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Entrepreneur Launches Initiative To Support 1,000 Under-represented Founders at AO Arena Business Event

An entrepreneur, speaker coach and founder of The Big Festoon, the UK’s fastest growing business and personal development event, has announced an initiative that’s challenging the way businesses approach inclusion, as she sets to take her event to the AO Arena this March, with a goal of enabling 1000 individuals from marginalised communities to attend for free.

Dani Wallace, 42, from Preston, who has grown her event from 40 people in a bar in Manchester to hosting it at the AO Arena, having now grown a £1million business, knows what it’s like to be on the outside, having overcome domestic abuse, homelessness, and gigging in pubs and clubs to put food on the table for her 3 kids.

Now, as she prepares to bring entrepreneurs and activists together on the biggest stage of her life at The Big Festoon, on 11th and 12th March; to help inspire, support and celebrate other business owners from all backgrounds, she’s launching a new initiative - The Festoon 500 and Festoon Futures Initiative.

This comes as she actively sought new ways to bring more underrepresented voices into the room, and has created a new model for inclusion which creates access-all-areas proximity to leading business greats and social activists, whilst partnering with trusted community organisations.

The Big Festoon is not your typical business event. It explores topics from mental health to marketing, from wellbeing to wealth creation, from lead generation to overcoming generational trauma and Dani believes the more diverse the people in the room, the richer the learnings and conversations. With the Festoon 500, Dani, who has been recognised in the National Diversity Awards as a Changemaker and by Attitude Magazine for the work she does as an active LGBTQIA+ ally, is bringing together 500 values-led leaders to create a founding power network, whilst funding 1,000 sponsored seats for underrepresented and structurally excluded entrepreneurs through the Festoon Futures Initiative.

On offer to the 500 founders are tickets to The Big Festoon; quarterly networking opportunities for them to come together as each other’s supporters, along with money can’t buy access to a network of best and brightest business leaders to help them learn, grow and develop throughout 2026 and beyond. Already pop sensation and record label owner Natasha Hamilton, AI and media mogul Chris Kenna, and global 7 figure business strategists Lisa Johnson, Shaa Wasmund MBE, and Dan Meredith have signed up to be a part of it, alongside support from the founders of Go Henry!, Dr Paw Paw and Mazuma Money. Global marketing big hitters High Level already sponsor the event.

Dani said: “The Big Festoon is known for its commitment to diversity and inclusion, for creating a safe space for people from a huge variety of backgrounds to learn and grow, and it’s a place where conversations that matter take place. People from hugely different lived experiences share their views and learnings and come together to support one another. This is something I am hugely proud of because this is not the norm at the majority of business events - but I was growing frustrated that still too few of the people I truly want to help were making it into the room. I want to ensure the room reflects the diversity and talent of the real entrepreneurial landscape—not just those who traditionally have access. I already open up my stage and tickets to people from underrepresented groups in several ways, but I can’t achieve the impact I want alone. At the same time, I’m hearing from many business owners that they want to do better when it comes to inclusivity - but they don’t know where to start. This is where to start. The Festoon Futures Initiative helps transform inclusion from aspiration into action.” 

"This isn't a VIP club or a donation drive, “she continued. "Festoon Futures operates on a principle of solidarity, not charity. Sponsored seats are allocated through trusted grassroots and business-support organisations across Manchester, the North West, and select national partners, ensuring access reaches founders and entrepreneurs who face structural barriers to entry.”

Partners include The Rio Ferdinand Foundation, alongside other recognised community partners including Oasis Hub MediaCityUK, Manchester Community Central, Lancashire Women, Hope Prevails, Patchwork Hub, Curious Entrepreneurs, and The Big Wishworks, to name just a few.

Additional partners include specialist organisations and networks focused on accessibility, inclusion, and underrepresented founders — such as Rainbow WISE and Le'Karev Jewish Business Network — alongside the wider partner ecosystem supporting the Festoon 500 initiative.

"These partnerships ensure sponsored seats reach the right people—genuine founders and business owners who face structural barriers," Dani said. "We're working with organisations that understand their communities and can responsibly allocate access to those who will genuinely benefit."

Dani first built her community through Facebook Lives filmed in her car. In 2020, during lockdown, she raised over £16,000 for Women's Aid and Gallop with a celebrity live stream that included the likes of Dame Kelly Holmes, Jenny Powell, Dr Ranj, Alice Liveing, and Tessa Sanderson. 

"Rooms change outcomes," Wallace emphasised. "Having access to learn from people you wouldn’t usually get to meet can be a game changer. This has been true for me as I’ve gone from gigging around the pubs and clubs in Preston to hosting thousands of people on the very stage that has featured Lizzo, Taylor Swift, and Peter Kay. I’ve had help from incredible people with incredible minds to get me here, and I want to take others forward with me. I’m working to build a space where ALL are welcome, without barriers—all backgrounds, all communities, all people—to bring lived experiences together and learn from each other on how to build success in life and business."

The Festoon 500 founding circle is open now, with a target of 500 members to fund 1,000 sponsored seats. Dani is calling on leaders, founders, business owners, and allies who believe that access should be structural, not sentimental, and who want to be part of building a legacy that prioritises representation, solidarity, and collaboration.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Chocolate PR .