EDI and Workers' Rights

Practical inclusion work, union support, and advocacy informed by lived experience.

The Challenge

The hard part is moving from "we support everyone" to what happens when someone actually raises a concern or needs an adjustment. Policies get written and filed away. Meanwhile, people from marginalised backgrounds still feel excluded because no one thought about how the room, the session, or the process actually works for them.

My Approach

I work on equality, diversity and inclusion in community sport and advocate for workers' rights through union volunteering. This is not about writing policies that sit in a drawer. It is about creating spaces where people can actually participate and feel welcome.

  • Ground everything in lived experience - As someone who is neurodivergent and queer, I know what it's like to be in spaces not designed for you
  • Focus on practical, sustainable changes - Small, consistent actions beat grand gestures that fizzle out
  • Build relationships and bring people along - Inclusion work fails without buy-in; it succeeds through connection

Impact

  • Created EDI policies for Leeds Comets covering pronouns in communications, accessible session formats, and a clear process for raising concerns
  • Connected the club with local LGBTQ+ networks and sports bodies, widening recruitment and making sessions more visible to new players
  • Manage UTAW members' employment relations casework end-to-end as Senior Trade Union Representative: disciplinary, grievance, capability, and sickness absence. Represent members at formal hearings and coach hearing chairs on procedural fairness
  • Selected as UTAW's delegate to the TUC Disabled Workers' Conference 2025; spoke on disability employment gaps and neurodivergent inclusion
  • Coordinating outreach to bring in new players and make sessions visible to people who might not think netball is for them

Relevant Experience

  • Leeds Comets CIC, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Lead
  • UTAW/CWU, Senior Trade Union Representative
  • UTAW/CWU, Volunteer Data Protection Officer
  • Trades Union Congress, Delegate to the Disabled Workers' Conference (June 2025)

See my full experience for details.