Diversity Ambassador Certification

Become confident in every aspect of diversity today.

“One of the most impactful courses I have ever taken!”

Jess - 2023 Diversity Ambassador

IN BRIEF:

  • 10 Interactive classes on essential diversity topics

  • 1.5 hour classes, run virtually for accessibility

  • Taught by experts with lived experience

  • Small cohorts, actionable takeaways

  • Diversity Ambassador Certification

Covering:

  • Neurodiversity

  • Race & Ethnicity

  • Religion & Beliefs

  • Disability & Chronic illness

  • Hiring Inclusively

  • LGBTQIA+

  • Gender Identity

  • Age and Ageism

  • Sex & Gender Equality

  • Social Mobility

The Classes

  • INCLUSIVE HIRING

    Resident inclusive hiring expert Jo, starts each cohort off with this action-packed class!

    Through vibrant visuals and an eye-opening quiz we’ll explore the inequality in the UK job market, what’s standing in the way of inclusive recruitment and what to start doing to attract & connect with underrepresented talent.

    You’ll leave with: Everything you need to create an all-star inclusive hiring strategy.

  • TALKING ABOUT RACE

    Dawn, an accomplished coach and educator, creates the perfect safe environment for conversation.

    We’ll explore terms and ideas associated with race, how to support and include your racially diverse workforce. We’ll bust some unconscious race and ethnicity biases and use storytelling to explore authenticity.

    You’ll leave with: Your privilege checklist and how to help others find theirs.

  • NEURODIVERSITY

    Catrina packs everything you need to know about Neurodiversity into this brilliant masterclass session

    We’ll explore the full spectrum of neurodiversity, how different neurodivergences intersect - and how to understand and talk about it all.

    We’ll look at privilege, inclusion and talent and what your neurodivergent colleagues need from you.

    You’ll leave with Your neurodiversity inclusion manifesto.

  • DISABILITY & CHRONIC ILLNESS

    Alice makes the topic of Disability and Chronic Illness completely accessible in this fantastic class.

    Alice uses real-life case studies to bring disability inclusion to life with discussion. We’ll look at language, reasonable adjustments, accessibility and simple low cost changes organisations can make today.

    You’ll leave with: Your framework for being a disability ally.

  • GENDER DIVERSITY

    This safe and inclusive class completely changes the way people understand gender diversity.

    Drawing on lived experience and storytelling, we’ll cover different gender identities, dig into language, pronouns, gender diversity in the workplace, what gender diverse colleagues need from you and how to be an ally for all genders.

    You’ll leave with: Gender Acceptance without Understanding

  • LGBTQ+ ACCEPTANCE

    Ian’s action-packed, energetic class perfectly mixes storytelling, humour, education and practical examples.

    You’ll tour through LGBTQIA+ history, stats and facts about LGBTQIA+ equity today and cover essential language and terminology, creating inclusive workplaces and how you can be a good ally.

    You’ll leave with: The tools you need to be an LGBTQIA+ ally, every day.

  • SEX & GENDER EQUALITY

    In this gender inclusive class, Virginia packs in everything you need to know about sex and gender equality from the reality of the problem of imbalance to the science and studies behind it.

    We’ll tour through unconscious bias, stereotypes, how sexism and discrimination show up and what we can all do to tackle it.

    You’ll leave with: Tools to move towards a more fair, diverse and equitable reality

  • RELIGIOUS INCLUSION

    This class sensitively explores what religion means to your colleagues and the incredible benefits of religious inclusion.

    Drawing on her intersectional lived experience as a Muslim woman, Suraiya shows how our views of religion can be shaped by different inputs like media, and impacted by stereotypes and bias.

    You’ll leave with: Your religious inclusion checklist with practical, easy to implement steps.

  • SOCIAL MOBILITY

    Get ready for some interaction because this class is extremely practical and designed for action!

    Looking at real-life case studies across hiring, social inclusion and professional opportunities we’ll explore how unconscious biases can present barriers to social mobility and why making a difference does not need to involve a large ED&I team - or budget.

    You’ll leave with: A personalised action plan to accelerate social mobility.

  • AGE INCLUSION

    We end each cohort by reflecting on a protected characteristic we all share: age.

    In this gently-paced class we consolidate what we’ve learned and look at why age-inclusion is important socially - and commercially.

    We’ll explore how each generation in the workplace (up to five!) can work most effectively together.

    You’ll leave with Your age inclusion manifesto.

Testimonials

  • "I would recommend this training to anyone"

    I consider myself pretty well versed on the myriad of DE&I topics. That being said, a lot of topics I have only really read into, without having the opportunity to discuss or question those very people of which the topics are about.

