masks, deep conditioning & hot oil treatments, and are especially great for Afro and curly hair types.
As someone born and raised in Beijing, I found it quite difficult to find familiar flavours here. I believe that food is an excellent carrier of memories, and the tastes I cherish from the home-cooked restaurants in Hutongs, snacks made by century-old stores, and the big-pot dishes from canteens. The idea of opening ‘The Jing Kitchen’ came to mind to reproduce Beijing cuisines with authentic ingredients and recipes to create tasty memories again.
FuelEXTRA is more than just a sports marketing project – it’s a social impact incubator of Impact Hub London’s New Roots Programme, we dedicate to bridging the gap between under-represented fitness, sports, and wellness instructors and small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK. At FuelEXTRA, we aim to create sustainable income routes for fitness, sports, and wellness instructors while also providing SMEs with executable employee retention programs. We do this by facilitating access to SMEs for these instructors, allowing them to provide their expertise on employees’ fitness and wellness to businesses, impacting people with their growth story and building their personal careers.
Candice Ma is a passionate outdoor activist who has always been fascinated by the power of sports to bring people together and make a positive impact on society across different ethnic groups. Driven by her passion for sports and her empathy for professional athletes who live on sports with unsustainable income, Candice co-founded MIRARunners (www.mirarunners.org) in 2017, a community project dedicated to connecting and nurturing sports lovers and underprivileged running coaches for social causes. Through MIRARunners, Candice has organized charity runs, sports clinics, and other events that promote physical health, social awareness, and community engagement, benefiting more than 200 local Kenyan marathon runners with resources from Asia.
Belinda is a Co-Founder and the Chief Executive Officer of ConsciousEats. With a strong background in environmental resource management, she currently works full-time as a corporate sustainability consultant. Belinda holds a BA in Geography from The University of Cambridge, and an MSc in Environmental Technology at Imperial College London. Passionate about food sustainability and a big foodie herself, Belinda strives to create Edtech solutions that engage the community in a collective effort to create a more sustainable food system.
About ConsciousEats
ConsciousEats is a mobile app on a mission to build a climate-conscious community of consumers in the city by directly connecting them to sustainable eateries and promoting sustainable dining choices. Consumers can filter listed restaurants creating environmental and social impact. They can then earn points for their conscious choices, which can be used to redeem various rewards and discounts. Restaurants listed on ConsciousEats undergo an audit based on our bespoke food sustainability framework.”
My partner, Rhimou, and I identified a need in ethnic minority communities, where a lack of education and exposure to new languages, leads them to feel excluded and isolated. Despite enrolling in adult learning classes, they often revert back to their mother tongue and fail to make progress and integrate into society. My partner and I have personally experienced this challenge and are committed to finding a solution. Through our experience volunteering with various organizations, we have learned the importance of food in bringing communities together. We plan to open a kitchen where our volunteers can communicate in English by writing recipes and discussing their dishes. We believe that this approach will be successful in helping these people feel integrated into society.
Designed by Vittoria Catalfamo
