Lavinya is a social entrepreneur, author, and Founder/CEO of The Black Curriculum.
She has written her first poetry collection, ‘27’ - out now and debut book.
Having graduated with a first class in BA African Studies and Development from SOAS University, London in 2019, Lavinya was inspired by her learning and experience in New Zealand to set up The Black Curriculum in 2019 aged 22.
During university, Lavinya was engaged in student activism as the ‘Working Class Student Officer’ and co-founded a society called Art and the African Mind, which aimed to promote and provide African-centred art and information as well as support for students.
Continuing to engage in her love of writing, Lavinya published her dissertation which won the inaugural Walter Rodney Prize, and has written on social and cultural themes throughout the African diaspora for outlets including the Guardian, Black Ballad, Quartz Africa.
Believing in the power of education, social impact and youth social entrepreneurship, her work has been recognised globally from Vogue and GQ to the historic Freedom of the City of London Award in 2024.
She recently (2024) co-founded the Racial Impact Collective, an initiative supporting social entrepreneurs and seeking equity in the grant making world.
The Black Curriculum
The Black Curriculum is the UK’s leading social enterprise and political movement for the teaching of Black and African histories, founded by Lavinya Stennett in 2019. The organisation supports institutions with the teaching of Black history all year round, and with a student focus, empowers young people (3-25) with a sense of identity and belonging.
Though the organisation existed before 2020, it rose to prominence and continued working primarily with young people and schools to address the lack of Black history being taught in UK. The approach of the social enterprise is based on the arts, includes campaigning the English government to embed Black British history, and giving direct education to young people and teachers via multimedia forms.
Since 2019, The Black Curriculum has worked with thousands of young people and schools. It has produced digital resources and campaigns with millions of views and downloads, with an array of partners globally such as Marks and Spencer, Spotify and Vogue, helping to educate the public.
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Recent Awards
Lavinya was recently honoured with the Freedom of The City of London 2024 by Michael Mainelli, and recognised as 40 under 40 Most Influential People of African Descent in 2024 at age 27. She was awarded Changemaker by the Limitless Awards in 2023, Future Bold Woman runner up for the 50th Veuve Cliquot Awards in 2022 and Sunday Times 50 Women of the Year in 2021.