    It was an enlightening experience hearing things first hand.

    I've personally found the experience very valuable and would recommend the training to anyone.

    Adam - 2023 Diversity Ambassador

  • "Immensely Helpful"

    As a leader, I always aim to make people feel included, but I now know that I have my own biases and blindspots that may work against that. I took away so many lessons that I can bring back to my team and that has been immensely helpful.

    Having focused time like this, with speakers that personally identify with each topic, allowed me to engage my self-awareness. Thank you for bringing us such thoughtful and enlightening content and speakers.

    Ray - 2023 Diversity Ambasssador

  • "A massively enlightening course"

    I have to say that I think it has been a massively enlightening course and that I’ve really enjoyed the sessions. What has been the most valuable for me is to have learnt from people with lived experience of the issues they are discussing. LGBTQ+ and Gender Identity were particularly engaging in my opinion, but all the speakers have been excellent.

    Richard - 2023 Diversity Ambassador

  • "One of the most impactful courses I have ever taken"

    This has been one of the most impactful courses I have ever taken. I have always tried to be as unbiased and educated as I can on a range of EDI subjects but this course has given me something that I have not had before; the true and deep confidence to call myself an EDI ambassador.

    Jess - 2023 Ambassador

  • “Really impressed with the program"

    I wanted to take this opportunity to extend my thanks for offering such an insightful and engaging group of workshops - I've really learnt so much that I will be taking forward in both my personal and professional life. I'm super grateful for the opportunity to take part and have been really impressed with the programme. Each session has been a really safe space to think through sometimes challenging and difficult topics, so thank you for that too!

    Sarah - 2023 Diversity Ambassador

  • “It’s been such an incredible series”

    I have thoroughly enjoyed the training. I have learned so much from the conversations and presentations. My three main takeaways or ah-ha moments from the series were: ‘Professionalism’ can be at odds with people’s needs for no good reason (changing positions or lying down during long zoom calls). Solutions and accommodations for neurodiversity can be so simple and diverse (e.g. digital over ticking clocks!). How career expectations and trajectories often have ageist pressures (these pressures are present for both older and younger people). Thank you again. It’s been such an incredible series.

    Eh-den - 2023 Diversity Ambassador

  • “An inclusive and respectful online space”

    Thank you so much for offering an inclusive and respectful online space and I have really enjoyed learning about diversity in all its different forms.

    Jake - 2023 Diversity Ambassador

  • “Eye-opening!”

    It was particularly interesting to understand where biases can come from and how they take place in the recruitment process. Here, it was helpful to define what privilege is and how certain privileges may inherently favour some people over others -the statistics covered in this session to demonstrate racial differences in the workplace were eye-opening! I also was not previously familiar with the term, ‘race descriptors’, so it was interesting to learn that these are the terms that are associated with different races.

    Miko - 2023 Diversity Ambassador

  • "I now truly understand how a sense of belonging is crucial for wellbeing"

    One of my main takeaways was how diversity drives innovation - and this comes from a place where people feel safe to bring their true self (inclusive of all aspects of their identity) to a workplace environment. As a leader I now truly understand how a sense of belonging is crucial for wellbeing, and a company/institutional culture that is inclusive will enable people to feel safe and confident that they can be themselves without fear of discrimination. I get it now in a way that I just didn’t before.

    Lorenzo - 2023 Diversity Ambassador

  • "Since doing this course, I have developed a real passion to do as much as I can"

    As a cis heterosexual white woman, I have had a lot of privilege which means that I haven’t been touched by many of the issues that have been covered on this course. However, since doing this course, I have developed a real passion to do as much as I can to make institutions, activities, events (etc.), as well as life more broadly, accessible, inclusive and enjoyable. Before this course I didn’t really know how to go about doing that, but having taken this course I now have the awareness, understanding and the tools to be able to make this happen now and as I move on to the next stage in my career.

    Sadie - 2023 Diversity Ambassador

  • "Openness and compassion"

    I would like to thank Powered By Diversity and all of the speakers for taking the time, with openness and compassion, to teach me – I only hope that I can help to make a difference!

    Yinka - 2023 Diversity Ambassador

  • "Everyone benefits from a more inclusive workplace"

    There were a few themes that were woven throughout each of the sessions, and really stuck with me: Inclusive practices service and benefit individuals with other needs - this was something that Suraiya mentioned in her talk on Religious Inclusion, but it definitely came up in other sessions as well. I think it's really important to acknowledge that everyone benefits from a more inclusive workplace, whether that's on a practical level (like having designated, multi-use spaces, or flexible working practices) as well as in terms of having policies and procedures in place to protect people, or clear protocols to follow if something goes wrong.

