When Nigerian-born Victor Okonyia moved from Cape Town to Manchester in 2021, he noticed something important was missing. While Amazon’s Black Employee Network (BEN) thrived in London, employees in Britain’s second-largest city had to travel to London to participate in events and activities.
So, Victor decided to do something about it.
Now, as founder and leader of BEN Manchester, Victor is celebrating the city’s Black community as part of Amazon’s second annual ‘Black History is Me’ campaign – a striking photography initiative highlighting the unique journeys of six Black Amazon employees across the UK.
“I noticed there were so many African and Caribbean Amazon employees here in Manchester,” Victor explained. “It’s the second largest city in England, so I thought why can’t we start something here?”
Victor works as a Technical Account Manager at Amazon Web Services (AWS) in Manchester, based in Ashton. He originally joined Amazon in Cape Town, South Africa as a Cloud Support Engineer before requesting a transfer to the UK to pursue his current role.
When given the choice between offices, Victor specifically requested Manchester over London. “I read up on the weather and the place – it feels and looks similar to my experience in Cape Town, somewhere cool and tourist-friendly,” he said. “I love Manchester, and I really wanted to move here.”
Shortly after arriving, Victor reached out to BEN’s national leadership with his idea for a Manchester chapter. “They said they had been considering it for a while but just didn’t know if they had anyone willing to take on the responsibility,” he recalled.
The impact of Victor’s work with BEN has already been significant. Over the summer, Victor organised a career insight event with Manchester University ACS (African Caribbean Society), where the BEN Manchester team reviewed students’ CVs and provided guidance on applying for internships across Amazon’s various divisions, including retail, Prime Video and AWS.
“The careers event we hosted was a memorable one,” Victor said. “I was proud of the level of support we had. I never anticipated there would be so many young people interested in speaking with us. We were able to give advice on Amazon processes, chat to the young people about what their careers could look like – it was honestly amazing.”
Looking ahead, Victor has ambitious plans for BEN Manchester’s role in the local community.
“I’d like to have more of a student focus,” he said. “We have the opportunity to contribute more to the local community in Manchester. I want to use the platform of BEN to get more involved with charities in the area, especially students and teenagers. I want to get young black people more interested in corporate roles, to get them thinking about their potential futures at a company like Amazon.”
Victor’s passion for youth engagement comes from his own experience of how exposure can transform career trajectories. Originally studying physics, he became interested in computing through an internship and went on to work as a network engineer in major financial institutions across Africa before arriving at Amazon.
“I only ended up in IT because of exposure – it has the potential to change what you think about things,” he said. “I think it’s important to give that to the next generation. Wherever you find yourself, you should make an impact. Make a positive impact and help your community to grow.”
Victor emphasises that BEN Manchester’s mission extends far beyond October’s Black History Month celebrations.
“Even though we have designated months to celebrate, that’s not because it’s the only time you have to identify yourself,” he said. “It’s just a way to come together and do more planning.”
For Victor, Black History Month serves a broader purpose of building understanding across all communities. “Black History Month is for everybody – for us to understand what inclusivity is about, to help us work and live together, and respect each other. You don’t have to be Black – you can be an ally too.”
As part of this year’s ‘Black History is Me 2.0’ campaign – which follows last year’s documentary, behind-the-scenes film, and original song – Victor represents Manchester’s growing Black community at Amazon and the power of local leadership to create meaningful change.
From Cape Town to Manchester, Victor’s journey demonstrates how one person’s initiative can build community, create opportunities, and inspire the next generation – one career insight event at a time.
BEN UK is an employee-led group at Amazon open to Black employees and allies. BEN’s mission is to recruit, retain, and empower Black employees across the business. Through BEN, employees have access to resources, networking opportunities and engaging initiatives to support their personal and professional growth.
Amazon has 13 employee-led groups which play an important role in bringing Amazon employees together and creating a sense of community globally while encouraging inclusivity and diversity. These groups include BEN, Glamazon, Asians at Amazon, People with Disabilities and Women at Amazon.
