about us
IBR is founded by husband-and-wife duo, James and Rebekah Russell, who are passionate about addressing the lack of black representation in their respective industries. James, an Actuarial Analyst and Rebekah, a Primary School Teacher, both felt that a mentorship scheme specifically for black students is one of the effective ways to address this issue. We believe that the hardest step a young black student can take is that from university to the workplace. IBR is our contribution to easing this burden amongst members of our community.
OuR AIM
Our aim is to increase black representation in the workplace through providing mentorship to black or mixed black university students looking to secure their first role. Through our mentoring program, we aim to help students develop their confidence and knowledge from their mentor to succeed in interviews and secure jobs, work placements and internships. We aim to provide a community with whom students can relate with, whilst also providing students with regular encouragement over the course of their university experience.
FOUNDERS
About Rebekah
I am a Primary School Teacher and Artist. I am passionate about black rights and women’s rights. Being mixed black and white myself and growing up in a predominately white area, I experienced overt racism first-hand. I then moved to South London and realised that living in a diverse area didn’t mean that racism didn’t exist. I began reading, researching and looking more deeply into the many ways that racism is covert within society, the workplace and education in particular. This sparked my passion to co-found IBR. I am proud to be behind a non-profit organisation that supports black university students on their journey into the world of work.
About James
I am an Actuarial Analyst and love to give back to my community. I am passionate about providing visibility to black university students that are on their career journey. Whilst I was at university, I did not have the luxury of knowing any black professionals that had successfully made it into my desired career. However, when I secured my graduate job, I realised that this was due to the lack of black representation across my industry as a whole. This finding encouraged me to co-found IBR, which helps students access advice and guidance from a mentor that is in their desired job role. I am proud to be a part of IBR and am determined to provide this opportunity to as many students as possible.