The Ambassador Certification 2025

An Introduction from our Founder, Cat Wildman:

We designed the Diversity Ambassador Certification back in 2022 with one aim: To create Ambassadors who are deeply and sustainably confident in their ability to lead Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in their life and settings. Since launch we have trained over 400 Diversity Ambassadors and I think it’s safe to say we achieved our aim (and we have pages of testimonials, like the ones below, to prove it).

The world has moved on since we began creating Diversity Ambassadors back in 2022. The Certification was always about giving Ambassadors the courage to act - but in 2025, where powerful characters are working hard to undo the inclusion we have all worked so hard to create, action is even more urgent.

In 2025 people feel emboldened to make less inclusive comments they perhaps haven’t had the courage to make in the past few years. They are asking questions like “why should I care about this?” - and this is a huge opportunity - to meet them where they are at - and have conversations that could quite literally change the world.

2025 is about creating Ambassadors who are confident and ready to meet these conversations head on, with calm empathy and a readiness to educate.

The time for muting ourselves is over. 2025’s Ambassador Certification will be a highly interactive series of live working groups that will run as safe and open guided discussions. Ambassadors will be encouraged to share their own experiences and opinions and find practical, workable solutions, ready to be implemented.We hope that you and your team will be amongst the first to graduate and join us in conversations that will shape the future.

This has been the best course that I have undertaken during my 4 years of PhD (and I sign up to a lot!) | Polly, 2023 Ambassador

The Diversity Ambassador Certification course was an extraordinarily enriching experience. I’d even go so far as to say it was a transformative journey for me. | Philip, 2023 Ambassador

Thank you for such a fascinating training course! It can be diﬃcult to take time out of your day for things that aren't directly work-related but I found every week fascinating. | Eloise, 2024 Ambassador

It’s now almost 2 months after this experience I can strongly sense the diﬀerence that it made for me. | Liam, 2024 Ambassador

The Format

Classes are taught live, online each week in a 90 minute session.

Participative and discussion-led

The time for muting ourselves is over, please come to each session prepared to contribute as much as you can.

2025’s Ambassador Certification will be a highly interactive series of live working groups that will run as safe and open guided discussions.

Ambassadors will be encouraged to share their own experiences and opinions and find practical, workable solutions, ready to be implemented.

The certification

The certificate is granted at the end of the full course in exchange for a minimum attendance and a short graduation piece.

In order to qualify for your certificate and Diversity Ambassador badge we ask for you to attend at least 5 out of 6 classes live. In order to create a safe environment for questions and discussion, sessions will not be recorded. We also ask for a small graduation piece, more on this below.

Your graduation piece

In addition to attending at least 5 of 6 classes live, in order to get certified you'll need to send us a 'graduation piece'.

This can be a simple email, a doc, a presentation or a video of yourself - whatever makes you feel most comfortable!

It can be as long or as short as you like. It just needs to convey to us what you have taken away from the course. Some delegates find it helpful to make notes after/ during each class so they remember key takeaway moments they had.

It could contain things like:

● Your overall feelings and reflections on the course itself

● Any key moments/ realisations you had on the course

● Any changes you will make going forward

I want to stress that this need not be a big piece or in any way "professionally" presented - an email is absolutely fine if that's what you prefer. Our aim with this course is for you to take away plenty of really key things from it - whatever those may be for you - and we just want to know that it's done its job.

The classes

We’re looking forward to your cohort being amongst the first to take this brand new course and join us in conversations that will shape the future.

Take a look at the classes in more detail below:

Week 1 : Beliefs About EDI in 2025.

Date: 06.11.2025 Time: 12:00 - 1:30pm

Striving for fairness, opportunity and safety for all in 2025 can feel challenging - but now is the time for strength and perseverance. This opening session introduces some key concepts and research findings from academic and occupational psychology. This is a discussion about examining the beliefs that both unite and divide us. Every discussion will be different but they will usually follow the format below:

● We’ll explore the criticisms of current EDI programs and re-examine our own beliefs about inclusion and why it matters to each of us individually - and how to use our beliefs to drive us.

● Tribalism and polarisation - a discussion about our human instinct to form groups and how this can both unite and divide us. In what ways has forming groups helped - and hindered - EDI?

● Bridging the gap. We’ll explore finding the strength to empathise with those with different beliefs and how to meet, safely, in a conversational space.

Week 2 : Today’s Sex & Gender Equality.

