Meet Sumi (they/she)
A lot happened in 2005: Destiny’s Child split up, YouTube was officially launched, and I had to pick modules for my final year of my undergraduate degree at the London School of Economics.
In a parallel universe where I made a different decision, I’m a criminologist.
But I chose ‘race and ethnicity’ and caught the DEI bug.
“You light up when you talk about DEI”
- Sumi’s best mate
Here I am now, nearly 20 years later, bringing it all to you
I’ve done lots of things, including:
Trained hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people on DEI (I really regret not keeping a tally).
Audited and trained big companies with more staff than a football stadium, national charities, political parties and an extremely prestigious institution that I wish I could tell you about but I can’t.
Did an MA in Race and Ethnicity, a personal development coaching diploma (comes in handy for having change-convos), and because that diploma completely ignored systemic inequality, a Feminist Theory Coach certification.
Switched my focus to small businesses at the end of 2021 (you’re my faves. But ssshhh, don’t tell the others). Since then, I’ve helped over 60 small businesses to actually DO inclusion and equity (not just talk about doing it).
How I work
Make it fun
I nearly did a PhD on humour as an anti-racist tool. But then I remembered how I called a helpline the day before my MA dissertation deadline because I was a sobbing mess. I still stand by my belief that humour is a powerful tool for social change.
Keep it simple
There’s a lot of jargon and tricky topics to navigate. DEI isn’t easy, but I’m on a mission to make it as easy as it’ll ever get.
Focus on action
Knowledge is important, but so is translating it into practice. That’s the bit that all of my clients struggle with, so that’s where I focus (obvs, if there’s a knowledge gap preventing you from taking that next step, I’ll close it)
Compassion without collusion
Or as someone (anonymously) wrote on a feedback survey “Sumi tells it like it is without being a d*ck”
