AdaCon 2023

Join a global collective in inclusive investing

AdaCon 2023 will be an honest conversation about the urgency of the challenge and compelling testimony from visionary leaders who are finding alpha by being brave, relentless and deliberate about equity and inclusion. It will also be a radical challenge to our industry to locate ourselves within the problem, to stop talking and to commit to bold action.

About

Tuesday 10th October 2023 from 18:00 BST

We believe that venture capital & tech should be fair & equitable

VC can feel like a closed shop. Too often VCs do not take an inclusive approach to investment, missing out on great talent & ideas, and discouraging founders from recognising that their ideas can change the world. Now, more than ever, is the time for us to come together to back the world’s most extraordinary talent addressing the world’s biggest challenges.

Who is AdaCon for?

Founders facing barriers on their road to their first institutional round.

Founders building for large underserved markets, groups and communities.

Tech ecosystem leaders and supporters driving change including VCs, LPs, politicians, policy makers & journalists.

Everyone who is interested in making venture and tech more inclusive.

Keynote Speakers

Kenya Hunt in conversation
with Ebele Okobi

Kenya Hunt

Kenya Hunt is the Editor-in-Chief of ELLE UK. Hunt’s career spans working for some of the world's most influential women’s titles on both sides of the Atlantic. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Guardian, Essence, Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, Refinery29, The Evening Standard and other publications. And she has made a number of appearances on BBC Woman’s Hour, Sky News and more.

As the founder of R.O.O.M. Mentoring, she advocates for greater diversity within the fashion industry by providing a supportive network for some of the many talented aspiring designers, journalists and image makers of colour London has to offer. In 2021, she was recognised by The British Fashion Council for her work and awarded a Global Leader Of Change Award. An American based in London, she lives south of the river with her husband and two sons.

Her critically-acclaimed book, Girl: Essays on Black Womanhood (HarperCollins/HQ), is out now.

Ebele Okobi

Ebele is a Venture Partner for Impact Infrastructure at Ada Ventures. Previously, Ebele built and led the first Africa and then Africa, Middle East & Turkey public policy teams at Facebook, built the very first human rights team in tech at Yahoo as the Global Head of Human Rights, worked in brand strategy, impact and employer branding across the Africa and the women’s and digital businesses at Nike, was an advisory services director creating equity strategies across Silicon Valley and Europe at Catalyst, a health policy advocate at Consumers Union in San Francisco, and, approximately one thousand years ago, was a corporate lawyer at Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York, London and Paris.

Ebele is a Trustee and Development Board Chair of the Young Vic theatre, Chair of the Patron’s Board for John Akomfrah for the 2024 Venice Biennale UK, a Chisenhale Gallery Council member and a Frieze 91 Committee member. She also directs the Chinedu Valentine Okobi Fund, investing in transformative rest for Black leaders of justice movements.

Ebele attended the University of Southern California, Columbia Law School and HEC-Paris. She is the mother of dragons.

Keynote speakers - Stephanie and Kelechi Okafor-2.png

Stephanie Brobbey in conversation with Kelechi Okafor

Stephanie Brobbey

Stephanie was born and raised in London. She qualified as a private wealth lawyer in 2011 and practised at a law firm in the City of London for a decade. During her time in private practice, Stephanie advised a variety of domestic and international clients on a broad range of matters concerning their private wealth.

Stephanie gained an outstanding reputation in the private wealth industry and was named one of eprivateclient’s Top 35 Under 35 in 2020 and 2018. She was also listed as a Rising Star in the tax and trust category of the Spear’s indices 2019 and was named in the Spear’s 500 as a recommended tax and trust lawyer in 2020. Shortly before leaving private practice, Stephanie was ranked as an ‘Associate to Watch’ in Chambers & Partners High Net Worth Guide 2021.

In September 2021 Stephanie launched the Good Ancestor Movement, a social purpose business which exists to disrupt the mainstream wealth advisory industry by challenging traditional ideas about the economy, excessive wealth accumulation and tax minimisation. The Good Ancestor Movement supports wealthy individuals and families, and trusts and foundations with progressive wealth stewardship and radical redistribution.

