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Rethinking Allyship
SWiFT held a member-only evening with guest speaker Cordelia Osewa-Ediae, a strategic Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Consultant with over 15 years’ experience of leading culture change and talent development initiatives. In this session, Cordelia discussed the role of women as allies to other women, what this often means to many, and what it should mean – if one maintains an intersectional lens. This session was a safe space for all to learn and grow together.
About Cordelia Osewa-Ediae
Cordelia Osewa-Ediae is a strategic Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Consultant with over 15 years’ experience of leading culture change and talent development initiatives in various sectors. Follow this link for more information about Cordelia: CordeliaOEdiae.com
At BT Group, Cordelia was pivotal to creating the first set of comprehensive DEI goals and targets, designed and led the first group wide psychologically safe reciprocal reverse mentoring programme, spearheaded the first ethnicity pay gap report, and successfully led several campaigns to educate about key inclusion topics.
Prior to BT Group, she developed and delivered bespoke leadership programmes for the National Grid and London Metropolitan Police; led a nationwide DEI strategic review at the NSPCC; and provided consulting services to organisations including Tesco, Clarks and Ministry of Justice. As a Clore Social Fellow, she acted as an adviser to the University of Greenwich’s ‘Brighter Futures’ social mobility initiative. Her 2016 Fellowship research highlighted lessons learnt from leaders who had taken steps to make their workplaces more inclusive
A trained Coach and Trainer, Cordelia regularly speaks, and writes about issues relating to leadership, workplace inclusion, social mobility and culture change. She is an RSA Fellow, Action Learning facilitator for leadership teams and Trustee of a multi academy school Trust Board.
In 2023, Cordelia was awarded the Baton Awards ‘Thought Leader of the Year’ award. This year, she received the ‘Race Equity’ award at the BT Group Stand Together awards in recognition of how she effectively integrated DEI into the corporate strategy, and strategically worked to transform the company’s corporate culture.
Photo by Lewis Patrick