Diversity & Inclusion

The Beautiful Contradiction of DEI

Many organisations display that quote on glossy slides while treating diversity, equity and inclusion as a box to tick or a photo-op. Yet the data tell a different story. McKinsey and LeanIn’s Women in the Workplace reports show that women hold about 29 % of C-suite roles, up from 17 % in 2015, but for every 100 men promoted to manager only 81 women advance and far fewer Black women.

McKinsey also finds that 80 % of the gender pay gap stems from unequal opportunity, not base pay. Metrics intended to prove progress often hide the truth. Power remains largely unshifted, leaving the bottom of the pipeline diverse and the top white, bright  and male.

Author and strategist Lily Zheng, in DEI Deconstructed, calls this the “DEI Industrial Complex.” Trainings and…

Inclusion Is Not a Buzzword. It Is A Blueprint For Justice.

Five generations. One workplace. But not one experience.

When we centre Black and minority ethnic (BAME) professionals, we don’t just uncover disparities, we reveal the architecture of exclusion. From Windrush pioneers to Gen Z changemakers, the workplace has never been neutral. It’s a battleground for access, identity and belonging.

The McGregor-Smith Review and McKinsey’s data show the cost of exclusion isn’t just emotional, it’s economic. £24 billion lost annually and BBP women face the steepest climb of all.

Now, with DEI under attack, from executive orders to corporate rollbacks, the question isn’t “what’s next?” It’s “who gets left behind?”

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Reverse?

A Look at the Impact of Political Shifts on Gender and Racial Equity in the US and Beyond

The shift in US policy under the Trump administration has reverberated across the Atlantic, influencing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts not only in the US but also in the UK and Europe. As we witness a troubling slowdown in gender diversity, particularly in corporate boardrooms, we must ask, are we moving forward or backward in our fight for true equality?

In the US, recent data shows a stark decline in women’s representation in senior roles. In 2024, women accounted for just 37% of new board appointments at S&P 500 companies, a drop from 41% the year before. This marks a reversal of the gains made during the early years of Trump’s first term. For Black women and women of colour (WOC), these setbacks are compounded…