Stephanie is a dedicated social sector leader and has served as a trustee of youth charities FAST London and e:merge; and The Funding Network, a charity which hosts live crowdfunding events for not-for-profit organisations pursuing social change.

Kelechi Okafor

Kelechi Okafor is a Nigerian-born, London-based lover of words—whether that’s crafting works of fiction, articles, stage plays or screenplays; from directing others on stage to expressing her thoughts on society one podcast episode at a time alongside esteemed interview guests on her award-winning podcast Say Your Mind. The podcast focusses on globally relevant conversations and events, framed through a lens of understanding that is firmly anti- colonial, white-supremacy, and heteropatriarchy. It serves both as a personal exploration, and as a way to build a community that is challenged to think critically. Known online as @Kelechnekoff, Kelechi also affectionately known as “just a Baby Girl” by her followers, listeners, and community.

Live performance from Lemzi, lead artist at Spoke

UK soul artist, Lemzi, continues to break boundaries through his art, especially as the Lead artist of the UK's number 1 music-led mindfulness app, SPOKE. Continuing to make wellbeing as relatable to people as possible, he has brought his art to audiences globally and collaborated with brands such as The NFL and many more.

Speakers

Dorothy Chou

Head of Policy & Public Engagement at DeepMind

Dorothy leads Policy & Public Engagement at DeepMind, an artificial intelligence company. She has spent her career building social justice, ethics, & accountability structures at technology companies, including the first Transparency Report—an industry standard that more than 70 technology companies use to show how laws and corporate policies affect free expression and privacy online. Prior to DeepMind, Dorothy was responsible for policy development at Uber on issues related to consumer protection, safety, & self-driving cars. Outside of work, she is working toward a Master’s in Bioethics at the University of Oxford and is an angel investor with Atomico, a leading European venture capital firm.

Dave Neumann

Associate at Molten Ventures

Born in Brazil, Dave joined PitchBook in its early days and, working across different sales roles for 3 years, experienced first-hand the growth trajectory of a SaaS company. Dave has since been working as an LP for +3 years, backing European VC managers, as well as doing direct VC deals.

Katie Fulford-Smith

Director at Big Society Capital

Katie is a Director at Big Society Capital, the UK’s leading social impact investor with a significant allocation to startups improving people’s lives in health, education and training, and financial inclusion. Since joining in 2018, Katie has helped shape the organisation’s engagement strategy with the venture capital ecosystem including its approach Impact, ESG and ED&I. Prior to joining Big Society, Katie spent nearly six years at Octopus Investments.

Caroline English

Director, Policy and Strategy at British Business Bank

Caroline English is the Director of Policy and Strategy at the British Business Bank. Caroline leads delivery of the Bank's strategic impact objectives, unlocking potential, and building a modern green economy. Caroline has a decade of strategy experience and holds a Master of Public Administration from the London School of Economics.

Christian Tooley

Founder of i³ investing

Christian is an award-winning queer investor & innovator. In his day job, as an Expert at Bain & Company, he leads an EMEA team solving the world’s biggest problems with innovation and ventures. In his gay job, as Founder of i³ investing, he incubates & invests in LGBTQ+ founders. Christian is a recognised LGBTQ+ Leader by Yahoo Finance, Global Shaper at the World Economic Forum, and an impact investor.

Celia Chartres-Aris
(née Hensman)

Co-founder of Access2Funding

Celia Chartres-Aris (née Hensman) is a multi-award winning, disabled founder and investor, rights advocate, policy designer, legal expert, ambassador and campaigner for the improvement of inclusivity of intersectionality and disability.

Izzy Obeng

Co-founder and CEO of Foundervine

Foundervine supports ventures to start, scale and raise capital. Izzy has built venture accelerators, coaches founders and advises Lloyds Banking Group, Unltd and Big Issue Invest. She's a NED at Capital Enterprise & an Ada Angel, investing in early stage digital ventures. Featured in BBC, The Guardian, and Forbes 30 Under 30. Over 540 businesses have been empowered since 2018.