BELFAST INSIDER
Full disclosure: Belfast Insider is a media partner for MRANI Fest 2026.
MRANI Fest, Belfast 2026
MRANI is trying something new this Black History Month.
On Saturday 10 October, the organisation behind the Minorities Recognition Awards NI will hold its first-ever Heritage & Innovation Fest at Riddel Hall, Queen's University Belfast, with more than 150 people expected in the room.
The idea is to put heritage, technology and business together, while helping people building businesses and careers here find their way into Northern Ireland's networks and support ecosystem.
MRANI founder Diane Davis puts it rather neatly:
“Talent doesn't need permission to exist, only a way in.”
That idea runs through the programme.
One panel will get into the increasingly tricky question of AI automation versus cultural intelligence. Another tackles something that might be even more immediately useful: how do you navigate Northern Ireland's business-support ecosystem when you're an outsider?
There'll also be keynotes, workshops, a community exhibition, business networking, dance and fashion showcases.
Eileen Chan-Hu, founder and CEO of cross-cultural social enterprise CRAIC NI, will MC the day.
The people are still the bit that caught our attention, though.
So here's who you'll find in the room.
Thana Thammavongsa
Photo credit: Linkedin/Thana Thammavongsa
If you've ever wondered how a kitchen becomes a brand.
Thana Thammavongsa founded Whoosh in Coleraine as an event catering business in 2008, opened its street food kitchen in 2013 and moved into food manufacturing in 2022 with instant Thai and Vietnamese rice noodles.
Her products are now sold by independent retailers and by Selfridges, Aldi and Lidl, and she's a 2026 finalist for Consumer Entrepreneur of the Year at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards.
We want to hear what happened between the first kitchen and the noodle aisle.
Jonathan Emmanuel
If job hunting frustrates you.
Jonathan Emmanuel, founder and CTO of Prelink, is building an AI career network that goes beyond job listings and keyword matching.
It works out what you've done and where you want to go, then helps you find roles, strengthen applications and prepare for interviews.
He comes from site reliability engineering and now leads product, engineering, infrastructure and AI, so he's used to fixing things that are broken.
Job hunting qualifies.
Namita Kotresh
Photo credit: Linkedin/Namita Kotresh
If you've got a day job and a Big Idea.
Namita Kotresh is an Assistant Manager at EY, specialising in data, analytics and Power BI, and she's the founder of NAMITA, a science-led beauty and self-care brand.
Half of Belfast has a version of that: the career by day and the idea quietly growing in the evenings.
The useful bit isn't that she does both. It's how she makes both work.
Professor Raghu Raj Singh Thakur
Photo credit: Linkedin/Raghu Raj Singh Thakur
If you like knowing where a discovery goes next.
Professor Raj Singh Thakur is one of the keynote speakers.
He's Chair of Pharmaceutics at Queen's and founder and CTO of Re-Vana Therapeutics, with a focus on long-acting treatments for chronic eye conditions.
After more than 20 years in research, he has more than 200 peer-reviewed publications and books and multiple patents.
But the number we're interested in is one: how does one piece of university research become something that could improve a patient's life?
Nelson Okpalachukwu
If you run a business and you're tired of AI hype.
Nelson Okpalachukwu works at Liberty Mutual across data, AI and commercial insurance, building products to help solve complex business problems.
He has also led and co-founded startups in fintech and insurtech, and holds an MBA from Ulster University.
The question we'll be listening for is what a Northern Ireland business can actually do with AI today that it couldn't realistically do three years ago.
Dr Federica Ferrieri
Dr Federica Ferrieri is Civic Engagement Officer at Queen's University Belfast, with work spanning local integration, cultural education and social inclusion.
Her inclusion brings another side to the day. Not everything being discussed is about starting companies, raising money or building technology. There's also the question of how communities connect, integrate and learn from each other.
Dr Federica Ferrieri is Civic Engagement Officer at Queen's University Belfast, with work spanning local integration, cultural education and social inclusion.
Her inclusion also brings another side to the Summit.
Not everything being discussed is about starting companies, raising money or building technology. There's also the question of how people arriving with different cultures and experiences actually become part of the place they're building those lives and businesses in.
So, what does heritage have to do with any of this?
It's a big mix, and that's deliberate.
Heritage is easy to spot in a Thai and Vietnamese food company. It's harder to find in an AI career platform or a pharmaceutical technology, and that's the tension the day is built around.
Does where you come from change what you build?
We'll let the room answer that one.
And we'll tell you what we heard in the 15 October edition.
Six days after the Summit, the same organisers head to Titanic Belfast for the MRANI Awards 2026, celebrating excellence among minority businesses and professionals across Northern Ireland.
📢MRANI Fest 2026: Heritage & Innovation Summit
📅 Saturday 10 October 2026 | 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
📍QUB Business School, Riddel Hall
185 Stranmillis Road, Belfast BT9 5EE
🎟️Admission: £5 donation on registration