5 minutes with… Kate Adams

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

I joined Inclusive Employers as a Senior Inclusion and Diversity (I&D) Consultant in January 2023 and have dedicated my career to driving transformational change through the lens of inclusion, working both in the UK and overseas, cross-sector.

Having experienced homelessness and non-traditional education routes, I have been able to see first-hand how my privilege at that time still opened so many more doors for me and increased some of the opportunities for survival compared to that of my peers from ethnic, multiracial and predominantly male backgrounds around me.

I knew from a young age that I wanted to do something, make a difference in the world, change my life, to do more than just survive and being so young I thought I could bring everyone with me too, how wrong and naïve I was!

Only a small handful of friends made it off the streets, many more gave up the fight or were caught up in the criminal justice system and locked up before they even had a chance and whilst I continued to dodge the law and meander my way in (until I was thrown out) of college.

I got accepted at two work experience settings – a children’s nursery and a charity working with disabled children. It was so easy for me to mask the real me and pretend to be someone else, they didn’t care what I looked (or smelled) like, they were so grateful that I’d turned up keen to get stuck in and I feel that because I was a white female, I looked like them, so they trusted me too.  

Being fiercely ambitious, probably annoyingly optimistic too, my determination took me through and past some of the darker times, unlike most of my friends I ended up leaving behind. 

I enjoyed then and still do today, challenging and pushing myself to keep learning, keep growing as a person and keep focussing on what’s important and to me that’s ‘people’. Particularly people who are impacted by inequalities and deprivation. I like to use a person-centred approach to my work that acknowledges and treats individuals as ‘whole’, with each person bringing a uniqueness and talent that sits outside of their look, sound, ability and material possessions.  

When I first took a job in the corporate world, I started again with work experience before moving into paid but temporary employment and it was then that I came up against additional barriers. I was told repeatedly to change my hair, clothes, the way I spoke if I wanted to be successful. Yet when I look back, I laugh because I was continually employed by those very people who were telling me to change. I was delivering the work in hand and as a result, my contracts got longer and longer – so what was the issue? Why did I still get so many comments from people about changing myself to ‘fit in’?

That really woke me up and since then I have taken to work in a career that focuses on people, the whole person and social justice to level the playing field and here I am today!

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

Yes I can!

I was reminded recently about what I love about living in London.

You’ll know that recently we had an excuse to put on a street party. Well, we weren’t going to let that opportunity slide, so all the neighbours in my street got together over WhatsApp to organise a party and we ended up with tables from one end of the road almost to the other with food from all corners of the globe lining them!

We mixed and blended cultures through not only our food, but our music, dance and song and we celebrated each of our cultures and each other. It was absolutely incredible. I have wonderful memories of that day and the huge celebration of what I like to call ‘cultural togetherness’.

3. What do you love most about your role?

I love the variety, innovation and being able to help employers figure out where they are on their inclusion journey, working through key challenges, offering my knowledge and expertise in supporting truly meaningful change.

We can easily get bogged down in doing too much which isn’t always as effective and can look to be at times tokenistic even though that wasn’t the intended outcome, so I prefer to work on streamlining key priorities that create maximum and measurable impact so that we can really make a difference.

Another thing I love about the role is building long-lasting and sustainable relationships not only with clients, but with those around me and at Inclusive Employers I get such a sense of community, there is always someone on hand to offer support, which isn’t always the case when working in the I&D space.

4. What is a typical day like for you?

This is a tricky one as ok, there are days when I have members and non-members calls, queries around training requirements, delivery of face-to-face and virtual training, consultancy work to carry out i.e. inclusion audits on policy and processes, writing strategy or internal factsheets, blogs and guidance to write, but honestly, there is no ‘typical day’, no two days are the same and I like that!

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

Seeing the work I lead or am involved in making a real difference to real people and I have had the pleasure of witnessing this and celebrating this with those who are impacted.   

Get to know more of the Inclusive Employers team