From Refugee to Black British Business Award Finalist - Yacouba Traore at Sage

Yacouba Traore second from left.

“A lot of people have helped me get to where I am today,” says Yacouba Traore, a Cloud Operations Incident Manager based in Newcastle. “The support of my foster parents, my adopted grandma Mary Frankland, my interpreter and beloved friend Phil Muriel and Sage has been unbelievable and made me into someone I am proud of.”

Yacouba joined Sage on a graduate scheme in 2019 and has quickly worked his way up to his current position, culminating in a Rising Star Award nomination at the 2022 Black British Business Awards. 

But that’s only half the story. Yacouba was born in Ivory Coast in West Africa and arrived in the UK alone and without a word of English, aged just 16, following the assassination of his political-activist parents.

We caught up with him to find out more about his story and how Sage has helped him along the way.

Overcoming culture shock

“Coming here at 16 was a massive life change,” explains Yacouba. “I arrived as an asylum seeker because of the civil war in my country. My foster parents took me in and supported me and helped me achieve what I have in my career.”

Yacouba spoke French, and two other African languages, Dioula and Baoule, when he arrived back in 2011. His foster parents helped him learn English through a combination of the French they remembered from school more than three decades before, and Google Translate. It was the life-changing effect this technology had on his life that made Yacouba choose to study Information Technology.

With encouragement from his foster parents, he enrolled in college to study GCSE English and a BTEC Extended Diploma in IT. He got the highest possible grades for his course. Next up was Teesside University where he studied for a BSc in Information Technology at the School of Computing & Digital Technologies. It was here that he came across Sage at a careers fair; he liked what he heard about what Sage had to offer and completed the simple online application process for the graduate scheme.

Embracing life at Sage

Despite challenges including the Covid pandemic which forced everyone to work from home just six months into his time as a Graduate Engineer, Yacouba completed the scheme and moved into an Associate Cloud Operations Engineer role. Less than 12 months later, he was promoted to his current position of Cloud Operations Incident Manager in August 2022, just three years after starting the graduate scheme.

He says the development opportunities offered by Sage have helped him to progress so quickly.

“Sage recognises how best to help you develop and grow. There is a fantastic development plan–the graduate scheme was good for that with regular reviews with your manager and team Members to help you get to where you want to be in future. That same support is still there even now I’m a manager. I have regular meetings with my own manager, and I know that they are always there for any help or support I need – that is our culture.”

And, alongside his day job, Yacouba is a Co-Lead of the UK&I Embrace Network together with Jennifer Latif, another Sage colleague. The Embrace Network is one of the Colleague Support Networks at Sage, devised to amplify diverse voices within the business, established in 2020 and growing steadily in membership.

“Embrace meets up every fortnight,” explains Yacouba. “It’s a place where our colleagues can come for help and support and know that their voices will be heard and listened to. Our aim is to support ethnically diverse colleagues and bring attention to the issue of race in the workplace. We hope to work with senior leaders to break down race related barriers and advocate an inclusive environment for all colleagues.”

“In October we set up a panel discussion for Black History Month which involved a mix of panelists including Ben Aung, our Global Race & Ethnicity Networks Sponsor. It was a chance to discuss how we continue to promote and support diversity and inclusion in Sage, but also recognise areas where changes were still needed. We came away with a great takeaway from the session, which is for Sage to become an employer of choice for Black and ethnic diverse colleagues. I look forward to working with the team on achieving this!”

Recognised at a national level

It was his work with the Embrace Network which encouraged his colleagues to nominate Yacouba for a Rising Star award at the Black British Business Awards in October. Yacouba says it was a night that will stay with him forever.

He tells us: “The Black British Business Awards is for the whole of the UK, so I was up against some amazing people who work very hard to increase focus on diversity and inclusion. Some have got their own businesses; some started at the bottom and have grown throughout their career.

“It was absolutely amazing and inspirational to see the drive and achievement of so many exceptional people. It inspired me a lot. I will never forget the night, listening to people’s stories gave me more determination to keep building, improving and moving forward in my own career.”

A culture of fairness 

To Yacouba, the CSNs are just one part of what makes the culture at Sage so special. 

He says: “I think it's the best culture and promotes fairness for all. For example, how we help communities via Sage foundation. Sage gives you five days a year where you can help a community project, whether that’s virtually or in real life, such as through a community centre. My Cloud Operations Team and I just helped with a beach clean in Whitley Bay, where we spent a whole Friday picking up litter and cleaning the beach. For me, it’s fantastic that Sage allows us to do that because I think it’s Important and vital to help the community and it makes you feel good to give something back, something very important.” 

Looking back on his career at Sage so far, Yacouba can see that, in terms of diversity, things have changed over a relatively short period, but there is still further to go.

“Even compared to last year, things have improved a lot,” he says. “Sage is already promoting diversity and inclusion, but we need to promote more diverse leadership and make sure colleagues feel they have a place to listen and be heard.

“I am so proud to work for a company that strongly promotes a culture of diversity and fairness for all. It’s important that people can knock down the barriers they’re facing, whether that’s a language barrier or something else. It really helps if the company gives you the support you need and the opportunities to achieve your goals. If the company can see you have a skill, determination, and passion they can help anyone to achieve their goals. Sage is a good example of a company like this.”

To find out more about working life at Sage visit VERCIDA profile.