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THE AFRICAN DIASPORA LUMINAIRE AWARDS

2026

Luminaire Awardees

British Robinson

Milken International

Chris Folayan

Luma Learn AI

Tunde Agboke

HP Inc

Dana Nau François

W.K. Kellogg Foundation

Sid Mofya

MOTIF 54

Lamine Savadogo

Marison Energy Systems

Magdi M. Amin

African Renaissance Ventures

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We convene Africans from the continent, descendants of Africa—including African Americans and Afro-Caribbeans—and allies to create an ecosystem that nurtures entrepreneurial spirit and mobilizes intellectual and financial resources for a prosperous future. Through strategic partnerships and innovative programs, we aim to serve as a catalyst for positive change and growth in Africa, its diaspora, and global communities.

Harnessing the collective power of the global African diaspora is catalyzed to drive entrepreneurship, forge partnerships, facilitate knowledge exchange, generate social impact, and foster human capital development.

Since our founding in 2010, we have been gradually building a network which permits us to harness the global intellectual capacity of Africans in the Diaspora and friends of Africa to promote business and economic development across the continent and the communities in which we live.

We have:

Convened more than 11,000 people on entrepreneurship, investment, innovation, and human capital development.
Successfully completed nine African Diaspora Investment Symposiums (ADIS), held in Santa Clara County, California and virtually. Between our African Diaspora Investment Symposium and Impact and Innovation Forums, ADN has engaged 45,000+ people from 89 countries and 545+ speakers and industry leaders.
Over the last six years honored 78 Builders of Africa’s Future (BAF) enterprises, who have demonstrated excellence in leading startups and NGOs that contribute to Africa’s development.
Supported 30 Catholic Sisters through the launch of Start Your Social Enterprise, a preparatory training for Builders of Africa’s Future
In 2021 launched the Accelerating Business Leadership and Entrepreneurship (ABLE) program, which has supported 54 Black entrepreneurs who are addressing essential community needs and spurring sustainable growth.
68+ ecosystem partnerships formed. ADN is a catalyst for building partnerships with leading organizations to enable more entrepreneurs to gain access to resources. Some of these partners include Bill.com, Stanford SEED, Stanford University; Conrad Hilton Foundation; Mastercard Foundation Scholars; Segal Family Foundation Africa Visionary Fellows; The Harambeans; Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship, Santa Clara University; MIT Lab; Africa America Institute; Ashesi University; and Frugal Innovation, Santa Clara University.
Contributed to the Silicon Valley Ecosystem – we are known for our ability to bring global communities together.
Successfully raised funds from foundations, corporations, individuals, and community partners to help launch and scale our accelerator programs.
A stellar and committed team and dedicated board of directors and advisors