I am a values-led Diversity, Equity and Inclusion leader with over 20 years’ experience creating inclusive cultures across the not-for-profit and rail sectors.
I believe inclusion is fundamentally about people. My goal has never been simply to raise awareness of diversity and inclusion, but to create environments where people feel safe to be themselves, confident that their voice matters and supported to thrive.
As Diversity & Inclusion Manager at TransPennine Express, I have worked to embed inclusion into everyday culture, leadership and decision-making across a complex, safety-critical organisation. In a relatively short period, I have helped drive significant cultural change by combining strategic leadership with practical action, ensuring inclusion is experienced by colleagues rather than simply talked about.
My work has focused on amplifying colleague voice, strengthening psychological safety and creating opportunities for people to influence the decisions that affect them. By spending time with colleagues across depots, stations, offices and operational locations, I have sought to ensure that inclusion reaches every part of the business and reflects the realities of frontline colleagues as well as office-based teams.
I have led and supported a wide range of initiatives including the development of colleague networks, neurodiversity programmes, inclusive leadership development, allyship programmes, accessibility improvements and awareness campaigns across multiple diversity strands. A key area of focus has been neurodiversity, where I have worked with colleagues, leaders and external partners to create practical resources, leadership capability and psychologically safe environments that support neurodivergent colleagues to thrive.
Throughout this work I have been committed to using lived experience and storytelling to build understanding, trust and empathy. By creating opportunities for colleagues to share their experiences, often for the first time, we have helped foster stronger connections, challenge assumptions and encourage more open and constructive conversations across the organisation.
Alongside my organisational work, I am passionate about collaboration and industry-wide progress. I have worked closely with rail industry partners, professional networks and community organisations to share learning, promote best practice and support wider inclusion ambitions beyond my own organisation.
What I am most proud of is not any individual project, award or initiative, but the impact on people. Colleagues have told me that they feel safer speaking up, more confident being themselves and more able to contribute because of the culture we have helped build together. For me, that is what meaningful inclusion looks like.
My success is not measured by the number of initiatives delivered, but by the extent to which colleagues feel able to be themselves, know that their voice matters and believe they belong
I firmly believe that diverse organisations perform better when everyone feels valued, respected and able to contribute. My role has always been about helping create those conditions and enabling others to succeed.