Date: 13.11.2025 Time: 12:00 - 1:30pm

Gender equality is a huge topic with many more active frontiers than ever before. Which should we be focussing on and what’s the next for the movement? Every discussion will be different but they will usually follow the format below:

● Overwhelm is a risk with this topic so, as a group, we’ll start with exploring our own personal drivers from gender stereotypes to male mental health, equality at work, to equal parenting… we’ll find our personal drivers that we can come back to when we feel overwhelmed.

● What has raising kids got to do with work? From the men’s mental health gap to the gender pay gap, gender gaps start in childhood and are reinforced throughout life. We’ll discuss our own gendered experiences and how they have shaped us.

● Why do we need to pick a side? Men and women are fighting the same battle, so why does it feel like we are fighting each other?

● What’s in a word? ‘Toxic masculinity’, ‘feminism’, ‘the patriarchy’ Why is language dividing us and how can we bridge the gap?

Week 3 : Flags, Pronouns & Human Rights

Date: 20.11.2025 Time: 12:00 - 1:30pm

Every protected group is facing challenges in 2025, but some groups are having their very identities questioned. This discussion will prepare the group to face potentially difficult conversations with empathy and patience. Every discussion will be different but they will usually follow the format below:

● Understanding versus acceptance. Do we need to be able to understand why people are who they are before we afford them the same human rights as everyone else? How to have this important conversation with others.

● We don’t have a Pride month…comments like these are back in 2025 - and we see this as an enormous opportunity to have conversations that could, quite literally, change the world for the LGBTQ+ community.

● What’s underneath the fear? We’ll explore the fears that people are feeling around LGBTQ+ topics from the younger generation to pronouns and everything in between. Understanding different points of view and what drives them is key to opening minds.

Week 4 : Talkin’ About my Generation.

Date: 27.11.2025 Time: 12:00 - 1:30pm

Each new generation entering the workplace comes under fire for their differences. The stereotypes are everywhere, but they are entering the workplace and older generations are staying longer so how can we learn, live and work together? Every discussion will be different but they will usually follow the format below:

● What do you wish other generations understood about yours? We may feel a strong affiliation with our generation, we may even find the stereotypes funny - or we may feel misrepresented, held back and insulted. Here we’ll find out what you wish other generations understood about yours in a lively discussion.

● The Subtle Power of Ageism. Is ageism the most acceptable form of discrimination and prejudice? From generation stereotypes to ageist greetings cards, it’s everywhere. We discuss what forms of ageism we’ve seen, heard, been impacted by (and even perpetuated ourselves!)

● Walking in Their Shoes: Meet Fatima & David. In breakout groups we’ll discuss challenges and assumptions about two fictional colleagues from different generations.

● From Curiosity to Appreciation. Using a simple model (Awareness → Curiosity → Empathy → Action → Appreciation) we’ll respond to real workplace situations we’re likely to encounter.

Week 5 : Upping your antiableism and neuro inclusion game.

Date: 04.12.2025 Time: 12:00 - 1:30pm

This session is all about flipping everything we think we know about disability, chronic illness and neurodiversity on its head - and a totally fresh way of looking at them. Every discussion will be different but they will usually follow the format below:

● Hidden, non-visible, undisclosed. We’ll start the discussion with why people don’t ‘come out’ about their disabilities, chronic illnesses and neurodivergences and ask for what they need in order to be at their best.

● The piece of paper. If an employee came to you and said they had Trigeminal Neuralgia, what would you suggest to help them? What would you suggest for an autistic employee who is in perimenopause? For too long we have been expecting people to disclose a diagnosis - but does a piece of paper help us to know what they need - or does it just fuel bias?

● Catering to the greatest needs has changed the world. Most people will not believe the number of things we all rely upon that started out as accessibility measures. Here we think about how designing for the greatest needs could set your business apart.

● What does bringing your A Game look like? An exercise to dig into how very different (and the same) we all are in how we work at our best.

Week 6 : Talking About Race in 2025.

Date: 11.12.2025 Time: 12:00 - 1:30pm

A pragmatic look at today’s antiracism landscape - and our roles in shaping what comes next. Every discussion will be different but they will usually follow the format below:

● Why does talking about race still feel so charged? As a group we’ll examine where we are with race conversations in 2025 - individually and as a society - and what’s standing in the way of productive conversations about race.

● ‘Woke nonsense’ - a group discussion about where we think some parts of the EDI movement have got it wrong, from cancel culture to word policing and everything in between.

● Why is this not fixed yet? From the Race Relations Act 1965 to today - how disruptive conversations have changed the landscape - and where we go next.

● When is a microaggression not a microaggression? Using real case studies to develop the confidence to take a step back when dealing with workplace race issues.

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