How Might We

Ewa Effiom is a London-based Belgo-Nigerian architect, writer and producer. He was a member of the Architecture Foundation’s New Architecture Writers’ second cohort which culminated in a critically acclaimed public programme. Mythology, collective identity, popular culture and their inextricable links to the built environment are recurring themes in his work with a focus on the mythology and folklore that different subcultures instate and associated to space. He has been published in the Architect’s Newspaper, Dwell, the AJ, ICON, Wallpaper, Frame, OnOffice, Architecture Aujourd'hui, the Modern House magazine, A Daily Dose and Ex Libris. His piece Architecture, Buildings and Conservation in MAJA was nominated for best piece in the 2022 Estonian Architecture Awards and came second place in the Tallinn Architecture Biennale’s 2021 Curatorial Competition with a proposal entitled Adaptive Re-use.

His film Eagle Mansion was premiered at the 2021 Urban Film Festival in Perth and screened at 2022 Melbourne Design Week. He was awarded the 2022 How To Residency at the Canadian Centre for Architecture entitled “How Not To Be A Developer” which is the year that his second film “Beck Road” premiered at the Open City festival. Beck Road later screened at the 18th Venice Architecture Biennale entitled Laboratory of the Future as part of the curator, Lesley Lokko’s Carnival public programme.

After graduating he became an associate lecturer on the MA in Architecture + Urbanism at the Manchester School of Architecture, a post he held until 2022 and he is a visiting critic at the Estonian Institute of Technology and London Metropolitan University.

🔹 Follow Ewa Effiom on Instagram⁠

Dr. Nina Van Volkinburg is an academic researcher and educator focused on digital disruption and sustainable business practices within the global fashion industry. She is passionate about supporting emerging fashion talent and is the Course Leader of the MA Strategic Fashion Marketing program at London College of Fashion, part of University of the Arts London. Previously she founded fashion upcycling platform RETURE which aimed to connect consumers and designers to transform their wardrobe through meaningful co-creation. She holds a PhD in Marketing from the University of Exeter and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

🔹 Find out more about Dr. Nina Van Volkinburg - https://www.ninavanvolkinburg.com/

🔹Connect with Dr. Nina Van Volkinburg on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nvanvolkinburg/

🔹Connect with Dr. Nina Van Volkinburg on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ninavanvolkinburg/?hl=en-gb

🔹 This podcast was recorded at Trowbridge Talks at Trowbridge Gardens a multi-use space by Arbeit - ⁠Arbeit Studios — Trowbridge Gardens E9

Originally from a small town in East Lancashire, Jeanette Barnes studied a Fine Art degree at Liverpool Polytechnic were she fell in love with the energy of the city, the people, noise and architecture and decided to make the urban environment her subject matter. She went to London and  studied Post graduates at the Royal Academy School and Royal College of Art. Drawing and printmaking  are the main stays of her practice with a slight detour in putting found objects from the Thames together into sculptural collages. All her work is about a sense of history, journey and how people interact in city spaces, with the belief that people bring buildings and architecture alive. 

My guest this week is Nana Badu, Founder and CEO of BADU.

BADU is a multi dimensional community development organisation. BADU is a non-profit dedicated to providing holistic and unconditional support to underserved communities. BADU engages with young people and their families through its key pillars: Sports, Mentoring and Education.

Nana worked as a PE teacher and coach at numerous schools across Hackney, specialising in on-the-ground mentorship, trauma counselling and anti racist policy in some of the most deprived inner city estates. Nana now sits on the Sport England TRAVIS board (Tackling Racist and Racist Inequality In Sport) where he works to improve access to sport justice across the UK. 

In 2021, Nana Badu won the first Cyrille Regis Award at the Football Black List awards for his work in grassroots and in the community. Nana was invited to the Kings Garden party in May 2023 for his 15+ year dedication to community empowerment and was one of the late Queen Elizabeth’s remarkable Batonbearers entrusted to carry the Baton at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

“Through my work at BADU, I’m the most fulfilled I’ve ever been in my life. Myself and our team are the lucky few who get to live our passion by supporting and serving our community everyday. We believe in the whole child. We believe in equality and human rights. We believe in championing social change. Special thank you to our wonderful team of volunteers, donors and corporate partners for believing in me and our mission. It’s through your efforts that we’re able to make a difference.”

🔹 Follow Badu Sports here

🔹 Find out more about Badu Sports here

🔹 This podcast was recorded at Trowbridge Talks at Trowbridge Gardens a multi-use space by Arbeit. Find out more - ⁠⁠⁠https://lnkd.in/esnT7tdt

Stacia Bedford, is an accomplished, dynamic and disruptive repeat entrepreneur, who pioneered the bridal tech space with the innovative e-commerce platform she co-founded, Prim & Clover — a first-of-its-kind online wedding dress builder and marketplace.

Cri (pronounced "Cree") deconstructs and reshapes as part of her creative process, seeking to arrive at synthesis while making (and embracing) a lot of mess. Messwork facilitates a multidisciplinary yet holistic approach to trauma recovery and abundant living. With her Bachelor of Psychology and Business from Northeastern University, a Master of Fine Arts in Communications Design from Pratt Institute, and her ongoing education at the Institute of Core Energetics as a practitioner in training, Cri integrates complex skill sets into a full-bodied foundation upon which to reinforce her work and practice. As a creator, practitioner, and educator, Cri's psychological and design expertise fuels her methodological and theoretical frameworks and approaches, exploring the inherent nature and connection across somatics, psychology, design, and mess. Currently teaching Graduate and Undergraduate Communications Design at Pratt Institute, Cri expands her name-sake practice, Cg Studio, into Messwork, an offering employing and leveraging somatics, design, and the transformative power of mess as a catalyst for growth.

