00:00Our Trailblazer of the Year Award is presented to Lavinia Stennett, founder and CEO of The Black Curriculum,
00:08a social enterprise based in London that aims to get Black British history taught at schools across the country.
00:13Lavinia remembers working on a project about African-American inventors while in primary school.
00:19Enormously inspired by the work, she was disappointed to learn the subjects weren't touched upon,
00:24even after she entered secondary school.
00:26She spent three months studying indigenous culture at a Maori university in New Zealand.
00:32She was inspired by how proud the faculty and the students were of the nation's history
00:37and realised she wanted the same experience for pupils back home in the UK.
00:42The Black Curriculum wants to embed Black British history into the national curriculum by working to support teachers in schools.
00:49And she said she wants to empower everyone and recognise that this country has always been diverse.
00:56You are building the future that I want for my own family, a future that all of our children deserve.
01:03I'm completely in awe of you and you deserve this award wholeheartedly, all right?
01:07So keep up the amazing work. Congratulations. Well done.
01:12So Lavinia, huge congratulations on winning our Star Woman Trailblazer Award.
01:18Everything that you've been doing with the Black Curriculum, you know, this year and in the run-up to this
01:23big year
01:23has just been completely inspirational and you are thoroughly deserving of this award.
01:28Thank you so much, Rosie. It's an honour to be here with you.
01:31To me, this is a recognition of other young women who have a dream and like really want to make
01:38change in society
01:39and I think it just symbolises that even in the midst of darkness, there is so much light.
01:44And what has this year been like for you?
01:48The events within June, with the rising awareness around racial equality really meant that
01:54people started to understand the importance of the work that we were doing, which felt really hopeful.
01:59Yeah, it's been an up and down year, but ultimately it's been really rewarding.
02:04Now this is the Trailblazer Award, so I kind of get the sense that you're probably only at the start
02:09of your journey as well
02:10and you're going to achieve great things in the years to come.
02:14Sort of what is your end goal? What's your dream?
02:17I really want to attain peace in my life and in this world and make sure that every young person
02:22has access to education
02:24and equality within their learning and that's what's guiding me.
02:27If there's one thing that you would like our audience to understand and learn about you
02:32and the work that you do at The Black Curriculum, what would that be?
02:36I think education, just continue to educate yourselves and your young people
02:40and you've got loads of resources that you can download for free on YouTube, which is The Black Curriculum
02:46and our website is theblackcurriculum.com. So just continue to engage and educate yourself.
02:50Yeah, I hope that everybody does and I can't wait to continue supporting your journey
02:54and keeping a close eye on everything that you do next. So huge congratulations.
02:59Thank you so much.
