Ife Obasa is an educational consultant, activist and sought-after speaker who advocates for greater representation in education - among many other strings to her bow. Ife spoke at the 2023 Rethinking Education conference about why we need representation in education more than ever - a topic that we discuss in some detail in this episode. Ife’s work centres around mentoring and empowering young people to make their voices heard and to get involved in shaping the decision-making processes that affect their lives. She also advises organisations looking to better attract and retain young talent as well as investing in and across the education space. Previously Ife was an Inter-Religious Commonwealth Youth Ambassador for the Commonwealth Jewish Council and a Council Member for The British Youth Council. In addition, Ife is a Fourth Year Law Student at the University of Southampton. She is an aspiring solicitor with first-hand corporate legal experience and is extremely passionate about helping the next generation of aspiring lawyers. In 2022, Powerlist Magazine recognised Ife as one of 150 Future Leaders of African/African-Caribbean Descent in the United Kingdom. In this conversation, we start out talking about work experience - a really important topic that doesn’t receive the attention it deserves. We then move on to discuss the importance of representation in education - what it means in theory, what it looks like in practice and how we might achieve it. And then toward the end of the conversation we discuss the role of faith in Ife’s life and work. This is new territory for the Rethinking Ed podcast, and I found this part of the conversation particularly enjoyable. So be sure to listen to the end! LINKS Give us a 5 star review: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/rethinking-education/id1546512828 Sign up for the Rethinking Ed Round-up: rethinkinged.beehiiv.com Ife's website - https://ifeonetwork.com/ DON'T BE A STRANGER The Rethinking Education podcast is hosted and produced by Dr James Mannion. You can contact him at rethinking-ed.org/contact SUPPORT THE RETHINKING ED PODCAST: Become a patron: patreon.com/repod Buy James a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/repod