I have a passion for driving organisational change and fostering inclusive workplaces. This passion for inclusion and social justice stems from my own lived experience and observations that have fuelled my drive to lead in creating fairness and equity within the workplace and society. During my time working in roles outside of DE&I, I still fuelled this passion by being an active member of employee resource groups (ERGs) and becoming the Deputy Chair of the Enrich (Race and cultural heritage) DE&I Employee Network. I have consistently aimed to support people by developing and executing strategies that lead to meaningful transformations within businesses and teams.
My work covers both strategy and delivery of initiatives. By engaging in cross-functional collaboration I am driven to influence stakeholders across HR, leadership, employee networks, and other departments. Through purposeful initiatives like reverse mentoring and coaching which encourages both bottom up and top down mindset and organisational change. I lead in fostering a culture of inclusion and belonging, by embedding DE&I into daily practices and organisational culture through the introduction of Equity Sequence learning which has provided frameworks in decision making, partnering and planning within departments across the business.
I also believe in the value of learning. Partnering with Purple Tuesday and Psalt has enabled giffgaff to benefit from expert knowledge around disability and overall workplace inclusion. Supporting the Hatch partnership also allowed giffgaff to create a societal impact by recruiting software engineers with minimal experience – breaking barriers into tech and fostering greater diversity, equity, and inclusion within the business. Similarly, supporting the ESG (environmental social and governance) team with the Big Issue Partnership has resulted in greater digital inclusion and access for the Big Issue and resulted in a nomination for \’Best Equality and Inclusion Cause Campaign\’ in the PRWeek Purpose Awards.
Outside of work, I am committed to developing myself to be the most effective for the people I support in the workplace. This includes formal learning such as embarking on my CIPD Level 5 qualification. It also includes developing my skills as a coach through the Mastering Your Power Coaching Course and developing my skills in wellbeing support through becoming a Mental Health First Aider. More recently, I have committed to giving back to the community and contributing to important societal initiatives by being selected to volunteer as a delegate to the United Nations Women UK Commission on the Status of Women where I contributed to discussions and learned about how to drive change in the economic inclusion of women. In addition, I volunteer as the Grants, Fundraising and Partnership Lead at U-Touch, a digital inclusion charity aiming to positively impact families and communities by providing technology, tools and training to advance education and economic empowerment in disadvantaged regions in Uganda. The work that U-Touch does has created over 5,000 jobs and supported 10,000 and I am proud to contribute to their impact. This work improves the social standing of those who are disadvantaged through skills and opportunities.
There is still more to do on my journey in DE&I but my experience so far has shown my commitment to driving diversity, equity, and inclusion within the workplace and society through a strategic approach, collaboration and empowerment. My hope for the future is to continue making a positive impact on both individuals and businesses throughout my career.
