Partner
Testimonials.
Grace Ladoja.
HOMECOMING™ was founded in 2017 in Lagos by Grace Ladoja as a festival of cultural exchange, a space created to spotlight Africa’s creative generation at home, while connecting them meaningfully to the wider diaspora and global cultural economy.
As the community around HOMECOMING™ has grown, so has our ambition. What began as a festival evolved into a multi-layered cultural platform operating across physical space, content, education, and global partnerships.
Partnering with AlphaTheta on Start From Scratch has been a natural extension of HOMECOMING™’s commitment to building real pathways into the creative industry. Fun fact, when I was 15 I went to a DJ workshop in London with Heartless Crew and that’s the reason I was able to work in music later in my career. I see the same here, what started as a workshop has quickly become a growing community, giving young people the tools, confidence and access to step into DJ culture on their own terms. It’s been incredibly rewarding to bring the workshops to Lagos, and by extension Africa, creating access, opportunities and the kind of infrastructure that’s often missing, but deeply needed.
Samantha Togni.
Boudica is a groundbreaking independent platform founded in 2019, dedicated to uplifting FLINTA* and LGBTQIA+ individuals in electronic music. Boudica includes a series of events across Europe, an annual music conference, a record label and a programme of educational workshops delivered throughout Europe in collaboration with AlphaTheta’s Start From Scratch initiative.
Since launching our first DJ workshop with Start From Scratch in 2022, we’ve seen how vital these spaces are for gender minorities and the LGBTQIA+ community in music. Start From Scratch brings practical knowledge in a financially accessible way to participants from across Europe, delivering pioneering workshops in cities that have often never hosted anything like this before.
Beyond introducing people to the art of DJing, the project focuses on building networks and creating supportive hubs at a time when connection and community are more important than ever, especially for underrepresented groups. One of the most powerful outcomes we witness after each workshop is the sense of empowerment participants leave with: new skills, confidence and a feeling of belonging within a growing community of artists and peers.
