Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE, Lewis Hamilton’s Mission 44 and Teach First launch campaign to recruit more Black STEM teachers

Lewis Hamilton’s charity Mission 44  and the education charity Teach First have partnered to launch STEM from Black – a new campaign fronted by Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE which aims to recruit and upskill 150 Black STEM teachers.

Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE is a keynote speaker, presenter, and co-founder of the award-winning social enterprise, Stemettes. She was voted the most influential women in tech in the UK of 2020 by Computer Weekly and featured among the top 10 BAME leaders in tech by The Financial Times.

Anne-Marie voiced

“STEM teachers are one of the most important things when it comes to future STEM talent. A huge part of this is about knowledge, having those basics and having those foundations. However, what’s most important is having teachers who can inspire, and connect and motivate pupils to take on STEM knowledge.”

Only 2.4% of the teaching workforce identify as Black, (GOV.UK, 2022) compared to 84.2% of teachers being White British.The STEM from Black campaign shines a light on the experiences of Black STEM leaders, celebrates their contributions to society, and encourages Black communities to join the STEM community by applying for the Teach First Training Programme.

The campaign also features Dwain Brandy, a successful managing director turned deputy headteacher, Nadine Bernard, head teacher and founder of Aspiring Heads, Professor Nira Chamberlain OBE, mathematics professor and Aqueel Morgan, Teach First science trainee. 

Dwain touches on his journey into teaching

‘’Representation is key. If you can’t see it, you can’t be it’.” ‘’I always knew I wanted to be in a position of influence. I stuck to my values and nurtured my values and that led me to a position of leadership.”