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(she/her) Louise Lou is the co-CEO of Pride Outside CIC, an award winning social enterprise founded with her partner Ellis. Pride Outside’s mission is to create a world where all LGBTQ+ people are safe and well and they do this through their Learning and Wellbeing programmes. Pride Outside works with organisations internationally to provide specialist LGBTQ+ Inclusion training and consultancy and use their profits to fund their wellbeing programme, which has now helped over 2,000 LGBTQ+ people in Scotland. Lou is passionate about the power of community and nature for collective healing, after her own mental health recovery journey. Louise Beardsmore Looking for a Guest Speake r ? Get in touch Our Recent Articles... DEI Trends in 2025: Practitioner Wellbeing and Career Sustainability. UNLOCK | Queer Leadership 101 with Pius Kennedy Harnessing Queer Joy as an Act of Resistance. Create Space for Change. We work with 100+ Businesses, ERGs and Change-Leaders providing bespoke DEI solutions. Through consultancy we design shared learning experiences, produce insights and craft content that support individuals with strengthening their roles as change-agents within their communities and organisations. Discover our bespoke corporate solutions... Work with us

(she/her) Kim Kim is a transformative business and leadership coach, dedicated to supporting individuals and organizations with bold aspirations. With her guidance, her clients gain clarity on their purpose and values, enabling them to take authentic action in both their professional and personal lives. Kim works closely with her clients to help them showcase their true selves in their careers and empowers them to lead from a place that aligns with their values. Together, they break down external and internal barriers, resulting in more joy, momentum, and creative solutions that propel individuals and teams forward. Kim is deeply committed to building businesses, careers, and lives that uplift individuals and challenge patriarchal norms, both within and outside of corporate environments. Her expertise also extends to areas such as workplace allyship, intersectionality, mental health, well-being, body positivity, self-empowerment, culture change, community building, parenting, and sexual health. Kim Wunner Looking for a Guest Speake r ? Get in touch Our Recent Articles... DEI Trends in 2025: Practitioner Wellbeing and Career Sustainability. UNLOCK | Queer Leadership 101 with Pius Kennedy Harnessing Queer Joy as an Act of Resistance. Create Space for Change. We work with 100+ Businesses, ERGs and Change-Leaders providing bespoke DEI solutions. Through consultancy we design shared learning experiences, produce insights and craft content that support individuals with strengthening their roles as change-agents within their communities and organisations. Discover our bespoke corporate solutions... Work with us

Self Compassion Compassion involves allowing ourselves to be moved by suffering, and experiencing the motivation to help alleviate and prevent it. An act of compassion is typically defined by its helpfulness. Qualities of compassion are patience and wisdom; kindness and perseverance; warmth and resolve. Self-compassion on the other hand is extending compassion to one's self in instances of perceived inadequacy, failure, or general suffering. Research indicates that self-compassionate individuals experience greater psychological health than those who lack self-compassion. It is associated with a lower tendency for self-criticism, depression, anxiety, rumination, thought suppression, perfectionism, and disordered eating attitudes. It's worth noting that self-compassion is different than self-esteem; which is more of a subjective emotional evaluation of the self. < Back to Glossary

Sexuality 1. How a person experiences and expresses their sexual identity. 2. Referring to someone's sexual orientation i.e. the gender(s) they are attracted to. < Back to Glossary

Empathetic Witness Empathetic witnesses are people who value transformational relationships. It's not necessarily somebody who can change the other person's situation, but somebody that can mirror, validate, and accept that person's feelings and emotions. Through presence and understanding, they ensure the other person feels seen and heard. Having empathetic witnesses in our life can help us process our experiences and encourage us to continue moving forward through our low and high moments. < Back to Glossary

