Fatima Suleiman
Fatima co-founded The Sahel Project, supporting women entrepreneurs and underserved communities across the Sahel through community-centred approaches to change.
Cugoano Changemakers
A place to
practise leadership.
An eighteen-month Fellowship for fifteen young adults aged 18–30. Explore power, practise judgement and make change with care for the people affected.
Paid Circle days. Coaching and peer support. Funded project work.
First cohort opening weekend: 7 and 8 November 2026. Details of future cohorts will be shared here.
Rooted at St James’s Piccadilly. Open to people of all faiths and none.
From the first cohort
Meet some of the cohort
A few introductions from the first cohort. Each person brings their own experience, work and questions.
Toreh O’Garro
Toreh is a Manchester-based curator, facilitator and poet exploring creative accessibility and opening arts experiences to blind and visually impaired audiences.
May Gauntlett
May is an adaptive fashion designer and founder of May Marigold CIC, creating colourful clothing and community workshops that make fashion more inclusive.
Learning, together
What you will do together.
Make things, ask difficult questions and try ideas with people who see the world differently. There is room for serious learning, good company and the confidence that comes from not doing it alone.
Across the programme
Circles
Shared learning through the foundation and later domain Circles.
Lens
Creative expression and responsible storytelling across the programme.
Later, with support
Continuum
Funded project development and delivery, building on learning and relationships.
Continuing triads, professional coaching and later specialist mentoring support the work.
Our commitment
The commitment we return to, together.
“Cugoano Changemakers do not need to be the loudest voice in the room, but they remain accountable when the room goes silent.”
Head: understand the system. Heart: consider the people affected. Imagination: find another way forward.
Art, film and stories
From Changemaker Lens
Lens brings creative work together with conversations, films and reflections from the people shaping Cugoano. Start with a story and see where it takes you.
Featured work
It’s not a bed of roses
Ore Adedeji
A painting advocating for women’s reproductive health, with accounts from women about their experiences on the reverse.
Film · 8 minutes From New York
New conversations.
New possibilities.
Ladajah, Toreh and Moiz share their journeys at our New York lunch. A glimpse of the conversations and connections that brought us together.
Watch the New York filmOur roots and responsibilities
Rooted at St James’s. Named for Cugoano.
Quobna Ottobah Cugoano was a writer and campaigner against slavery, baptised at St James’s Piccadilly in 1773. His writing challenged both individuals and institutions. The programme carries that question into its own practice: how do we respond to challenge, and what are we prepared to change?
Our history and responsibilitiesCugoano Fellowship Champions
A conversation.
An introduction.
A door opened.
A thoughtful introduction, relevant expertise or funding for paid learning can make a practical difference. Start with one thing you could help with.
Contribute through Voice, Doors, Resource, Practice or Platform.
Where your help is needed