THE MMADUU PODCAST

Leon joins The Growing Up On The Island of Ireland Podcast Series for the final episode.

Leon is an award winning author, DEI global speaker and co-founder and chief executive of Black and Irish. He is a mixed race man from Tallaght, Dublin. He was born to an Irish Catholic mother and a Senegalese Muslim father. Leon graduated from Maynooth with a degree in psychology before going on to be Maynooth Students’ Union President for two terms. In June of 2020 he founded Black and Irish. An organisation working on the behalf of Black and mixed race people in Ireland. He is the co-author of Black and Irish: Legends, Trailblazers and Everyday Heroes. Leon is also the host of the Black and Irish Podcast powered by RTÉ. He currently serves on the board of the Childhood Development Initiative, Tallaght, South Dublin County Partnership and Work Equal.

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Kamdi joins The Growing Up On The Island of Ireland Podcast Series.

Kamdi is an aspiring entrepreneur, photographer, and videographer. She previously served as the director and founder of Teen Tate, an organisation whose mission was to initiate conversations amongst young people regarding matters specific to the African continent. The organisation was transformed into the for-profit AFA-AFA, which instructs on the past and present of Africa and uses AI to present the history of Africa in a new way. AFA-AFA was the runner up in the Community Organisation of The Year category at the Black and Irish Awards and also won a highly contested competition sponsored by the Bezos Foundation. AFA-AFA was featured in the Ventures Africa Magazine, an online magazine about business and tech developments in Africa, for their achievements, and as an organisation, aspires to use AI and tech to promote African history in schools and universities across the globe.

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Tracy joins The Growing Up On The Island of Ireland Podcast Series.

Tracy born and raised in Uganda and lives in Ireland and was a student at the time of this interview. Tracy has been living in the country for the past 9 and a half years.

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Seunfunmi joins The Growing Up On The Island of Ireland Podcast Series.

Seunfunmi studied Social Policy and Sociology in UCD and currently work on the Talent, Transformation and Innovation division at IDA. Her interests lie in inclusion and advocacy and sustainable developments. She is passionate about highlighting the fact that sustainability is not exclusive to the environment. 

She is a Special Olympics Ireland volunteer, and in 2019 was an official volunteer for the 11th International Disability Law Summer School, hosted by NUIG Galway’s Centre for Disability Law and Policy. 

Seunfunmi has represented both her school and Leinster at the National Session of the European Youth Parliament, where she engaged in debates and created innovative solutions to global problems. She co-runs a podcast that serves as an avenue for inclusivity, cultural awareness, empowerment and thought leadership. She uses the platform as a means of social change by highlighting current social issues, evoking thought, creating safe spaces, and preferring solutions.

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Bronagh joins The Growing Up On The Island of Ireland Podcast Series.

Bronagh is an audio engineer, sound designer and music producer. Bronagh is currently working as a sound technician at NEAR FM and also writes and produces music for herself and other artists. She is from Co. Monaghan and currently living in Balbriggan. She is a proud member of the LGBTQI+ community and is also obsessed with Bruce Springsteen. Cool fact about Bronagh is that she has been one of the technicians that have been helping me to produce this podcast series.

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Deirdre joins The Growing Up On The Island of Ireland Podcast Series.

Deirdre Donohue is half German and half Irish, growing up in Berlin until the age of 10 before moving to the Irish countryside with her family. While becoming "more Irish" over the years, she found she could only fully blend in once she started studying in Trinity, in the melting pot of people and cultures, and where - ironically - people aren't trying to fit in anymore. Deirdre now works at a tech company where she manages strategic German customers, finding herself once again speaking German every day and benefiting greatly from her German background, while also feeling at home in Ireland.

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Vanessa joins The Growing Up On The Island of Ireland Podcast Series.

Vanessa is a presenter, founder of The blueprint Ireland, and footballer. She has a heart for people.

She has a degree in Wellness and Health promotion with a minor in psychology from Oakland University and a Masters in Public Health from UCC. Professionally, she works as a digital content editor with an NGO. On the side, she works as a freelance presenter & content creator, and is involved with Black and Irish and sickle cell Ireland. 

In 2019, she started a youtube series called #BeingBlackandIrish which highlighted the different aspects of black people who grew up in Ireland.  Since then her creative ventures have grown beyond solely telling the stories of black people in Ireland but creating a platform where Irish creatives, artists and entrepreneurs can feel valued and appreciated. Recently Vanessa founded The blueprint Ireland, a space to connect creatives in Ireland. Follow Vanessa on instagram @heyitsmenesser.

Source of article mentioned during the interview can be found here.

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Nadia joins The Growing Up On The Island of Ireland Podcast Series.

Nadia is a first-generation Irish-Bengali by birth and second generation following on from her Bangali immigrant parents. She studied her bachelors and masters in Ireland before moving to London where she met her husband and ended up staying longer than anticipated. Nadia shares her experience growing up in Ireland and about the photography business she shares with her husband.

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Emmanuel joins The Growing Up On The Island of Ireland Podcast Series.

Emmanuel is an actor and writer born in Nigeria and raised in Ireland. He graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 2021 and has since worked on TV shows such as The Dry and Conversations with Friends, and theatre shows such as Tartuffe at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin and Piaf at the Gate in Dublin. He thinks there's very little more powerful than a well-told story.

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Niamh joins The Growing Up On The Island of Ireland Podcast Series.

Niamh was born and raised in Toronto and currently lives in Dublin. She is a first-generation Canadian by birth and second generation following on from her Irish immigrant parents. Niamh shares memories of visiting Ireland while growing up to visit extended family, stories of fairies in Donegal, swimming in the sea, being introduced to Copper’s by her cousins at eighteen and lots of all-weather outdoor family gatherings. Niamh moved to Dublin five years ago for work and so far, intends to stay.

The statement made about the Taoiseach was in reference to the former Taoiseach’s comments which can be found here:

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/only-natural-ireland-would-respond-differently-to-refugees-from-ukraine-tanaiste-says-1.4834305

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