5 minutes with… Nozomi Tolworthy

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

I think inclusion work and creating safe spaces for belonging has always been something I’ve thought about, but didn’t always have the language to express – especially when I was younger during school days and often felt othered for my differences. As I grew up, I began to understand the roots of this exclusion and have tried to find ways that no one else feels othered where I can make a change!

I studied film and television studies at university, and during this I found myself increasingly interested in writing about representation within the industry. In my final year, I wrote about genre and race representation on screen in big blockbuster films, with a specific focus on orientalism. For my dissertation film, I created a short documentary exploring cross-cultural identity, ideas of home and how we navigate our sense of belonging. Through this, I realised that the discourse around inclusion is where my passion lies.

Since graduating with first-class honours, I have worked professionally both within creative roles as well as diversity and inclusion roles. My inclusion work has been mostly within the university and higher education sector in the UK, as well as a bit within the publishing industry.

I was keen to work across more industries and be able to bring my academic studies, professional expertise, as well as my own lived experiences where relevant, into wider consultancy work.

And that’s how I came to be in my role as an Inclusion and Diversity Consultant here at Inclusive Employers!

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

As I joined Inclusive Employers, I very quickly saw how friendly my team is and how understanding my line manager is! Being part of the global team has been great as well, because I’ve not worked in many places previously where people check with me how to pronounce my name, or are genuinely interested in hearing more about my cultural background and where I grew up.

These everyday acts of inclusion have a huge impact for so many people, and it’s something we can all be doing more of!

3. What do you love most about your role?

I enjoy the variety of work I get to do under the umbrella of all things inclusion and diversity. It’s refreshing that every day of my week can look a bit different – from writing scripts for our drama-based training sessions and training content creation, to speaking with my members in our catch-ups and supporting them in their everyday inclusion work.

4. What is a typical day like for you?

Each day looks different, which is something I enjoy. I make time to say hello to my colleagues on Teams, before diving into my inbox. Typical work days usually consist of catch-up calls with colleagues, consultancy meetings with members, delivery of training and workshops, and plenty of writing! As consultants, we work on content across the Inclusive Employers website – blogs, factsheets, guides, awareness days and also the podcast!

I enjoy developing new content and was really pleased to have written the Lunar New Year 2023 blog piece early on when I started at Inclusive Employers and to see that so positively received by both colleagues and our members as well!

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

This is a tricky one – I’m not very good at picking my favourites!

For me, I enjoy being able to see the impact of the inclusion work we do. That can come in so many forms – from hearing how a training session helped someone feel more confident in being an ally to friends and co-workers, to writing a blog where I’m able to celebrate my culture and heritage and find others who relate to that.

One of my first big inclusion public achievements was successfully introducing a ‘free periods’ campaign – to provide free menstrual supplies to all students, at my student union at university.

Get to know more of the Inclusive Employers team