The Ujamaa UK Collective Team
Kurt Dallas
Chairman
My name is Kurt Dallas, and I am a Medical Diagnostic Engineer with over 30 years’ experience in a customer focussed environment. I am extremely passionate about my community and its ability to be able to empower itself. The skills that I have acquired over that time, I believe can assist Ujamaa UK Collective in achieving its aims and objectives.
Merlin Gaston
Treasurer
My name is Merlin and I'm an accountant with over 25 years' experience; running my own accountancy practice for the past four years. Ujamaa UK Collective enables me to fulfil one of my passions to give back to the community and empower our people. The more we work together the strong our community and I will be honoured to leave such a legacy.
Michelle Gayle-Tennant
Treasurer
Hi, I am Michelle and I come from an extensive and experienced background in retail banking. I am passionate about coaching, development and mentorship (both giving and receiving). My passion and commitment for the UUKC enhances this as I want to extend my professional and personal skills to the wider cherished Black community. I also want to learn from the Collective and to see us prosper and flourish.
Kuumba Best
Community Liasion
I am a son, father, life partner and firefighter all of which I am very proud of, as these are roles I play from my heart. I have also been a radio chat show host, a mentor, social worker and community Saturday school teacher, amongst other things. Through all of these roles I have been able to serve my community for more than thirty years. The opportunity to belong to the Ujamaa UK Collective has allowed me to join a group of professionals dedicated to the financial embellishment of a community it has been my love and pleasure to continue to serve. I look forward to seeing you on this journey.
Natasha Belgrave
Marketing & PR
I am an experienced Internal Audit professional with an MBA and 10 + years of Risk, Internal Audit and Internal Controls experience. I recently joined a global media, marketing, PR & Branding organisation, having previously worked for 11 years for a media and entertainment business. Having worked extensively with global teams through complex business landscapes, while driving risk and business process improvement results, I joined Ujamaa UK as it is about seeing our community prosper and the belief that “I am because we are”.
Tessa Howell
Compliance & Membership
Greetings, My name is Tessa and I will start my introduction with an
inspirational quote. “Whenever you think you are too small to make a difference, try falling asleep with a mosquito buzzing in the room. It’s impossible”. No matter how small you are, you can make a big impact to things greater than yourself. For me the ‘Ujamaa UK Collective’ is more than a group of like-minded individuals who share a novel idea. We recognise there is power in re-learning our connection to each other and our interdependence. “When our community benefits, we all benefit”. Over the last 25 years I have worked exclusively within the legal sector in the courts doing both civil and criminal litigation. We are the gatekeepers of the next generation in our community. Individually, we are limited in the legacy we can leave, but together we have power and can utilise our combined skills and resources to make a real tangible difference to our community. In my role to develop the membership for Ujamaa I want to engage as many people as possible within our community to actively join with us to bring about the change we need to see.