Attraction When we hear "attraction" we tend to think of romantic or sexual attraction, but there are many other types of attraction that we can feel. Sexual Attraction – Attraction, arousal and desire for sex, often caused by physical traits. Romantic Attraction – Emotional attraction and a desire to be romantically involved with someone, not inherently sexual. Alterous Attraction – Desire for emotional closeness. Aesthetic Attraction – Attracted to the appearance of a person, that is not inherently romantic or sexual. Sensual Attraction – A desire for physical contact short of actual sex. Emotional Attraction – Attraction to a person’s soul, personality, mind, dreams, and heart Intellectual Attraction – Attraction to a person’s intelligence See also: Sexuality, Orientation < Back to Glossary

(he/him) Ed Ed's passion for social justice was shaped by growing up in Northern Ireland during the height of the troubles. As a gay Catholic, he experienced first-hand the challenges of inequality, prejudice, and conflict, which drove his commitment to combat these issues. Ed is a cis, white, gay man who is married and has recently adopted his son Ashton. He is the founder and CEO of Inclusion Crowd and the founder of Inclusion Earth , an International Inclusion Think Tank. Ed's commercial background is in transformation and change, which he combines with his expertise in recruitment, hiring, and retention practices to drive authentic, practical, and radical ED&I performance across various sectors. Ed Jervis Looking for a Guest Speake r ? Get in touch Our Recent Articles... DEI Trends in 2025: Practitioner Wellbeing and Career Sustainability. UNLOCK | Queer Leadership 101 with Pius Kennedy Harnessing Queer Joy as an Act of Resistance. Create Space for Change. We work with 100+ Businesses, ERGs and Change-Leaders providing bespoke DEI solutions. Through consultancy we design shared learning experiences, produce insights and craft content that support individuals with strengthening their roles as change-agents within their communities and organisations. Discover our bespoke corporate solutions... Work with us

Bias A prejudice in favour of or against one thing, person, or group. Brains automatically make quick judgments and assessments. They are influenced by our background, personal experiences, societal stereotypes and cultural context. It's not just about gender, ethnicity and other visible diversity characteristics such as height, body weight, names, and many other things can also trigger unconscious bias. Unconscious bias can have a significant influence on our attitudes and behaviours, especially towards other people. It can influence key decisions in the workplace and can contribute to inequality, for example in selection and recruitment, appraisals, or promotion. Understanding unconcious bias is key to understanding the origins of discrimination and inequalities which marginalised people are victim of. < Back to Glossary

Mental Illness / Ill-Health Mental illness, also called mental health disorders, refers to a wide range of mental health conditions — disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behaviour. Examples of mental illness include depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders and addictive behaviours. < Back to Glossary

Surrogate A surrogate is a person who carries the pregnancy of another person or couple. This process usually includes a legal agreement between the surrogate and parent(s). Surrogacy is pursued by people and couples who are not able to carry their own children, such as AMAB couples or AFAB people experiencing fertility issues. < Back to Glossary

Burnout Burnout is a state of physical and emotional exhaustion. It can occur when you experience long-term stress in your job, or when you have worked in a physically or emotionally draining role for a long time. When we feel like we are burning out, it is important that we ask for help from the people around us, so we can protect our wellbeing. To avoid burnout, we must ensure that we set boundaries for ourselves, and acknowledge when we have reached capacity. < Back to Glossary

(she/her) Paula Paula spent over 15 years working within the HIV sector, setting up an HIV/AIDS support agency called Body & Soul for women, teenagers, children and families in 1994. She worked to raise awareness of those living with or closely affected by HIV/AIDS, collaborating with The Body Shop, Comic Relief, Children in Need and MTV to bring conversation around HIV into the mainstream. Paula is passionate about fighting misogyny and racism within the LGBTQ+ community. Paula Harrowing Looking for a Guest Speake r ? Get in touch Our Recent Articles... DEI Trends in 2025: Practitioner Wellbeing and Career Sustainability. UNLOCK | Queer Leadership 101 with Pius Kennedy Harnessing Queer Joy as an Act of Resistance. Create Space for Change. We work with 100+ Businesses, ERGs and Change-Leaders providing bespoke DEI solutions. Through consultancy we design shared learning experiences, produce insights and craft content that support individuals with strengthening their roles as change-agents within their communities and organisations. Discover our bespoke corporate solutions... Work with us

