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James Adeleke
Nigerian Born, Dyslexic Social entrepreneur James Adeleke is on a mission to change the world to make it fairer. He is the CEO and Founder of Generation Success, an award-winning social enterprise that works with 70+ employers in the UK and the Republic of Ireland to tackle the social inequalities in society and connect diverse talent to careers. This is delivered through their mentoring, training and early careers recruitment services.
About James Adeleke
James started Generation Success after the London riots. Rising from the riots came a desire to be part of the change. Driving by the fundamental belief that your career should not be defined by your birth, and witnessing the struggle that many of his contemporaries in law school faced in their careers due to social or economic background, James set about taking action.
He has been involved in a number of projects, reports and commissions centred around enterprise and employability. He has also spoken in parliament and city hall on social mobility, diversity and employability. He is a Co-opted member of the Education board at City of London Corporation, a school governor at Newham Collegiate and Independent member of the Student Association Board at Arden University.
James is passionate about creating a world where we all have equal access and equal opportunities to achieving our career aspirations. He thrives on motivating others, building productive relationships and creating effective strategies to support the success of stakeholders with whom he works.
James discovered he had Dyslexia and Dyspraxia a week before his final exams at the age of 24. Despite this he still achieved a 2:1. Having grown up in a single parent household, raised by a mum who worked 5 cleaning jobs, James is a passionate advocate of social mobility and creating a world where your career is not determined by your birth.
- Diversity and inclusion
- Entrepreneurship
- Social Entrepreneurship
- Social Mobility
- Business start up
- Mental health both from a personal perspective and practical tools perspective
- Dyslexia and Dyspraxia
- Coming from a low income single parent household
- Overcoming adversity / losing one’s dream: What to do when life makes you pivot
- Maintaining productivity
- Vision and setting goals
- The step that made me and almost broke me
- What football taught me
- Lessons of a social entrepreneur
- Going the extra mile
- Building networks and finding champions
Testimonials
"James introduced social mobility to our senior leaders, which for some was a new concept. James provided a compelling reason why it's critical that organisations weave social mobility through all dimensions of diversity and how we can use our privilege to help others. His delivery of storytelling captivated the audience and he brough them on the journey."
Amanda White, Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion
"I found James/his presentation insightful, powerful,emotive. He really got me thinking and even more determined to make a change...The privilege walk videos evoked real emotion in me. He was full of energy and dynamism. Fantastic addition to the conference, and I'm sure will be so helpful in our D&I journey."
Donna McFarlane, Legal Director Group Legal
"An inspiring talk fro James on Social Mobility and its impact in the world today. It was thought-provoking and shows we have a long way to go to support society in giving people the opportunity to succeed when they are 10 steps behind those that have had some sort of privilege. The talk will inspire many to think about this topic and take action and it will help RES to further enhance our D&I strategy and continue to be an employer of choice."
Sanjay Patel, Group CIO
"It was wonderful to have James join our recent Global Leadership Conference and give a fresh perspective on all aspects of social mobility. It was not only emotive and inspiring but left us with a clear structure of how social mobility works, and how to tackle it in our organisation."
Paula Murphy, Marketing and Comms Officer
