Who Is She?

Victoria Nyanga-Ndiaye is a Black British woman with diverse identities (Zimbabwean born (Southern Africa), Senegalese by marriage (West Africa). She has always been keen to explore and address the complex legacies of colonisation and enslavement, fostering a deeper understanding of historical injustices and their enduring impact on race relations in contemporary society.

Her family has direct lived experiences the complexities of migration in the UK. Some of her family migrated to European lands to study in the early 1970s when the environment was more hostile towards migrants than what is observed presently. She is the founder of Project Esperanza, a migrant support charity based in Edinburgh. There she has successfully led the organisation using the diverse experience and skills that she has acquired over twenty plus years around migration and systemic racism. The organisation has afforded her a unique insight that enables her to offer and unparalleled perspective on the migrant experience in Scotland as she and her team deal with issues migrants face on a daily basis under the current climate.

She has proven leadership skills that have been demonstrated by her ability to take her own initiative, make informed decisions and drive projects to successful outcomes. Over time, she has managed to create great relationships with several organisations in Edinburgh, and has demonstrated the importance of working with integrity and building trusting supportive relationships across partnerships to achieve transformative change.

Victoria is a womanist theologian. Her educational background not only underscores her commitment to driving transformational change, but also equips her with analytical and strategic thinking. She is a strong professional with a demonstrated record of working in non-profit organisation, development and management.

As a seasoned writer and poet her work focuses on the Black Experience and explores African women’s issues. She uses her poetry writing craft as an empowerment and wellbeing tool, as well as a therapeutic outlet to express, unpack, build emotional resilience and release trauma through workshops with women in her community. Her practice has evolved over almost two decades and she uses her creativity to positively impact women, and to lead and inspire change. She loves to lead creatively. – that is why the development of safe and creative healing spaces for migrant communities is of utmost importance to her and why she emphasises on creative and artistic approaches to integration, well being, therapy and belonging. She draws from many places for inspiration; firstly from her own upbringing where there is a strong presence of resilient women, secondly from the matriarchal communities in Africa that were before colonisation and slavery – they inspire her sense of pride as a Black and African woman; thirdly from the lived experiences of the women around her within her work context.

Her recognition as a poet came as a direct result of the unprecedented success of her poem ‘Unpolished and Black’. Her work appeared in PENning Magazine in 2016 and in the Scottish PEN anthology to mark their 90th anniversary celebration in 2017. She has been invited to read ‘Unpolished and Black’ at the Edinburgh Book Festival severally and at Solas Festival also in 2017. She is always humbled that her work has been published alongside the work of some leading names from Scotland’s literary community.

She is dedicated to exploring and dissecting historical narratives, confronting the nuanced historical narratives, acknowledging the role institutions may have played in perpetuating systemic inequalities and amplifying voices that have been historically marginalised, as well as transforming historical awareness into actionable change. She has been involved in public exhibitions that confront race based narratives. In the beginning of 2023 her organisation worked with a well known artist, creating a quilt for public exhibition as part of a wider exhibition that was exploring racism, police brutality and anti-blackness; and addressing the harm caused by colonialism and the TransAtlantic Slave Trade. The exhibition sat at the National galleries of Scotland Modern One Gallery for one year in 2023.

She has contributed some of her own insights and knowledge through researching and writing for other public exhibitions about racism in Scotland’s Schools and has lended her expertise to projects that create funds for communities experiencing poverty and racism. Through working this way, she hopes to help foster an environment of open discourse, encouraging conversations that pursue historical truth, bridge historical divides through actionable steps; and promote justice and reconciliation that will bring individual and community healing. The Edinburgh community, in Scotland, also benefits from her unique perspective and experience in her capacity as an anti-racist educator and cultural competence educator who imparts knowledge to organisations seeking to foster an inclusive work culture and environment mainly through offering Critical Friendships.

As someone who is well travelled, she also holds international perspectives on community and culture and has acquired insights and knowledge that feed into, as well as compliment her practical experience in the local community, therefore she evidently has the ability to adapt to a wide range of challenges and contexts in her capacity as a community facilitator. A keen advocate for historical transparency and a catalyst for dialogue surrounding uncomfortable truths, who enjoys formulating recommendations that resonate with diverse communities, shape societal attitudes, policies, and foster a collective commitment to truth, justice, inclusion and equity.

Victoria is also an experienced panellist, mentor, mental health first aider and she also enjoys volunteering and travelling. She is a military wife who lives between Scotland where she works and raises her three daughters with her husband and Senegal where she empowers African artisans through her social enterprise Machuma Tribal Arts and Crafts.

She is passionate about wellbeing, rest and driving change creatively.

Connect and Collaborate.