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Bejay Mulenga

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Bejay Mulenga
MBE
Born (1995-07-06) 6 July 1995 (age 29)
East London, London, England
NationalityBritish
EducationUniversity of Westminster (Business)
OccupationBusinessman
Known forThe Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion (2016)[1]
Founding Supa Network
Websitebejaymulenga.com

Bejay Mulenga MBE (born Bejjy Mulenga; 6 July 1995) is a British entrepreneur, founder CEO, creative consultant and public speaker.[2][3][4][5] At age 20, Mulenga became the youngest recipient of the Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion.[6][7] He is founder of the training, recruitment and development company Supa Network and co-founder of the wellbeing and online food delivery company, The Great Feast of London.[8][9] Mulenga featured in GQ magazine's list of "Britain's 100 Most Connected Men"[10] and spearheaded the non-profit A Plate For London.[11]

Early life and education

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Born in East London of Congolese heritage, Mulenga attended St Michael's Catholic College studying Business.[12] It was here Mulenga developed a business model for his brand of confectionary tuck shops called Supa Tuck. Mulenga sat A Levels at St Charles College, and later studied Business Management at the University of Westminster.

Career

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In 2009, Mulenga started his career as an enterprising business studies student at St Michael's Catholic College. Here, Mulenga opened and successfully ran a small tuck shop. Encouraged by his entrepreneurial success, Mulenga licensed his brand of tuck shop across several schools. In 2012, he registered his business Supa Tuck, an alternative enterprise programme teaching students how to run and operate their own tuck shops in schools.[12][7]

In June 2014, Supa Tuck featured in former Secretary of State Lord Young's ‘Enterprise For All’ report which reviewed the relevance of enterprise in education.[13] Next, Mulenga co-founded Supa Academy, a comprehensive business training programme for young people.[14][15] In September of that same year, Mulenga, aged 19, delivered a speech at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham.[16]

In 2015, with support from Lord Young, and brands such as Pepsi Max, Facebook, and Barclays Lifeskills, Supa Academy launched the Supa Market supermarket, a pop-up retail enterprise event.[17][18][19] In 2016, Mulenga became the youngest recipient of The Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion.[7]

Over the next few years, Mulenga would oversee the Supa brand's growth, diversifying into training, B2B education, and consultation working with such brands as Sony Music, Uber, Coca-Cola, Barclays, MTV, Facebook, River Island, Nike and more.[20][21][22]

Supa Network

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Supa Network brings all of Mulenga's business endeavours under one roof, fusing social enterprise with education, spanning event production, creative content, Gen-Z marketing, influencer marketing and recruitment for large companies.

Mulenga has spoken about his experiences founding and scaling Supa Network at the US Embassy,[23] The Tory Conference,[16] Global Entrepreneurship Week,[24] TEDx Switzerland[5][25] and on BBC Radio.[26]

Mulenga was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to entrepreneurship and tackling food poverty.[27]

No More Tea (podcast)

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In 2017, Mulenga launched the No More Tea podcast on iTunes.[28] Dedicated to creative entrepreneurship, No More Tea offers supportive career advice through conversational interviews, and is accessible across on-demand streaming platforms. Well known guests have included The Slumflower and Pip Jamieson.[29]

The Great Feast of London and A Plate For London

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Mulenga along with Street Feast's Dominic Cools-Lartigue founded The Great Feast of London.[30] Initially set to run in the summer of 2021 as a series of physical boutique food festivals throughout London's parks, the COVID-19 pandemic caused the duo to bring plans forward. In July 2020, The Great Feast of London launched as a digital food festival and food for delivery platform focused on providing an in-home dining experience featuring top chefs and interactive events with wellbeing coaches, speakers, musicians and performance artists.[31] Described as a rival to the likes of Deliveroo, The Great Feast of London is closely tied to the founders’ non-profit, A Plate For London which tackles food poverty across the capital by providing meals to Londoners in need.[9][32][11]

Board memberships

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Mulenga has previously served as a board member of Mybnk's Youth Advisory Board.

