After graduation, Babarinde won a place on the social enterprise fellowship Year Here.[4] During this time he volunteered as a youth worker in East London, working with young people to find an alternative path to crime and gang violence. Inspired by this experience he founded Cracked It, a social enterprise offering smart phone repair services provided by youth at risk and young ex-offenders.[5][6] Cracked It was the recipient of Social Enterprise of the Year awards by both the Centre for Social Justice[7] and the Evening Standard.[8]
Babarinde has won numerous accolades for his social entrepreneurship achievements, including a Shackleton Award[9] and a Winston Churchill Fellowship.[10] In 2019, he was named in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list of social entrepreneurs.[11] Babarinde went on to work as Head of Learning and Innovation at the School for Social Entrepreneurs in 2020. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2020 Birthday Honours for his services to criminal justice, social enterprise and the economy.[12]
In 2022, Babarinde contributed a chapter to The Battle for Liberal Britain, a book edited by Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, in which he proposed to re-envision council estates as business incubators.[19]
Babarinde stood for Parliament in the 2024 general election in his hometown of Eastbourne, aiming to unseat Conservative MP Caroline Ansell, who had been one of his school teachers.[20] He was elected with a majority of over 12,000.[21] In September 2024, Babarinde was selected as the Liberal Democrats' parliamentary spokesperson for Justice.[22][23]