    Ben - 2023 Diversity Ambassador

  • "...this was something I hadn't really considered before, but makes so much sense"

    I learned that language is important - and it's OK to ask questions if you're not sure or afraid of appearing ignorant or insensitive. Be aware of your privilege and unconscious bias and work to challenge yourself on these.

    Equity - this was probably the newest concept I learnt about in the workshops - I think a couple of speakers referenced equity > equality in terms of equitable access and equitable adjustments (as opposed to reasonable adjustments). This was something I hadn't really considered before, but makes so much sense.

    Juan - 2023 Diversity Ambassador

  • "This is a key message that I've already begun sharing with people in my life"

    I think that the concept of 'Acceptance without Understanding' is really important. This is a key message that I've already begun sharing with people in my life. I think so often people are apt to make snap judgements based on whether or not they can understand something (often negative if they don't, or feel that they can't) that your re-framing of acceptance and understanding is useful - understanding can come from acceptance, but we shouldn't need to understand someone else's life or perspective in order to accept them. This is something that I've always believed, but it was really useful to have it articulated in this way.

    Sabrina - 2023 Diversity Ambassador

  • "As a man I took away a lot"

    As a man I took away a lot especially relating to gender differences (e.g. treatment in the workplace) and awareness about the different types of biases and discrimination...it has really opened my eyes. Exploring the day to day challenges that women can face has made me realise how the urgent need is for more work to be done - and whose responsibility that is - which was something I needed to hear.

    Jeremy - 2023 Diversity Ambassador

  • "Extremely valuable take-aways"

    I have had extremely valuable take-aways from each of the sessions: understanding the prevalence of sexism; which language should and shouldn’t be used and frankly just understanding what all the different terminology (from person-first language, to each of the letters in LGBTQIA+, to the difference between ‘Neurodiversity’ and ‘Neurodivergent’) means; learning where to start to become an ally or to change the world for the better in a small way; and having the confidence to ask questions, to be curious and to find out more to help the world be more accessible and inclusive. Everything has been so eye-opening!

    Sky-Lindsay - 2023 Diversity Ambassador

  • " Supportive and encouraging environment"

    I have thoroughly enjoyed the diverse range of sessions I have attended. It has been particularly useful and very interesting to hear from speakers who have lived experience and sound knowledge of the topics they have shared with us. The sessions have all provided a supportive and encouraging environment in which I have felt comfortable to ask questions and contribute in discussion with other attendees.

    Debbie - 2023 Diversity Ambassador

  • "My awareness and understanding of these topics has developed immensely"

    It has been great to hear from so many different speakers in these sessions as they have not only provided engaging and clear discussions relating to their respective subjects but have been kind enough to candidly share with us their own individual experiences. Although I had some (basic) knowledge of the various topics presented in the sessions, my awareness and understanding of these topics has developed immensely and the sessions have not only really inspired me to continue learning more but have given me the knowledge and confidence in how to become a better ally for people.

    Karage - 2023 Diversity Ambassador

  • "I now have the confidence to go forward"

    The two main takeaways I have had across the board are the importance of considering intersectionality; and the importance of relating to people as individuals and asking them about what language they would prefer used to describe them and their experiences, what challenges they face, what solutions they propose and so on, but doing that in an informed way, taking responsibility for our own education and awareness. I now have the confidence to go forward and do this, thanks to this course.

    Victor - 2023 Diversity Ambassador

  • "Fantastic team of experts"

    Thank you for the work you have done to curate this course and bring this fantastic team of experts together.

    Loretta - 2023 Ambassador

  • I've learnt so much

    I’ve learnt so much from each session, and it was nice to be able to give some of my lived experiences too.

    In the duration of this course, I’ve been offered another role within EDI so I’ll be taking all this learning into that role – thank you so much.

    Abdi - 2023 Ambassador

  • "I really loved this experience"

    I really loved this experience. It made me realise how restricted my view was in certain aspects and the limited diversity of my immediate circle of influence. The course put me in contact with people from different backgrounds I don’t have access to. This led to uncomfortable moments with myself, as I realised my own biases and conditioning.

    I has definitely changed the way I look at my own biases and I challenge my thoughts.

    Thank you.

    Ellen - 2023 Ambassador

  • "I thoroughly enjoyed the course"

    I thoroughly enjoyed the course. In particular, it was refreshing to see a diverse pool of presenters who were speaking from the communities each topic was covering. I'm sometimes a bit cautious of courses like this, as they often end up being HR checkbox exercises, covering the bare minimums for compliance but this was certainly not that.