Recognition

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Network, The Startup (10 April 2018). "The Office Group teams up with Supa Network to create Supa Campus, helping start-ups to scale up". The Startup Network. Retrieved 23 August 2020. Supa Network, founded by entrepreneur and youngest recipient of the Queens Awards for Enterprise promotion, Bejay Mulenga
  2. ^ Williams, Tommy. "Meet Great Feast Delivery: A New Food Delivery Service Transforming Social Dining Post-Coronavirus". Forbes. Mulenga is an award-winning social entrepreneur who we featured late last year on Forbes.
  3. ^ "UK Advocates » Tech leaders, entrepreneurs and experts in London, across the UK and in over 50 countries worldwide". Tech London Advocates. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  4. ^ "Bejay Mulenga > Events: Europe 2017 | Speakers / Advertising Week". www.advertisingweek.com. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Speakers 2017". TEDxHSG. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  6. ^ "15 young entrepreneurs to watch in 2020". The Great British Entrepreneur Awards & Community. 20 April 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2020. At 20 years old, he was the youngest person to receive Her Majesty the Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion in 2016
  7. ^ a b c Williams, Tommy. "Meet Bejay Mulenga: 24-Year-Old Entrepreneur Helping Fortune 500 Companies Engage With Gen Z". Forbes. Retrieved 23 August 2020. he was the youngest recipient of the Queen's Award for Enterprise.
  8. ^ Waywell, Chris. "Exclusive: The Great Feast of London announces its full weekend line-ups". Time Out London. Retrieved 23 August 2020. It's the brainchild of Street Feast founder Dominic Cools-Lartigue and young entrepreneur Bejay Mulenga
  9. ^ a b Coghlan, Adam (26 June 2020). "New Delivery Platform Signs London's Most Exciting Restaurants to Challenge Status Quo". Eater London. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  10. ^ a b Burton, Charlie (6 April 2016). "Who are the 100 Most Connected Men in 2016?". British GQ. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  11. ^ a b Howell, Madeleine (20 June 2020). "How a new digital food festival is helping to feed Londoners in need". The Telegraph. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  12. ^ a b "Bejay Mulenga (a former student) – Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion". St Michael's Catholic College. 20 October 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  13. ^ "Enterprise for all: The relevance of enterprise in education" (PDF). 19 June 2014: 19. Retrieved 23 August 2020. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  14. ^ Jennings, Michael (20 May 2015). "Young Entrepreneurs Of The Week: How Liam Tootill And Bejay Mulenga Are Giving The Next Generation A Helping Hand". Huffington Post UK. Verizon Media. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  15. ^ "Young entrepreneurs – who says you have to be a student?". businessblog.o2.co.uk. 02. 4 August 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  16. ^ a b Bennett, Asa (30 October 2014). "Young Entrepreneur Of The Week: Bejay Mulenga". huffingtonpost.co.uk/. Verizon Media. Retrieved 23 August 2020. Bejay Mulenga, 20, went down a storm when he spoke about his journey as an entrepreneur at the Tory party conference in Birmingham this year.
  17. ^ "Supa Academy Things to do, Classes and workshops". Timeout.com. Retrieved 29 November 2020. Bejay Mulenga (20) and Liam Tootill (28) are the founders of Supa Academy, a social enterprise on a mission to build confidence and develop skills in teenagers and young adults taking their first steps in business
  18. ^ Weinstock, Tish (10 June 2015). "Welcome to the Supa-Market". i-D. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  19. ^ Forster, Ellen (25 February 2015). "Lord Young backs London youth enterprise hack-a-thon". bdaily.co.uk. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  20. ^ "Young Blood – Interview: Bejay Mulenga". www.weareamplify.com. Retrieved 23 August 2020. he's the co-founder of Supa Academy, an experiential training company with clients such as Facebook, Barclays, River Island and EE.
  21. ^ "#3 Generation Z | Barclays Corporate". www.barclayscorporate.com. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  22. ^ "Bejay Mulenga, CEO, Supa Talent – Inclusion Matters Conference". inclusionmattersconference.co.uk. Retrieved 23 August 2020. Bejay has gone on to consult and work for brands such as the Sony Music, Uber, Coca-Cola, Facebook, River Island, and Nike
  23. ^ "Change Makers". wearesevenhills.com. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  24. ^ "Global Entrepreneurship Week". Virginmedia.com. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  25. ^ "Achieving your dreams whilst being a student!". Ted.com. 21 February 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  26. ^ "BBC Radio 4 Four Thought: Achieving Dreams". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 23 August 2020. Young entrepreneur Bejay Mulenga tells the story of his business success and shares his vision for helping other young people overcome the barriers to achieving their dreams.
  27. ^ "No. 63918". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2022. p. N22.
  28. ^ "Young Blood – Interview: Bejay Mulenga". www.weareamplify.com. Retrieved 23 August 2020. Since 2016, Beejay has launched his iTunes podcast series 'No More Tea' – a personal development show helping young people connect the dots with new opportunities and fulfil their creative business potential
  29. ^ "Apple Podcasts Preview". podcasts.apple.com. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  30. ^ Thomson, Lizzie (16 June 2020). "Virtual summer festival to deliver food from top London restaurants". Metro. Retrieved 23 August 2020. Street Feast founder Dominic Cools-Lartigue and young entrepreneur Bejay Mulenga are the brains behind the new hybrid festival.
  31. ^ "The Great Feast of London || Hip And Healthy". Hip & Healthy. Retrieved 23 August 2020. Dom and Bejay have redesigned the festival experience to merge the digital and physical, with interactive online experiences and entertainment complemented by food from London's best chefs and restaurants delivered to guests' front door, garden gate or even direct to the local park.
  32. ^ Aron, Isabelle. "Lockdown Legend: the Londoner helping feed school kids and vulnerable people in need". Time Out London. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  33. ^ LUCKHURST, PHOEBE (20 January 2017). "7 of London's most inspiring young people who are changing the capital". Evening Standard. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  34. ^ "2016 winners of the queen's awards for enterprise" (PDF). thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
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