BILLY COLE

I’m an Equity, Diversity & Inclusion leader, with 5+ years of experience. I have experience developing and implementing EDI strategies to deliver change in complex, global workplace structures. I am confident in influencing leaders and I ensure my work is aligned and embedded across an organisation. I meet workplaces where they are at, identifying barriers and opportunities for change, while amplifying underrepresented voices. 

Diversity and Inclusion Senior Manager. Sue Ryder. January 2022 – present.

Strategy development and delivery

• I lead the delivery of our EDI strategy. This includes designing and facilitating our EDI strategy ‘away-day’ where we explored the direction and aims of the second year of the strategy. The day identified four focus areas for 2022/23: Race Equity, Accessibility, EDI Reach and Measuring our Success.
• I developed a monitoring and evaluation framework, using qualitative and quantitative diversity data to identify needs, trends and measure progress.
• I’m working with an external consultancy to design and deliver an anti-racism action plan.

Influencing and educating leadership

• I engage quarterly with CEO, board members and senior leadership to deliver leadership training, report on our data and engage them in the direction of EDI strategy. The aim of this work is to provide sustainable, long-term change at Sue Ryder that is embedded across departments.
• I have developed strong relationships with leaders through my honest and non-judgmental approach. I’ve created drop-in spaces for leadership teams to talk confidentiality about their work. It’s a space for leaders to take accountability and ownership of their learning and access their projects through an EDI lens. 

Influencing and working collaboratively with other teams

• Marketing and brand. I led on representation and diversity of our first TV advert ‘Grief Kind’
• Research and influencing: I ensured our research represents marginalised and underrepresented voices and ensured the research used inclusive language.
• Content producing. I co-wrote ‘Supporting the LGBTQ+ community through grief and bereavement’. 
• Fundraising and events. I created accessibility and inclusion guidelines to be used for all our events.
• Healthcare and service delivery. I worked quickly and collaboratively to respond to EHRC’s contradicting guidance on trans people accessing public services, creating a clear response that Sue Ryder supports and welcomes their trans service users and customers.

Education, upskilling and network development

• I deliver monthly ‘EDI Drop-In’ sessions on topics e.g. microaggressions and LGBTQ+ history, deliver EDI training to specific teams and host EDI events, including International Women’s day.
• I have developed several EDI resources and launched these internally including an ‘EDI calendar’, ‘Guide to EDI for Managers’, Sue Ryder’s ‘Inclusion Passport’ and ‘Ensuring we have diverse speakers’ guidance.

Ways of working, project and policy development

• I carried out a review of the employee lifecycle - from recruitment through exit interviews. Some outputs included Sue Ryder’s recruitment  EDI page and adjustment page.  
• I identified gaps in diversity data. I’ve implemented new diversity questions and have run an internal monitoring campaign. I’ve subsequently been able to make evidence-based decisions based on our data.
• I developed, launched and embedded both our Trans and Non-Binary policy and our Menopause policy.

Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Board Member. Medito Foundation. August 2021 - present.
I advise and consult on Medito’s Diversity and Inclusion work. This includes: reviewing content and meditation scripts; preparing and inputting D&I board meetings; reviewing D&I-related issues, comments and questions from users. I’ve also led on a project looking at inclusion within their volunteer recruitment.

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion - Senior Workplace Manager. Stonewall. December 2018 –January 2022.
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion - Account Manager. Stonewall November 2017 – December 2018.

• EDI workplace strategy. I reviewed global policies; developed extensive experience delivering in depth global strategy sessions with senior leaders, reviewed global recruitment campaigns; delivered action plans on global inclusive service delivery; ran support sessions for global employee resource groups (ERGs). I lead the charities relationships with: GSK; Levi's, Tesco; Sky.  
• EDI client consultancy. I designed global D&I strategies and advising on LGBTQ+ representation in media. I led on a project for BBC’s global EDI teams, running focus groups to help them understand the experience of their LGBTQ+ employees. I worked as an LGBTQ+ consultant for Netflix’s Heartstopper.
• Developing learning content. I delivered a series of global webinars, working with in-country experts to spotlight LGBTQ+ rights and workplace culture in countries, including Singapore and India. For Stonewall’s conferences, I designed and delivered sessions, including inclusive recruitment, LGBTQ+ and mental health, effective data monitoring and global trans inclusion. 
• Speaking, training and facilitation. Topics include trans allyship, intersectionality, mental health, global mobility practices and privilege. A highlight was delivering a session on EDI service delivery at Levi’s European retail conference in Brussels. I also spoke on ITV Pride’s podcast on bi inclusion.
• Delivering strategic feedback. Delivering results of Stonewall’s Global Workplace Equality Index to organisations across sectors. The feedback I delivered focused on helping organisations shape their global strategies and policies. I was also part of the management team that sets the standards for the UK and global index.

As a Senior Manager in Stonewall’s workplace team, my responsibilities fell into three main areas:

• Team Management. I was responsible for line managing a team of five Client Account Managers. I trained, coached, and developed my team members.
• Internal Projects. I led on projects including developing inclusive recruitment, creating an EDI best practice online library and developing policy guidance. I’ve also led on workplace race equity actions projects.  
• Portfolio Management. I oversaw half our Private Sector memberships (over 250 memberships). It was my responsibility to ensure the portfolio was growing and satisfied with my team’s service.

Programme and Account Manager. The Writer. August 2016 – November 2017.
I was responsible for managing our relationships with global clients, including O2 and UNICEF, while planning and delivering their projects. I project managed a variety of briefs, from naming fashion brands, to running large brand identity projects for the financial services sector. I founded and led the agency's diversity network where we changed ways of working, celebrated diversity days and created a safe space for underrepresented staff. 

Account Manager. IPOS design. August 2013 – August 2014.
I was responsible for fulfilling clients’ point-of-sale and retail design briefs. I prepared and delivered pitches to win new business and managed projects from inception to completion. 

EDUCATION: Lancaster University. Advertising and Marketing, with Linguistics (2:1)