    Andy - 2023 Diversity Ambassador

Pricing and booking

private cohort

  • Train up to 50 Ambassadors from your organisation

  • 1.5 hour classes taught over Teams

  • Taught either weekly or at a cadence of your choice (some opt for every 2 weeks)

  • Choose your own dates, days and timings (if Fridays at 10 - 11:30 would be perfect for you we’ll do it then)

  • All classes recorded for catch-ups (we’ll host them in a private catch-up area for your employees to use for the duration of the cohort)

  • Your employees’ feedback and takeaways shared with you

  • Private Cohorts cost £11,500 (which works out at £230/head for 50 delegates)

public cohort

  • Book individual place/s on a cohort where there’ll also be delegates from other organisations

  • Weekly 1.5 hour, virtual classes, held in a lunch-and-learn style from 12 - 1:30 over Teams - usually on a Tuesday or a Thursday.

  • Public cohorts are usually held twice a year, one starting in February and one in September.

  • All classes are recorded and hosted in a private catch up area for the duration of the cohort.

  • Your employees’ feedback and takeaways captured and shared with you.

  • 10+ places costs £400/head, 2-9 places costs £800 per head and a single place is £1,600

FAQ

  • The certification is a certificate and a digital badge that employees can display with pride, anywhere they like.

    Many add theirs to LinkedIn and their email signatures so they can be visible Diversity Ambassadors.

  • There are two criteria for certification:

    • 70% live attendance (we monitor attendance at each class)

    • The submission of a short graduation piece at the end, to let us know what they will take away from the training.

  • In order to qualify for your certificate and Diversity Ambassador badge in addition to asking for 70% live attendance (and for you to catch up on any classes you do miss), we also ask for a small graduation piece.

    This can be a simple email, a doc, a presentation or a video of yourself speaking - whatever makes you feel most comfortable. 

    It can be as long or as short as you like. It just needs to convey to us what you have taken away from the course.

    It could contain things like: 

    • Your overall feelings and reflections on the course itself 

    • Any key moments/ realisations you had on the course 

    • Any changes you will make going forward 

    This need not be a big piece or in any way "professionally" presented - an email is absolutely fine if that's what you prefer.

    Our aim with this course is for you to take away plenty of really key things from it - whatever those may be for you - and we just want to know that it's done its job.

  • The classes are designed for a live delivery however we totally understand that life and work can be unpredictable!

    They just need to let us know if they can't come. We'll record all the group parts of the classes so they can catch up if they miss one.

  • We're looking for 70% attendance for the course, if delegates have to miss a couple, they just need to let us know if they can't come.

    We'll record all the group parts of the classes so they can catch up if they miss one.

  • We won't be able to certify them at this point, but your delegate/s can either watch the recordings of the classes they miss.

    If it’s early enough in the cohort you could transfer them to the next cohort - or transfer their place/s to different delegate/s from your organisation.

  • Just send as an email via office@poweredbydiversity.org with the names and email addresses of who you would like to book onto the course, and we'll pop you an invoice - or send you a Stripe link.

    Easy peasy.

  • In addition to our private cohorts, we run 2 cohorts a year which are open to delegates from any organisation. If you send delegates on this course, they will meet a variety of people from different organisations and industries.

    We also offer the option of running a cohort just for your organisation. If you'd like to do this just get in touch via cat@poweredbydiversity.org.

  • We have a maximum cohort size of 50 so you can send 1 to 50 delegates at a time, depending on how many places are available.

    If you’re booking more than 20 delegates, it might be more cost effective to run one just for your organisation. If you'd like to do this just get in touch with us via cat@poweredbydiversity.org.

  • It's for anyone that you want to grow and support to become Diversity Ambassadors at your organisation.

    Some organisations ask for volunteer ambassadors from across the company, some will train their ERGs, some send their managers and some will send their HR/ People team - we also get executive leadership teams participating as a group.

    The only thing we ask is that your delegates want to be there, are ready to learn and keen to participate and grow into confident EDI leaders!

  • Definitely not.

    We have designed this course to be inclusive of employees at any level, in any department.

    This training takes each delegate on their own personal EDI leadership journey, so it's just as effective for ambitious apprentice as it is for an HR Director or CEO.

    Everyone can be an EDI leader in their own unique way - regardless of their position in an organisation.

  • Absolutely!

    This course will be perfect for them.

    All our teachers have been chosen because they are inclusive, approachable and committed to making their classes inclusive of delegates at all places on the EDI journey.

  • Yes - it’s perfect for them.

    Depending on their area of expertise and lived experience they may not have expertise in every area we cover in the course or they may want to brush up - so although some areas may be totally their jam, other areas may be new to them - or areas they want to improve.

