Comuzi

Akil is a changemaker who works across design, technology and media to support community groups across the UK.

His superpower is to distil ideas through researching and developing insight, creating a plan then organising people to bring work to life.

Across his roles at COMUZI, a design and innovation studio and DOES, a social enterprise supporting minority communities in business, Akil has leant on his skills as a researcher, business strategist and fundraiser to:

• Build COMUZI with his co-founders to become a design studio which has been delivering work for a decade.
• Lead the delivery of a number of Digital Health and Wellbeing projects focused on South London impacting over 500,000 residents.
• Taught over 4500 people in two years at M&C Saatchi Saturday School (launch 2019).
• Launched Mentor Black Business which has now supported over 2000 black owned businesses get access to mentoring (launch 2020), a "highly commended" programme by the IPA (2022).
• Partnered with Somerset House to deliver the award winning Black Business Residency sponsored by Morgan Stanley, a physical space providing mentorship, masterclasses and office space to Black businesses and entrepreneurs.

Somerset House, Morgan Stanley, Southwark Council, Leeds City Council, Pinterest, Google, Sky, M&C Saatchi Group and Ravensbourne University London.

Akil has received an Honorary Fellowship from Ravensbourne University London’s Institute of Creativity and Technology for his ‘exceptional standing and distinction in the creative industries, enterprise and technology’.

Akil's Talk

Prototyping Radical Futures

Sharing a selection of projects from their personal and collaborative portfolios, Akil will share Radical pieces of work made over the last 10 years that inspire communities to live differently across the country.

In our talk we'll uncover how we:

• unlock a Radical State of mind
• take left turns to avoid insanity
• make radical close to home

COMUZI looks to inspire a new generation of makers to incorporate new non-traditional design choices into their work to support better outcomes for all communities.