The Black Women in Europe™ blog, created in 2006 by Adrianne George, released its 11th Black Women in Europe™: Power List 2020 – A List of Our Own©. This 11th year we feature 9, and give special recognition to 11 women who provided 14 workshops and performances in our Let’s Do Us! Series to mitigate pandemic lockdown anxiety. The awardees are in the following categories: Activism, Arts, Entrepreneurship, Fashion, Media, and STEM.
Babou Olengha-Aaby is the Founder & CEO of The Next Billion, a for-profit- for impact-driven startup on a mission to ‘change the way we see businesses. Closing the visibility gap for women in business globally by empowering the next generation of women entrepreneurs, manufacturers, producers, and employers to show up. Be visible. Congolese born and mother of 3, Babou is a passionate advocate for Female Entrepreneurship and for greater diversity and mindfulness in business.
She is a big believer in the collective power of one, of the Crowd and technology to affect positive change in the world. Through her work at The Next Billion, she’s conceived and launched initiatives such as Access2, ProfileMe, as well as the social media campaign #WinningFacts #WinningEffects. Highlighting the benefits of investing in women. And In 2016, her company launched Globally Spotted a discovery platform with the aim of raising more visibility for inspiring women-founded and led ventures globally. Those with innovative, smart, and purpose-driven business models.
Babou is the proud recipient of an Honorary Female Entrepreneurship Ambassador Award, awarded to her at the IV European Congress of Small Business in 2014 in Poland. She is also an enterprise mentor, who champions and advises ‘business underdogs’ (i.e. SMEs, purpose-driven companies, mature entrepreneurs, and more precisely female entrepreneurs).
She’s an experienced keynote speaker and TEDxWomen alumni. Most recently, she joined Forbes as a contributor, where she writes about inspiring companies founded and led by women worldwide. Those largely undiscovered by mainstream media. And why investing in them matters, why female entrepreneurship is no longer just a gender issue but an economic one. Why it’s a win-win for all.