How Sandra Adu Built a Global Community of 570+ Black Women Designers | Black Girls In Design
From The Cashflow Show: Entrepreneurship Insights for Founders, CEOs and Business Leaders by Dialogue [London] Ltd
December 3, 2025 · 15 min · Episode 140
About this episode
Sandra Adu shares her journey of building a global community for Black women designers and the challenges she faced in securing funding.
Episode Summary From feeling like an outsider in fashion to founding Black Girls in Design London (now 570+ members across UK & Ghana), Sandra Adu reveals how lockdown workshops turned into flagship programmes with Canva, BrainStation and Akaya Foundation. Discover the raw truth about self-funding, getting rejected 3× for grants, and the mentorship + accountability strategies that finally unlocked multi-year funding to empower 300+ Black girls in design. Chapters [00:00] Intro & Powerbook 2025 Recognition [00:51] Sandra’s Journey: Fashion → Graphic Design → Agency Art Director (Rolls-Royce, HSBC, Adobe) [01:48] Lockdown Pivot → Lecturer at UAL & Royal College of Art → PhD [02:15] Founding Black Girls in Design (2022) – The Community She Wished She Had [02:44] Flagship Programmes: Design Her Skills (Canva), Design Her Futures (Ghana-UK), Mastering Your Skills (BrainStation) [03:41] Self-Funding Reality: Building Everything Herself + Spending Thousands While Full-Time Employed [05:01] Rejected 3× → Won Multi-Year Funding: The Power of Storytelling & Community Support [06:30] Accountability Strategy: Mentorship Circles That Actually Work [09:25] How Corporates &…
People in this episode
Guest: Sandra Adu
Topics covered
- community building
- design education
- entrepreneurship
- funding challenges
- mentorship
- Black women in design
Keywords
- Black Girls in Design
- Sandra Adu
- community
- funding
- mentorship
- design
- entrepreneurship
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Black Girls in Design, Canva, BrainStation, Akaya Foundation, UAL, Royal College of Art
Places: UK, Ghana
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