  • Yes, it’s vital that senior leaders are diversity ambassadors for your organisation!

    We’ve trained c-level teams, CEOs and senior leadership teams, as well as cohorts of people managers.

  • Yes. It's absolutely essential to us that all of our teachers have lived experience in the topic they are teaching.

  • Yes! Asking questions, making mistakes and trying and failing are ESSENTIAL for learning.

    Our teachers are expert educators - they WANT you to ask questions and be curious. Delegates will never be spotlighted or made to feel bad for asking a question or using a slightly outdated term.

  • It’s definitely interactive in terms of participation in the chat, via Menti polls, or short, fun quizzes - but nobody will ever be spotlighted and made to interact if they don’t want to.

Why are Diversity Ambassadors Important?

diversity ambassadors against sexism and sexual harassment…


One third of women’s careers had been affected by sexual harassment and a massive 72% had either encountered or witnessed inappropriate behaviour from male colleagues at work and 67% of women have experienced gender discrimination in some form. Your Diversity Ambassadors could support colleagues who are experiencing harassment and discrimination based on sex - and also their managers.

diversity ambassadors could help you to retain racially minoritised talent…

Your Diversity Ambassadors can be a first port of call for racially marginalised colleagues. Did you know that 41% of Black and Minority Ethnic workers face racist behaviour – from “banter” and jokes, through to bullying and harassment? An enormous 4 out of 5 don’t report the racism, for fear of it not being taken seriously or making things worse. Having a peer-level colleague who is educated in EDI - and there to support them if they reach out - can encourage employees to open up about issues they might worry about talking to a manager or HR about.

More than 120,000 UK workers from minority ethnic backgrounds have quit their jobs because of racism. Diversity Ambassadors could help you retain your employees by giving them an outlet and the support they need.

diversity ambassadors for disability and neuro-inclusion…


Did you know that an enormous 37% of employees with non-visible disabilities have not disclosed them at work? This increases for people whose conditions are easier to ‘mask’ – 62% with autism, 56% with mental health conditions and 54% with non-visible health conditions have kept their disability secret. 65% of neurodivergent employees fear discrimination from management.

A lot of organisations tell us that if their disabled and neurodivergent employees would just come out and tell them what they need they could help them - but it doesn’t work that way. In order to make employees feel safe to reveal what they need in order to be their best selves at work, an inclusive workplace environment needs to come first. Your Diversity Ambassadors can help to create an inclusive environment in which disabled and neurodivergent colleagues to speak up - and feel supported.

diversity ambassadors for religious inclusion…


How would you feel if your organisation expected you in the office on Christmas Day, nobody wished you a happy Christmas and you suspected people avoided you in the run-up because they didn’t know what to say? People’s religious beliefs are an enormous part of their lives - and who they are, but 47% of religious employees say they do not feel comfortable discussing at work the religious festivals they celebrate. 32% said they have had negative experiences when expressing their religious identity at work and 38% said they feel organisations could do more to be inclusive of people of different faiths.

Your Diversity Ambassadors could help your religiously marginalised colleagues to feel comfortable bringing their whole selves to work - and raising awareness about religiously important times of year - and how to make colleagues feel included and valued during them.

diversity ambassadors for a multi-generational workforce…


Did you know that the most common form of workplace discrimination reported is age discrimination? More than 1 in 10 adults in the UK say that they think their age has been a factor in not getting jobs they've applied for and a 5.7% saying that they've experienced workplace discrimination based on their age.

Multigenerational workforces exist now - and with retirement ages getting later, will only increase over time with up to 5 generations in the same workforce. Every generation has something to learn and something to teach; your Diversity Ambassadors could implement mentoring and reverse mentoring programs so your amazing employees of all ages can break down generational barriers and learn and share knowledge with each other.

diversity ambassadors for year-round pride…

You might celebrate Pride each year for a few days in June but what about the other 11 months of the year? Did you know that one in eight trans people (12%) have been physically attacked by customers or colleagues in the last year because of being trans?

One in ten black, Asian and minority ethnic LGBT employees (10%) have been physically attacked because of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity, compared to 3% of white LGBT employees.

One in eight lesbian, gay and bi people (12%) wouldn’t feel confident reporting any homophobic or biphobic bullying to their employer. One in five trans people (21%) wouldn’t report transphobic bullying in the workplace.

Your Diversity Ambassadors can pick up the Pride baton and focus on real changes that can make your LGBTQIA+ employees feel accepted and included - all year round.

We’d love to chat

Send us a message via cat@poweredbydiversity.org or using the form below, or book a time to chat to us using this link.