BAMI
Author | Consultant | Researcher | Speaker | NEDHelping Everyone Win Through Equity
“Everyone deserves to be heard, understood and thrive no matter their life circumstances.” Bami Adenipekun
Hi, I’m Bami, founder of Inspired To Soar
My passion for working towards greater equity for all, especially in the world of healthcare, started when I experienced my own journey through the challenges of a cancer diagnosis, the resulting treatment and, I am forever thankful to say, going on to thrive.
Following this experience, I coined the term DIVA – divinely inspired victorious achiever – which I feel reflects that I have not merely survived but thrived with purpose and a clear direction for what I want to achieve, both for myself and others.
I have seen the health inequities that I help others to overcome. They are real, based on inaccurate perceptions and harmful stereotypes. They have been exacerbated by a narrow-minded approach to healthcare training. They persist due to a lack of attention on the root cause of institutional racism in our healthcare system.
My research as I grew my business, Inspired To Soar, taught me that they are also costly for the healthcare system and our economy as a whole.
And, as I built my network and talked to more people about the concept of inequity, I realised that healthcare was just one part of the problem. Many statutory bodies, commercial organisations, public sector entities and charities need help to enable them to address the underlying causes of inequality.
As a result, I work with four types of organisation – academic institutions, both corporate and public sector businesses, and healthcare organisations – to educate, advise, support and challenge them to change what is considered as normal.
I want to hear from those who are ready to move beyond the rhetoric. I want to support businesses and teams who want to take real action, learning to listen differently, engage intentionally, and build equity for all.
My work is often bespoke, designed to engage different audiences. I believe that lasting change comes from truly connecting with my clients to help them understand what actions are needed, rather than from preaching, or repeating a generic message.
© Justin Harris Photography
© Justin Harris Photography
A little more about me
It may sound like a cliché to speak about the way that life shapes us but that’s because this is the reality of our experience. We arrive on this earth as equals, but our journey never guarantees us equity.
My life experiences have taught me the important difference between equality and equity: I have been prepared for the work I find myself doing today and I am always learning.
We have been talking about equality for a very long time and yet nothing has changed. I believe this is because it is the wrong word. We don’t want to give everyone the same, instead we need to meet them where they are and provide a common and consistent experience. Providing equitable healthcare means helping everyone to access this consistency – some may have to go further than others to do so.
I like to think of my own brush with cancer, who I call ‘the rogue’ as part of this shaping – but no more than that. I will never be defined by cancer but when it has showed up in my life, it has served to define what I want to achieve and how I want to be.
I like to think of the process of refining gold. At first it is impure and when it goes into the fire, those impurities burn away, leaving something stronger, purer and more beautiful.
I have been shaped and refined to be the bold, purposeful and sassy woman I am today. Each of these qualities serves me well in my work as an author, consultant, speaker and coach, which I deliver through storytelling and being able to truly engage and identify with my audience.
My ability to boldly speak today has grown from my experiences and learning. It has evolved gradually because I am not a person who makes grand empty promises.
I believe in small, incremental changes that stick. These build into a bigger change over time and that is how we really move things forward.
My purpose is to make equitable healthcare a reality for everyone. But my mission is more than that. It is to help deliver the tools people need to understand the importance of equity and to make their own small changes, consistently, to facilitate it.
I work across both statutory and non-statutory sectors because I believe that no system stands alone. We need to weave our changes into the fabric of life and society in order for them to get enough traction to make change a reality that lasts.
When I’m not at work, I love nothing more than to spend time walking on the beach with my wonderful daughter who I have been lucky enough to watch blossom into adulthood and now forge her own way in the world.
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