The New P&L speaks to Bayo Adelaja, CEO of Do It Now Now

On this week’s episode of The New P&L, we speak to Bayo Adelaja, CEO of Do It Now Now - an open innovation organisation committed to bringing social empowerment to Black communities and entrepreneurs across the globe. Bayo Adelaja founded Do it Now Now in 2016 in response to gaps in the support available to Black innovators building tech companies and social enterprises in the UK and across Africa. The initiatives Bayo developed for Do it Now Now have led to awards from both Harvard University and Oxford University's Business Schools for her work to create and foster opportunities for under-served communities through technology. Three of the initiatives Bayo has designed to support underrepresented people in tech, have also been named "Top in Europe" by FT-backed digital news platform, Sifted. In 2018, Bayo was named one of the ‘Most Influential Women in Social Entrepreneurship’ in the UK by NatWest Bank, and she has designed the UK’s first-ever enterprise support program for women of colour, the BAME Female Founders Incubator for Hatch Enterprise. Over the last six years, Bayo has worked with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Google and many other international organisations and global brands, offering her wealth of experience and knowledge on open innovation, mentoring, educating business on diversity and inclusion, and delivering crucial social impact programs. Today we discuss with Bayo her own entrepreneurial journey and what led to her establishing Do It Now Now; the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and tech innovators from underrepresented communities in terms of access to support, funding and investment; the importance of building innovation accelerators and incubators that are fit for purpose for all entrepreneurs; the definition of Open Innovation and why it is fundamental to Do It Now Now’s operational model; as well as inspirational examples of some of the young Black entrepreneurs Bayo is working with in The UK and Africa who are playing their part in building a better world. You can learn more about Do It Now Now and the range of initiatives it offers to support entrepreneurs and technology innovators by going to: www.doitnownow.com