Leading For Diversity- Having Brave Conversations

This masterclass will be a raw and honest exploration of issues surrounding equality and diversity in the workplace. You will be left with no doubt about the importance of ensuring it’s not just those from a minority group who should be fronting up to brave conversations. It’s incumbent on us all, as employees, to develop a working environment where those conversations take place daily - and each of us must learn how to create the space for them to happen.

Speakers Collective pride themselves on curating deep, meaningful conversations, and that’s certainly what will happen during this masterclass. The panellists will be Denise Stephenson, Sanisha Wynter & Adrian Garcia.

You will be left feeling better equipped to have bold conversations in your own workplace and to re-connect at a human level. Past participants have said the discussions opened their eyes to a different view and they felt more able to bring about change in their workplace as a direct result of the event.

Whatever happens as a result of your attendance at the masterclass the stories you hear and the conversations you have will linger deep in your mind creating potentials and opportunities for a different way of being.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the masterclass you will:

• Understand what it looks like to have a brave conversation on issues surrounding diversity and inclusion
• Consider your own leadership role as you lead for diversity
• Learn how to you can navigate difficult and challenging issues through honesty and bravery
• Understand what changes you can make personally to accelerate your own growth

About the Speakers

Denise Stephenson

Denise is the Founder and CEO of a charity, Reach Out 2 Kids Ltd (ROK), which she started as a non-profit social enterprise ten years ago, following her passion for being an agent of change in the fields of race diversity & inclusion and social mobility. Denise was nominated in 2018 as one of London’s 50 Trailblazers of the Future by BAME2020, who in turn were nominated by Campaign Magazine as one of the Top Ten Trailblazers for Change 2018.

Denise is also a Planning Lawyer, with more than 20 years post qualification experience. As a lawyer, Denise is a proficient negotiator and communicator and has been quoted as being a leader in her field and ‘very responsive and dedicated.’

As a child of Jamaican parents from a working class background and having suffered from prejudice and racism in her legal career, Denise has lived experience of the very issues she seeks to change. She is also very mindful of the mental health issues that often arises as a result of continued racism and discrimination. Denise is proficient in public speaking and has given talks and more recently been advising companies on their strategies for engaging more diverse and inclusive recruitment methods.

Sanisha Wynter

Sanisha identifies as a Black bi cis woman who lives and thrives with borderline personality disorder and depression. She is a Time to Change champion, and she aims to support others by sharing her lived experience of her mental health conditions and her journey to recovery. Sanisha is committed to raising awareness of barriers to mental health access and support to diverse communities.

Sanisha Wynter is a Diversity and Inclusion Consultant. Sanisha has worked in various roles in the charity sector, aiming to further inclusion and advocate for marginalised people in the workplace and communities. She has developed empowerment programmes and guidance on race equity, LGBT inclusion and disability accessibility.

Sanisha enjoys uplifting young peoples' voices, empowering workplaces to be accessible and supports national campaigns for girls and young women. In 2019, Sanisha was listed as a bi icon of the UK LGBT charity Stonewall.

Adrian Garcia

Adrian has worked the best part of a decade as a mental health campaigner, educator and consultant. He has worked with various charities (notably SANE as the head of the Black Dog Campaign) as well as many corporates.

Adrian has devoted his time to working in mental health due to his own experiences of illness as well as the loss of his younger brother to suicide in early 2015.

Initially researching, speaking and educating on suicide prevention, Adrian's work now spans many aspects of mental health and social issues and he is the Founder and Director of his own company, The Mental Health Consultants as well as new upcoming projects for 2020-2021 in Creative Social Responsibility in collaboration with creative agencies, broadcasters and 3rd Sector organisations.

Joining the masterclass

Joining instructions will be sent 48 hours before the masterclass is about to start.

You can join Zoom via your laptop, tablet or smartphone. If you are joining by smartphone, you will need to download the free Zoom app first. You can join Zoom by telephone only but you will only be able to hear the audio (similar to a telephone conference call).

If you have never joined a Zoom call before, you might want to watch this short video before you do (featured below). You can also watch a short tutorial on connecting your audio here.

About the Collaborative

We are an influential partnership, formed from cross sector organisations in the North West. We represent the NHS, health and social care and local government to bring you a range of collaborative masterclasses.

By combining our unique specialisms, the collaboration explores innovative thinking with expert speakers, to provide cross sector knowledge sharing for leaders across the North West.

The collaborative is made up of the following organisations:

• Advancing Quality Alliance (AQuA),
• Mersey Internal Audit Agency (MIAA)
• NHS North West Leadership Academy (NHS NWLA)
• North West Employers (NWE)
• North West Association of Directors of Adults Social Care Services (ADASS)
• Innovation Agency Coaching Academy