Diversity Alliance Talks

On this weeks episode we are joined by the Fast Forward 15 Ambassadors.  Fast Forward 15 gives 15 women the opportunity to be mentored, encouraged and advised by an industry expert for one year, as well as becoming part of a wider community of successful women supporters.  Ambassadors; Benedicta Asante (Events 101) and your host Gabby Austen Browne (Diversity Ally), a previous mentee, pl...

On this weeks episode we are joined by the Fast Forward 15 Ambassadors.  Fast Forward 15 gives 15 women the opportunity to be mentored, encouraged and advised by an industry expert for one year, as well as becoming part of a wider community of successful women supporters. Ambassadors; Benedicta Asante (Events 101) and your host Gabby Austen Browne (Diversity Ally), a previous mentee, plus men...

Keneisha is an event planning professional with nearly 10 years of experience working within and outside of Canada. She has worked in both the corporate and not-for-profit industries managing both small to large-scale events. She is also the co-founder of the Black In Events Network - a globally inclusive initiative creating awareness and opportunity for Black event professionals. She is the owner...

Keneisha is an event planning professional with nearly 10 years of experience working within and outside of Canada. She has worked in both the corporate and not-for-profit industries managing both small to large-scale events. She is also the co-founder of the Black In Events Network - a globally inclusive initiative creating awareness and opportunity for Black event professionals. She is the owner...

In this episode, we are joined by Dean Carby and Laura Toogood, the powerhouses behind The Elite Vendors Network, a network of African Caribbean wedding & events vendors. Dean and Laura share the journey of The Elite Vendors Network which started as a WhatsApp group to allow quick messaging and instant communication between its members. It has since moved from a WhatsApp group to social media...

In this episode, we are joined by Dean Carby and Laura Toogood, the powerhouses behind the Elite Vendors Network, a network of African Caribbean wedding & events vendors. Dean and Laura share the journey of the Elite Vendors Network which started as a WhatsApp group to allow quick messaging and instant communication between its members, to fully a fledged business making inroads to venues and...

To kick off season 2, we are joined by another fierce Black woman doing excellent work in the hospitality sector around racial equality. Lorraine Copes, founder of not for profit organisation, Be Inclusive Hospitality, is doing vital work to drive education, amplify black and brown voices and accelerate racial equality to level the playing field for those from underrepresented backgrounds within t...

To kick off season 2, we are joined by another fierce Black woman doing excellent work in the hospitality sector around racial equality. Lorraine Copes, founder of not for profit organisation, Be Inclusive Hospitality, is doing vital work to drive education, amplify black and brown voices and accelerate racial equality to level the playing field for those from underrepresented backgrounds within t...

"The year the events industry started talking about diversity and inclusion". As 2020 draws to a close, your hosts Gabby and Ashanti share observations, challenges and highlights since the launch of Diversity Ally, their consultancy, education and events business, just 6 months ago. They close the episode by sharing some exciting plans for 2021. Thank you to all our listeners for tuning in every w...

The year the events industry started talking about diversity and inclusion. As 2020 draws to a close, your hosts Gabby and Ashanti share observations, challenges and highlights since the launch of Diversity Ally, their consultancy, education and events business, just 6 months ago.   They close the season by sharing some exciting plans for 2021.

On this week's episode, we have special guest, Esi Hardy – Founder, Owner and Managing Director of Celebrating Disability.   Esi is a trainer, disability inclusion expert, public speaker, podcaster and writer. We draw parallels between Esi’s previous career as an actor and the roles she was often “typecast” into, and how as professionals seeking employment or working in the corporate environment,...

On this week's episode we have special guest  Esi Hardy – Founder, Owner and Managing Director of Celebrating Disability.   Esi is a trainer, disability inclusion expert, public speaker podcaster and writer. We cover why we need to stop categorising people if we want a diverse workforce.  And how venues and virtual events need to become more accessible to be truly inclusive + more

In this week's episode, we catch up with David Ogiste founder of Nobody’s Cafe. A real pick ’n’ mix of an episode, where we discuss everything from Fawlty Towers, to the frustration, felt over the “brown ceiling” and how we often self identify as people of colour, based on how other people see and treat us, rather than how we see ourselves.  We also talk about the common phenomenon of “code-s...

"Code - switching"  is the action of changing our behaviours, speech, dress, and mannerisms to conform to a different cultural norm depending on the context. For example, you don't dress or use the same jargon/phrases with colleagues as you do with your family. In this weeks episode, we catch up with David Ogiste founder of Nobody’s Cafe. David’s love for events began when he started hosting...

Progress Over Perfection!   This week we are joined by Suzanne Neve, CEO of the Florida Festival and Events Association. Suzanne candidly takes us through the association's diversity and inclusion journey and shares what their approach to D&I was pre-BLM and Covid and how this has shifted and adopted a deeper, more targeted focus over recent months.  The FFEA also went through the Diversity Ally a...

On this week’s episode, we are joined by Suzanne Neve, CEO of the Florida Festival and Events Association. She takes us through the association's diversity and inclusion journey with the help of Diversity Ally.

Do senior level execs really care about Diversity and Inclusion? Or Is it just lip service? On this week's episode, we are joined by the founders of Event First Steps, Priya Narian, Elena Clowes and Caitlin Kobrak to discuss the results of the global survey on tackling racial diversity in the events industry in collaboration with C&IT. We talk about how the events of the summer have been a cat...

Diversity and inclusion in the world of disability.

This week we are joined by the founders of Event Firsts Steps to discuss the findings of the recent survey conducted in collaboration with C&IT, on racial diversity in the events industry.

What can we learn about diversity and inclusion in the world of disability when it comes to hiring and recruitment? In this weeks episode, we have an enlightening chat with Adil Ghani of The Ability People, where we investigate how the interview, hiring and onboarding process could and should be enhanced to include inclusive practices. We also discuss, why applicants should not have to disclose if...

In this episode, join co-founders of Diversity Ally, Ashanti and Gabby, as they take us back over the past few months and share their favourite and most impactful episodes so far. They also talk about how the events industry is tackling Diversity and Inclusion during Covid-19, what still needs to be done, as well as the challenges of launching a business as two black women in the middle of a globa...

How can Motown, Michael Jackson and Nigel Benn inspire your career in the events industry? In this weeks episode, we sit down to have a chat with Wesley Mendy, founder of Prestige Events magazine, COOL Venue Awards and the pioneering 20/20 Club (formerly known as 20/20 Speed Networking).   We reflect on his journey as an events industry entrepreneur who is mixed race, the challenge’s fac...

So what do we do in the meantime? We get 3 A-Type women on a podcast for plenty of real talk and giggles! This weeks episode was a corker. We managed to get through a whole spectrum of topics-enjoy! We talked about: What inspires Fay Her thoughts on the results of her diversity and inclusion report What needs to change in our industry Why are we not attracting diverse groups of people to the indus...

This week we are joined by Ngzoi Weller, Managing Director of Aurora Wellness. With organisations beginning to understand tackling mental health takes more than a couple of well-being strategies such as yoga or a gym membership, what can businesses and organisations do better with regards to supporting their people during times of crisis? In part one we discuss the nuances of mental health in the...

“Ultimately as organisers, we have the power to choose how we fill out agendas.” This week we welcome Felicity Cator,  Head of EventLAB at Hire Space. This year EventLAB goes digital! They will be running a programme across a range of educational themes for events professionals and businesses that run them. This includes the opportunity to interact and engage across Workshops, Talks, Discussi...