I am so thrilled to announce Teakisi’s first ever Teakisi Woman Talk speaker line-up. But first things first, what is Teakisi Woman Talk? It’s a talk session that will centre and celebrate the culture, heritage of Africa, Black and Ethnic Minority (BME) communities, and people of African descent. It’s our hope that this becomes an annual event that has different themes and topics that will set the tone for the day, including at least an hour allocated to Q&A. This is to allow attendees to ask questions and contribute, in the hope of generating a much more lively discussion. This year’s theme is changing the narrative of African women. Thanks to social media, insights into what will be talked about on the day can be accessed by the global community via the hashtag #TeakisiTalk19.

To help address this year’s theme, we have Degna Stone; the Eclipse North East Enabler, supporting artists to develop their practice regionally, nationally and internationally. Eclipse is the UK’s principal Black-led national production company, and Slate: Black · Arts · World is their ground-breaking, cross-arts development programme for Black artists based in the North. In addition to her work with Eclipse, Degna is a poet, editor and producer. She co-founded Butcher’s Dog poetry magazine and is a contributing editor at The Rialto. She received a Northern Writers Award in 2015 and holds an MA in Creative Writing from Newcastle University. She is an Inscribe-supported writer, and is a fellow of The Complete Works lll. 

Speaking on behalf of Gateshead College and our main sponsor Equality North East, will be Tracy Foreman. Tracy is the Assistant Principal at Gateshead College. Responsible at a strategic level, Tracy ensures that the learners experience enhances their employability and that they progress rapidly through work experiences, study programmes and traineeships into work. Tracy directly line manages 2 managers, and has a total responsibility for 61 staff. Degna and Tracy will be joined by writer, cultural awareness specialist, coach and change agent Sade Sangowawa. Sade has a passion to empower women and organisations to achieve their goals. She is also the founder of the acclaimed annual Taste of Africa showcase event, the Black History Youth Awards and Cultures Homes in Teesside, and Celebrating Diversity Awards, an event in the Northeast of England setup to recognise contributions made by minorities.

I am also pleased to announce that Sue Schofield, the Education Team Manager at Show Racism the Red Card will also be joining the speaker lineup this year. Her address will be on racism. Established in 1996, Show Racism the Red Card is the largest UK anti-racism educational charity. The charity utilises the high-profile status of football and football players to help tackle racism in society, and has also expanded into other sports. Amani Yahya, a doctor and human right activist from Sudan will also be speaking. Amani has over 9 years of experience working in women empowerment – mainly in conflict areas such as Darfur. She is also one of the 2016 Young African Leaders Mandela Washington Fellowship, Young Arab Leaders 2016 Munathara Fellowship and Chevening Scholar 2017. At the moment Amani works as a Community Empowerment Project Co-ordinator for the Regional Refugee Forum Northeast of England.

Teakisi Woman Talk 2019, will take place from 1-5 pm on the 10th of October at The Bridge Conference Space, Gateshead College Baltic Campus, Quarryfield Rd, Gateshead, NE8 3DF. Tickets to this year’s event have sold out, with a number of people being added to the waiting list. Attendees will be empowered through informative speeches, spoken word, learn from and network with other guests, plus browse stalls.

Don’t forget to bring your country flag! 

We hope you enjoy the event!

NB: If you already booked your place but now think you can’t make it to the event, please contact us ASAP, so we can offer your place to someone else. Email us at info@teakisi.com