Evie Crossland
Kevin Osei, the multi-award-winning CEO of the social mobility charity, Bridging Barriers, is an undeniable inspiration. Having helped nearly 2000 young people from ethnically diverse and low socio-economic backgrounds access employment opportunities, and boosted the self-esteem of 95% of their mentees, Osei’s charity is invaluable for so many young people. Providing one-to-one mentoring with career professionals, mentees are taught necessary hard and soft employment skills, all while building their employment networks. In interview with Osei, the CEO candidly discusses his inspirations, the importance of failure, and the pivotal role his Christian faith plays in his life.
‘Bridging Barriers is a social mobility charity, focused on helping people aged 16-25, from ethnically diverse and low socio-economic backgrounds’, Osei explained. Through one-to-one mentoring, young people are connected to professionals ‘many of whom come from similar backgrounds to them’, Osei went on to state that the young people are mentored over a ‘six-month period, helping them with both personal and professional development’. Helping them build key hard and soft skills ‘such as communication, management, resilience’. Skills, which as Osei explained, ’employers look for in young people that they often lack’. On the professional development side, Osei’s charity provides support with various aspects including CVs, interviews, and career advice.
In explaining what inspired Osei to start Bridging Barriers three and a half years ago, Osei stated there were ‘a number of reasons’, with the first being where he grew up. Osei stated,
‘I grew up in a borough called Newham in East London. Newham was a borough, like a lot of boroughs in London, where a lot of young people come from disadvantaged backgrounds, working-class backgrounds. And a lot of young black men in particular who had talent but who don’t feel their potential, and that’s for a number of reasons, like a lack of positive role models, lack of father figures, lack of guidance. And this was something I realised in 2016, in particular, because I had a few friends who had this talent but ended up going on the wrong path for some of the reasons that I just mentioned’.
Noticing ‘this pattern’ Osei was driven to create change yet lacked the knowledge on how to proceed. At this time, the new CEO thought, ‘You know what I’ll carry on with life, with that in the back of my mind and hopefully one day, when I’m older, I’ll be able to revisit this and do something about it’. Going on to University in 2017, studying Accounting and Finance, endeavoring towards a career in the financial services, Osei experiences many rejections from various opportunities,
‘I was applying for loads of different internships, spring weeks, and just getting rejected from every single firm that I applied for. And I guess the annoying thing is that because of the amount of applications these employers tend to get, a lot of them don’t actually have the capacity to give people feedback, so I was getting loads of rejections, not knowing actually what’s wrong with my application or how to improve them.’
OSEI CAME TO THE REALISATION THAT MANY YOUNG PEOPLE, WITH A SIMILAR BACKGROUND TO HIMSELD, ARE UNAWARE OF MENTORING
After securing a mentor through a similar organisation to Bridging Barriers in 2018, the support helped Osei obtain a one-week work experience/ internship at KPMG. After experiencing the first-hand benefits of mentoring, Osei came to the realisation that many young people, with a similar background to himself, are unaware of mentoring, ‘let alone the benefits that come from having a mentor’, and from this, the idea of ‘Bridging Barriers’ began to catalyse. Another primary incentive which precipitated Osei’s decision to launch Bridging Barriers was the murder of George Floyd, Osei explained,
‘that was more so like a wake-up-call and light-bulb moment, because in everything that was happening at the time in the world, I just reflected on how it had been two years since I had the idea and It’s been two years of procrastination, a lot could’ve been done in that time’.
Forcing himself out of his ‘comfort zone’, Osei began the journey to create the social mobility charity. Three and a half years later, Osei remains driven by his passion to ‘support many many more young people’.
WHEN IT COMES TO DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION, I THINK THE INCLUSION PART IS OFTEN MISSED OUT
Osei further emphasized the role employers must play for ensuring an inclusive work environment. Osei explained,
‘When it comes to diversity and inclusion, I think the inclusion part is often missed out. A lot of employers are focused on trying to recruit more diverse talent from an early career level, but actually, when they get their foot through the door, are you making them feel welcomed? How’s the culture like in the organisation? Are staff members trained around diversity?’
