Providing equity, diversity and inclusion policy and training advice, including conducting equality impact assessments (EIAs), to human resources projects.

Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) is my passion as well as my job. Clichéd as it sounds, EDI work is a journey, which some organisations are further along than others. Having worked in both policy and research roles my aim is always to take an evidence-based approach to EDI and implement tailored, proactive initiatives which turn theory into action, and ultimately progress the journey.Over the last 14 years I have worked internally as an EDI adviser and at a national level, advising organisations on: - drafting and implementing equality schemes- collecting and analysing staff equality data- developing and delivering EDI training, including unconscious bias training- applying for equality charter marks- implementing equality impact assessment processes and supporting staff in undertaking them - advising on equality legislation- stakeholder engagement and ensuring relevant people are heard and involved in EDI initiativesFull details of my previous work experience and key achievements can be found in the relevant sections below.How I can helpPlease feel free to message me to discuss any EDI needs you have; if I don’t feel that I am qualified to help you, I will do my best to direct you to someone that can.Examples of work I can deliver are:- Unconscious bias training and workshops: these can be tailored to your specific needs or I can deliver standard packages- Equality, diversity and inclusion advice: this can range from helping to draft an EDI strategy to advising on how to collect equality monitoring information. - Equality, diversity and inclusion training and workshops: this can include introduction to EDI workshops and equality impact assessment training.Higher Education specific- General charter mark support, including data analysis and interpretation and developing actions - Facilitating self-assessment team meetings- Athena SWAN and Race Equality Charter application proof-reading and feedback

Acting as interim Head of EDI for six months to manage the EDI team, including restructuring and increasing the size of the team, sitting on relevant committees and the Human Resources Senior Management Team, and working with stakeholders across the institution to advance EDI.

Short-term contract supporting UCL with general equality, diversity and inclusion work and specifically supporting the School of Life and Medical Sciences. Whilst in the role I:- Worked with colleagues to review the efficiency of a faculty EDI committee, re-drafting objectives and aligning their work to the central EDI strategy- Conducted research with PhD students and wrote a report and recommendations on how their experiences could be enhanced - facilitated a Town Hall discussion with the Provost and senior leaders on how to improve career progression for all staff.

Managing the Race Equality Charter (REC) and working on Athena SWAN. REC is a national charter mark which aims to improve the representation, progression and success of minority ethnic staff and students in UK higher education. Key Achievements:The development and launch of REC:- ensuring stakeholder engagement through two full consultation phases and an expert advisory group- encouraging universities to get involved by highlighting the business benefits. Within two years of its launch, REC now has 48 university members and 10 Bronze award holders.- managing a team to ensure advice was provided to REC members, queries were responded to quickly and fully, and there were regular support events for REC members - Coordinated the development of a two-day race equality training package, involving academic and training experts, which has had overwhelming demand, leading to long waiting lists for places and excellent feedback from delegates.Assessing REC and Athena SWAN applications- Moderating assessment panels: ensuring consistency in decision-making, providing training and guidance to assessment panellists and supporting the panel Chair- Quality assuring feedback from assessment panels to ensure the content was accurate and reflective of the discussions that took place and the decisions that were made- providing feedback surgeries to unsuccessful applicants. This was one of the harder aspects of the role, as applicants had worked hard on their application and were disappointed by the outcome. My aim was always to ensure applicants understood why they had been unsuccessful, but were also clear about how to move forward and re-built the momentum and enthusiasm of their self-assessment team.

As a Senior Policy Adviser I was responsible for providing evidence-based policy advice on equality, diversity and inclusion. This included commissioning and conducting research, writing guidance documents, providing detailed advice to specific queries by phone and email, presenting on key EDI issues, and responding to government consultations.In addition, I worked on specific projects:Unconscious bias trainingIn response to feedback from the sector, it was clear that universities wanted to implement unconscious bias training, but many were unsure how to proceed and/or did not have the resource available to proceed. - I commissioned a literature review on unconscious bias to understand the psychological research on unconscious bias in recruitment and in higher education, which provided an evidence-base for training- I developed and delivered a train the trainer unconscious bias package for universities to adapt and tailor to their needs. I trained over 120 delegates and the materials were one of our organisation's biggest downloadsResearch- I commissioned and managed research into minority ethnic academic flight from UK higher education. The research has been widely disseminated and provided an evidence base for the launch of the Race Equality Charter- I conducted and published research on the experiences of international staff in higher education, providing detailed policy ideas for better supporting this group of staff- I conducted research and published guidance on EDI issues related to 'atypical staff' in higher education I represented ECU at regional EDI networks, and external networks (for example at the Royal Society, General Medical Council and Cabinet Office) providing updates on policy and legislation, and sharing good practice.I supported the Higher Education Race Action Group (HERAG), working with the Chair and Vice-Chair to expand the network, establish a specific mailing list and events.

Tendering and managing research projects exploring equality and diversity issues within further and higher education. Projects included:- The experiences of Black and minoirty ethnic staff in further education in England for Lifelong Learning UK (LLUK)- A review of educational provision for post-16 learners with special educational needs for a local authority- A review of equality and diversity data and analysis for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Developing and implementing equality and diversity policies within the organisation and providing relevant training, advice and support.

Supporting policy development in the School's Directorate

Supporting work based routes into teaching including the Graduate Teacher Programme.