5 minutes with… Amy Gibbons

1) Can you tell us how you came to be in your role?

My background has been working within charity and health and social care settings and I had a number of roles including as Head of Operations and Head of Quality and Performance before I made the transition to working in Inclusion.

Before coming to work at Inclusive Employers I had been working as a Head of Inclusion within an organisation for a number of years and felt ready for a new challenge.

I loved the idea that as a Senior Consultant with Inclusive Employers I would have the opportunity to work with lots of different organisations, within lots of sectors. I applied for the role and feel like it’s a perfect fit for me!

2) Can you share an ‘inclusion moment’ with us – a time when you have felt included either at work or in your personal life?

I have been lucky to work with some incredible managers and teams and experienced the power of an inclusive culture to personally feel well, happy and productive at work.

At Inclusive Employers, there are lots of little ‘inclusion moments’ every day which help to make me feel like I belong. Team members will take the time to send praise via teams, book check-in calls to catch up, and ask how something went if they know you have a challenging day. These little actions add up and ensure I feel able to be myself.

3) What do you love most about your role?

I love that it is meaningful, and I can feel like I am making a difference. Working with organisations I really enjoy seeing them progress and develop. It is also really varied and the days fly by!

4) What is a typical day like for you?

One of the great things is that there is no ‘typical day’. The role is really varied and interesting. Some key areas of the role include developing and delivering training packages, writing blogs and guides and meeting with members to advise them on their inclusion journey.

5) What’s been your most memorable moment in your inclusion career?

There are so many to choose from! I think a piece of work that I have found incredibly rewarding but also challenging was developing an organisation’s anti-racism action plan. It was powerful, painful and transformative spending time with my Black colleagues and hearing their lived experiences of racism at work and in their lives.

It was motivational working together as a team to engage leaders and staff from across the organisation and committing to concrete change. It was a large, far-reaching project and I learned a lot personally and professionally.