Ellen O'Hara is a business coach, consultant, facilitator and researcher with proven ability to enable enterprise, innovation and leadership capabilities. Over the past 20 years, she has worked with hundreds of creatives, social entrepreneurs, cultural leaders and researchers to design and grow sustainable businesses that make an impact - creatively, socially and commercially. 

Ellen has designed and delivered innovation and enterprise programmes for British Council, Nesta, Warwick Ventures, UAL, Clore Leadership, Innovate UK, Creative United, Crafts Council and Frontline.  Together with Gill Thewlis, she is Co-Creator and Director of Modfin, providing business and financial modelling support to purpose led businesses, and Co-Founder of Wild Working, a startup platform for remote workers. 

She is passionate about the role that creativity can play in fostering a more entrepreneurial approach to leadership and change; current interests include the role of creative hubs, community ownership and regenerative entrepreneurship. She is also Co-Chair of Powered by Can, a social enterprise that works with children, young people and young adults to make them feel powerful, valued and connected, and Co-Chair of Fifth Word who create and tour new plays by new writers.  Ellen is based in Derbyshire and works internationally.

🔹 Connect with Ellen - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellenohara1/

🔹 Find out more about Ellen - www.ellenohara.com
🔹 Learn more about Modfin - https://modfin.co.uk/

🔹 Learn more about Powered by Can - ⁠https://www.poweredbycan.org/
🔹 This podcast was recorded at Trowbridge Talks at Trowbridge Gardens a multi-use space by Arbeit. Find out more here - ⁠⁠⁠https://lnkd.in/esnT7tdt

Alpesh Patel began working in retail at the age of 16 and ended his corporate career as the COO of a business with over 1000 employees.

Through lockdown Alpesh founded two companies with some associates which both continue to evolve and thrive. Through the Refill Therapy business, Alpesh has improved his knowledge of the climate crisis and has developed a passion to help people shop in a more sustainable way.

At Refill Therapy their on a mission to help everyone reduce waste and remove single-use plastic from our everyday lives, through accessible refilling and reusing. Their aim is to provide a zero waste environment that takes the effort out of sourcing environmentally friendly, sustainable, ethically produced bulk food, organic fruit & veg, household cleaning and personal care products.

🔹 Connect with Alpesh - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alpesh-patel-4212b031/
🔹 Learn more about Refill Therapy - https://refilltherapy.co.uk
🔹 This podcast was recorded at Trowbridge Talks at Trowbridge Gardens a multi-use space by Arbeit. Find out more here - ⁠⁠⁠https://lnkd.in/esnT7tdt

Edward Brial is the CEO and Co-Founder of Materra and oversees strategy and business development.

Proudly supported by H&M, Kering, Bestseller and PVH amongst others and based between London and India, Materra’s mission is to transform natural fibres into a force for environmental and social prosperity, starting with cotton. Ranging from experimental hydroponics to mass-market regenerative practices, Materra’s seed-to-bale solutions and proprietary technology enable brands to source climate-resilient, future-proof cotton with new levels of transparency while confidently progressing towards their sustainability goals.

Ed is passionate about fighting the climate crisis and addressing inequity in the fashion industry by shining a spotlight on the agriculture sector. His work focuses on building sustainable, long-term partnerships with progressive brands of all sizes keen on investing in their supply chain through regenerative agriculture that benefits both people and the planet.

Ed has a background in human-centred design and mechanical engineering with MEng, MSc and MA degrees from the RCA and Imperial College. He previously worked on sustainable agriculture innovation in Kenya and behaviour change design in Tanzania designing with new and emerging technologies and working with startups, academia and government to address impact challenges in developing economies. Along with his co-founders, Ed was part of the Forbes 30u30 Europe list for Manufacturing and Industry, in 2021.

🔹 Learn more about Materra - https://www.materra.tech/

🔹 Connect with Patrick - ⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-scally/

🔹 This podcast was recorded at Trowbridge Talks at Trowbridge Gardens a multi-use space by Arbeit. Find out more here - ⁠⁠⁠https://lnkd.in/esnT7tdt⁠⁠

Johnny Drain, since receiving a Ph.D. in materials science from Oxford University, has helped create delicious things for the world's very best restaurants, bars, and brands. He has a particular focus on using fermentation to unlock deliciousness, circularity and nutrition.
As co-founder and CTO of WNWN Food Labs he is harnessing the power of fermentation to create sustainable, ethical alternatives to unsustainable, unethical foods, starting with chocolate.
He writes and speaks about the future of food and challenges in global food systems through his work with @thisisMOLD, a critically acclaimed editorial platform about designing the future of food.

🔹 Connect with Johnny - https://drjohnnydrain.com/

🔹 Learn more about WNWN Food Labs - https://wnwnfoodlabs.com/

🔹 Learn more about MOLD Magazine - https://thisismold.com/

🔹 Connect with Patrick - ⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-scally/

🔹 This podcast was recorded at Trowbridge Talks at Trowbridge Gardens a multi-use space by Arbeit. Find out more here - ⁠⁠⁠https://lnkd.in/esnT7tdt⁠⁠