43% OF 2,002 UK ADULTS STATE THEY HAVE BEEN DISCRIMINATED AGAINST IN THE WORKPLACE
In a study conducted by YouGov, 43% of 2,002 UK adults state they have even been discriminated against in the workplace. In addition, a government report published in March 2024, showed that many employers want to ‘do the right thing’ but are implementing EDI initiatives ‘without any evidence base’ with EDI practices ‘proving to be counterproductive or even unlawful.’ The importance of regulation in EDI practices cannot be overstated, as Osei reinforced,
‘I think employers need to definitely do more in terms of from an inclusion perspective, trying to make sure all employees, especially those who have a disadvantaged whether that be on their ethnicity, gender, disability, etc […] feel welcomed, are valued.’
ALL THE CHALLENGING TIMES I’VE GONE THROUGH IN LIFE, HAVE MADE ME WHO I AM TODAY
Whilst Osei has been bestowed various accolades, his humility is unwavering. Triumphantly showcasing his setbacks on his LinkedIn profile and explaining the challenges of leadership on his newsletter titled, ‘The Vulnerable Entrepreneur’, Osei remains steadfast in displaying the challenges he has faced throughout his entrepreneurial journey. Osei explained,
‘I think it comes from a mindset shift and seeing the value in difficulties, and a lot of people don’t see the value in it. As I said, all the challenging times I’ve gone through in life, have made me who I am today […] To answer your question around LinkedIn, I actually don’t have any issues sharing my challenges, because I think there is a lot of strength and power In weakness. I think there is a lot of power in being vulnerable, and being open and honest about you know, the struggles you face. And so, I’m more than happy to do so.’
Also vocal about his Christian faith across social media, Osei emphasized how his faith has shaped his entrepreneurial journey. ‘Without God I am nothing. And I think It’s important that I publicly share that, because sometimes there are certain things that have happened in my life and certain successes that I’ve got that I can only credit to God,’ Osei recalled. Osei further went on to state how his faith has provided direction in navigating failure, particularly through University,
‘asking God questions like ‘God, why’d this happen to me? Why’d this happen to me?’ but now being so thankful for those times. There’s a bible verse that relates directly to that, it’s a verse in John chapter 13 verse 7, where Jesus was washing the feet of the Disciples and Peter asked him ‘Why are you washing our feet? You’re Jesus, you’re the Messiah!’ And he said, you don’t understand what I’m doing now, but later on you will understand’, and that’s one of my favorite verses because that applies to my life directly. I didn’t understand what was happening, I didn’t understand why I was going through failure […] But now, I’m so thankful that I went through it and now I understand. So, the point I’m trying to make is that when I chose to develop a relationship with Christ, which I believe is the most important thing anyone can do, it really brought about so much peace…’
START NOW, START SOMEWHERE, START DOING YOUR RESEARCH
Providing advice to individuals who want to start their own charity, Osei emphasized ‘start now, start somewhere, start doing your research’. Osei reinforced,
‘Do some research, reach out to people on Linkedin, reach out to people at Uni, your lecturers, ask them who you can speak to that might be able to put you in touch with somebody who might be able to help; networking is the most powerful thing. Just being proactive to ensure that you are getting closer to meeting your dreams […] everyone has great ideas but they’re only ideas until you’ve put any action to them. So, I’d say start now, and stop procrastinating.’
Bridging Barriers Website: https://www.bridgingbarriers.co.uk/
Bridging Barriers Instagram: @bridgingbarriersuk
Kevin Osei’s Instagram: @kevinosei_
Evie Crossland
Featured image courtesy of Kevin Osei.
In article image 1 courtesy of Kevin Osei. No changes were made to this image.
In article image 2 courtesy of Kevin Osei. No changes were made to this image.