(he/they) Alex Alex is a trans non-binary person based in London. They currently work full-time for a homeless social care support charity. Before making a recent career change, Alex was previously a graduate trainee at a large consulting firm, working across Banking Risk consultancy, HR consultancy and Audit. He simultaneously worked with the firm’s LGBT-network, representing the firm at multiple LGBT recruitment events, and reviewed the firm’s policies regarding LGBT-inclusivity. Alex transitioned while at work, and learnt to juggle personal challenges and uncertainty, while maintaining workplace full-engagement. Alex Howell Looking for a Guest Speake r ? Get in touch Our Recent Articles... DEI Trends in 2025: Practitioner Wellbeing and Career Sustainability. UNLOCK | Queer Leadership 101 with Pius Kennedy Harnessing Queer Joy as an Act of Resistance. Create Space for Change. We work with 100+ Businesses, ERGs and Change-Leaders providing bespoke DEI solutions. Through consultancy we design shared learning experiences, produce insights and craft content that support individuals with strengthening their roles as change-agents within their communities and organisations. Discover our bespoke corporate solutions... Work with us

Well-being A complex combination of a person's physical, mental, emotional and social health factors. < Back to Glossary

Trigger In mental health terms, a trigger refers to something that affects your emotional state, often significantly, by causing extreme overwhelm or distress. A trigger affects your ability to remain present in the moment. It may bring up specific thought patterns or influence your behavior. < Back to Glossary

'Who am I?' is an LGBTQ+ Leadership Programme. Each virtual retreat explores your unique identity as a Queer Leader through a sequence of experiential and interactive workshops, carefully designed around tried and tested psychological and holistic practices. Who Am I ? Join a Leadership Retreat About the series Who Am I? SELF-LEADERSHIP PROGRAMMES FOR LGBTQ+ CHANGE MAKERS Join us (virtually) as we take you through a unique holistic process of self-enquiry and exploration. View dates and book Join mailing list Your safety About the programmes. Each ‘virtual retreat’ explores your unique identity through a sequence of experiential and trauma-informed workshops , carefully designed around tried and tested psychological and holistic practices . These transformative techniques elicit a deeper connection and greater understanding of ‘self’. Studies show that this work is most impactful with groups of individuals who have had similar or shared experiences. For this reason we have created three bespoke programmes, dates and teams, each dedicated to specific identity groups within the community: GBTQ, LBTQ and TQ+ . Please choose whichever programme resonates with you the most and download an invitation pack below for more information. GBTQ LBTQ TQ+ PROGRAMME STATISTICS Participants include senior execs from these highly regarded companies: President at UN Globe "This programme is essential to equip future leaders and shapers within our community." Diversity Manager at ENEI “Probably the best ten hours I’ve spent learning about myself.” Managing Editor at Channel 4 "A genuine mind-opening experience that has stuck with me ever since." Editor at BBC News "The most amazing thing about the programme - was realising how much I needed it." Senior Comms at Hyatt “Cathartic and empowering.” Associate Director at EY "I felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders." Anchor 1 Any questions? For more information or enquiries please don’t hesitate to get in touch . Otherwise use the booking links provided below. View dates and book Request more info Please note - we do welcome subsidy requests from those individuals who are not being funded by their organisations or networks.

(she/they) Ashley Ashley's research critiques how power, economics, and politics influence social change, while advocating for imagination and creativity as alternatives to neoliberal market logics. As a full-time professor of communications, Ashley is continuing to develop projects rooted in place-based pedagogy, urbanism, public intellectualism and equity. Her recent project, Home x Work, has been praised for its phenomenological originality. This project does not perceive the city as a blank campus upon which we can experiment, but rather, aims to use collaborative measures to dissect and render visible the various social and material flows that both (re)produce hegemonic power structures and dismantle them. Ashley Marshall Looking for a Guest Speake r ? Get in touch Our Recent Articles... DEI Trends in 2025: Practitioner Wellbeing and Career Sustainability. UNLOCK | Queer Leadership 101 with Pius Kennedy Harnessing Queer Joy as an Act of Resistance. Create Space for Change. We work with 100+ Businesses, ERGs and Change-Leaders providing bespoke DEI solutions. Through consultancy we design shared learning experiences, produce insights and craft content that support individuals with strengthening their roles as change-agents within their communities and organisations. Discover our bespoke corporate solutions... Work with us

