Donna Ali has dedicated years of her life to ensuring that black and ethnic minority people in Wales, especially younger people, have a better school experience and skills to equip them on their professional and personal journeys. Living with her grandparents who were caretakers at a local school, Donna has always been around those closest to education settings.
The CEO of BE.Xcellence, the community organisation dedicated to the social mobility of black, asian and minority ethnic communities, Donna has dedicated her professional career to supporting young BAME people in particular, with various educational programs and even a new magazine.
Raised in Llanrumney in Cardiff, her childhood was filled with happy memories playing in the street with friends. With the '80s being a divisive time for some, especially concerning the acceptance of diversity, Donna was always aware that people might not accept her due to her skin colour. You can get more local news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
"There was only a few of us of colour growing up," she said. "During the '80s there were loads of skin heads around and I did experience a little bit of racism from them."
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She added: "However, I had a lot of issues with my identity growing up. At the time, I didn't know that the guy that my mother was with wasn't actually my father. I realised when I was 11 that he wasn't. The reason I say that is my mum looks like an Arab woman, being Arabic Maltese and he was Caribbean. So when I was growing up I assumed I was mixed race.
"I assumed I was mixed race but it wasn't until I was 11 did I realise that I was actually half black, half Bangladeshi and everything else in between. I was called the 'P' word more than I was called anything else because I looked varied, which was confusing for me, because I thought I was black.
"I played on the streets and had adventures, and it was a lot of fun. I loved school and I was good at it, but when I found out about my dad it really shocked me to the core. I lost the ability to focus in school from there, I didn't get my GCSEs and I had a baby at 16. But I did go to college to do hairdressing, so even though I didn't get the qualifications, I still managed to do what I wanted."
Growing up and having her girls, Donna's main priorities switched. Like any other mother, her life turned to making sure that they were OK. Whilst the issue around race and education had always been there for Donna as it impacted her children's upbringing. With Donna seeing her children go through the system and seeing their experiences, her passion to make it a better place for children and young people began to take hold.
Deciding to study health and social care, Donna began to unveil a startling disadvantage that black and minority young people went through. Describing it as "changing her trajectory" in life, she quickly came to learn that family issues in the UK were huge and that society here in Britain was is in a "messy situation". Having struggled with her own immediate family breaking down, Donna was curious to find out why this was a common occurrence.
"I waned to know why because it affected me and my identity. I wanted to understand why families break down and what were the catalysts for those things. When studying health and social care I was interested about why families of colour would break down. University really shaped me to think more about society and what life was like for somebody of colour.
"Whilst I was studying the things that interested me included social mobility, and the lock of, for ethnic minorities and how society functions for them. A few years ago I started working for a training company called ACC and someone told me I would be a really good advocate for young people who are falling through the gaps.
"He told me to read Labour's manifesto. I'd never been into politics, but I read it and I would say it was a turning point for me. It said that Tony Blair was supporting single mums, women of colour and people who were living in deprived areas. I thought it was frustrating because I couldn't help the colour of my skin, I chose to be a single mum, and I own a property in Grangetown that I wouldn't say is deprived.
"But the governmental system, the matrix, said those things were deficits and therefore, we needed a handout. And for me, that shaped my understanding of how society works at a very basic level. I was only able to obtain a business loan at that time because of those things."
Donna's work was fundamental in ensuring that the Welsh school curriculum was implemented to be more inclusive of black and minority ethnic voices and history. First being rolled out in Llanwern High School, supported by MS Jeremy Miles, Donna understood that education was fundamentally the most important thing for young people to learn about themselves and witness success stories that came from their backgrounds.
Setting up a black and mixed minority ethnic-focused magazine, Xcellence, this year she hopes that the issues will inform people outside the community about the social injustice that takes place and the people working to combat and equalise the playing fields in society.
Donna also presented her own radio show dedicated to amplifying Welsh black-owned businesses. She told WalesOnline that her work was all about ensuring that people had "equity" to live their life equally.
"Letting people know about what is going on is helping people gain contacts and gives them empowerment to have these hard conversations," Donna said.
"Media is a powerful tool and I wanted to be positive, I wanted to let people like them know that they have contributed to Wales and they will continue to do so. We want to change those mindsets where people aren't negative stereotypes, but truly fantastic people.
"It's hard to find your place in this world and when we're born we put up with society telling us that we're different. We're different and we struggle with that. With the work I do I want people to be empowered. The outcome is to give people equal mobility within society."
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