(they/them) Chris Chris is a trans neurodivergent Accredited Psychotherapist, Advanced Accredited GSRD Therapist, and DEI consultant. As the Founder and Managing Director of The Queer Therapist , a UK-based online therapy service, they provide GSRD (gender, sexuality, relationship diversity) therapy and neurodivergent affirming therapy. Chris is also the Lead Psychotherapist at Voda.co, the LGBTQIA mental health app, Clinical Associate for Pink Therapy , and Inclusivity Board Advisor for Soho House . They have expertise in topics such as language and terminology, workplace allyship, intersectionality, LGBTQ+ history and discrimination, mental health and wellbeing, identity, neurodiversity, culture change, activism, trauma, and sexual health. Chris Sheridan Looking for a Guest Speake r ? Get in touch Our Recent Articles... DEI Trends in 2025: Practitioner Wellbeing and Career Sustainability. UNLOCK | Queer Leadership 101 with Pius Kennedy Harnessing Queer Joy as an Act of Resistance. Create Space for Change. We work with 100+ Businesses, ERGs and Change-Leaders providing bespoke DEI solutions. Through consultancy we design shared learning experiences, produce insights and craft content that support individuals with strengthening their roles as change-agents within their communities and organisations. Discover our bespoke corporate solutions... Work with us

(he/him) Aditya Aditya (Adi) is an experienced Marketing Strategy Director and proud immigrant, currently based in south London. As a South Asian Queer person, he has found strength in his cultural heritage and is passionate about advocating for intersectional identities. Adi is also a talented Hindi/Urdu poet and lives with his loving English partner. He has a personal connection to mental health, as he lives with complex-PTSD, and is committed to promoting well-being and self-empowerment. Adi is a strong advocate for anti-racism, workplace allyship, and trauma-informed care. He is also an expert in leadership and faith-based activism, and actively supports Queer POC in their careers. Adi Sinha Looking for a Guest Speake r ? Get in touch Our Recent Articles... DEI Trends in 2025: Practitioner Wellbeing and Career Sustainability. UNLOCK | Queer Leadership 101 with Pius Kennedy Harnessing Queer Joy as an Act of Resistance. Create Space for Change. We work with 100+ Businesses, ERGs and Change-Leaders providing bespoke DEI solutions. Through consultancy we design shared learning experiences, produce insights and craft content that support individuals with strengthening their roles as change-agents within their communities and organisations. Discover our bespoke corporate solutions... Work with us

(she/her) Sophie Sophie has been an advocate for women and HIV for almost 2 decades ensuring gender visibillty and health equity in the HIV response and that women's sexual reproductive health and rights are achieved. She has provided policy advice to public health organisations, NHS England , NICE, NGOs and academics, WHO and UN Women advocating both nationally and internationally.Sophie’s work includes advocacy on PrEP knowledge and equity in access for all women, and is the current co chair on the London PrEP Equity working group. She is CEO of the Sophia Forum whichexists to empower all women living with HIV to reach their full potential, and to ensure their voices are heard and their needs prioritised within the health sector and wider society. Sophie Strachan Looking for a Guest Speake r ? Get in touch Our Recent Articles... DEI Trends in 2025: Practitioner Wellbeing and Career Sustainability. UNLOCK | Queer Leadership 101 with Pius Kennedy Harnessing Queer Joy as an Act of Resistance. Create Space for Change. We work with 100+ Businesses, ERGs and Change-Leaders providing bespoke DEI solutions. Through consultancy we design shared learning experiences, produce insights and craft content that support individuals with strengthening their roles as change-agents within their communities and organisations. Discover our bespoke corporate solutions... Work with us