Who Are We?
The Diversity Network was founded by two local business women, Kate Wright and Sam Duffy in 2017. Sam and Kate have worked in Learning & Development, Human Resources, Organisational Development and Cultural Change for many years. They are both passionate about facilitating and enabling change in the way we work in order to make the business community a more accessible, fair and inclusive place regardless of who you are and where you come from.
We believe that this will contribute greatly to the bottom line of employers by helping them to attract and retain the best people, access untapped talent and create a more innovative culture, with better team working and decision making.
TDN's Advisory Board
Top L:R clockwise - Adoni Mosquera-Valencia, Alexia McClure, Helen Ollivro, Nadia Lewis, Kate Wright (Co-founder, TDN), Will Paine, Nour Belal, Matt Falla
We are by no means able to do this alone though and at TDN’s core is an extremely impressive Advisory Board of diverse business leaders and diversity experts that will help to shape the direction and focus of our not-for-profit campaigns, projects, events and activities.
Current members are:
Adoni Mosquera-Valencia, Diversity and Inclusion Consultant - Government of Jersey
Alexia McClure, Chief Operating Officer - Jersey Business
Helen Ollivro, Head of Financial Intemediaries UK & Jersey - UBS
Nadia Lewis, Founder - Nliten Consulting
Will Paine, Chief Risk Officer - HSBC, Channel Islands & Isle of Man
Nour Belal, Corporate & Employment Solicitor
Matt Falla, Managing Partner - Evelyn Partners Channel Islands
Our Stories
Adoni Mosquera-Valencia, Diversity & Inclusion Consultant, Government of Jersey
Playing a central role in leading cultural change for such a large and complex employer is a huge job and we’re so grateful to Adoni for finding the time to support TDN with its community campaigning too.
Adoni says: “I am a great believer that individuals can transform culture and show positive behaviours. We are more productive and perform better when we have a well-balanced workforce in which we accept different opinions and reduce fears towards differences. By leading the DEI strategy for the Government of Jersey and as part of TDN’s Advisory Board, I am looking to inspire creativity and innovation. I am committed to support the government’s ambition of creating a skilled workforce for the future, to attract, retain and develop the best on-island talent and have a workforce that truly reflects the diversity and differences of our island population.”
Alexia McClure, Chief Operating Officer, Jersey Business
Alexia has been a real driving force for TDN as part of our Advisory Board since our early days, providing a vital strategic mindset and important links with the small business community.
Alexia says: “Having worked in and around the business community all my career, I think about diversity in two ways. Firstly, there is considerable evidence to show that organisations that have diverse voices in executive positions deliver a better financial performance, are better able to attract and retain talent
and have a competitive advantage in building the trust of their customers. Secondly, individuals should be able to succeed because they are skilled and knowledgeable without having to grapple with overt or unconscious bias and discrimination. It is becoming very clear that in the current environment, where customers are more informed and where skills are in short supply, the organisations that create an enabling environment where anyone can fulfil their potential, are the ones that will prosper.”
Helen Ollivro, Head of Financial Intemediaries UK & Jersey - UBS
Helen has been a member of our Advisory Board since TDN’s very early days and is a strong champion of our aims.
Helen says, “I think the most important for things for me are fairness and equality. An inclusive culture is all about recognising, respecting and valuing the differences and similarities of the people working within it. Individuals should be able to live and work without prejudice and culture carriers need to reflect, understand and manage their own bias - only then will things change. Promoting and fostering diversity, inclusion and belonging, where individuals can be themselves, creates an environment in which everyone can thrive - driving innovation and success, both personally and in business.
We still have a long way to go and being part of TDN not only enables me to give back and drive change, but helps me to be the change that I want to see.”
Matt Falla, Managing Partner - Evelyn Partners Channel Islands
As well as being a prominent figure in Jersey's financial services industry, as founder of Man Club Jersey, Matt is very active champion of mental health, and especially men's mental health, in the local community.
Matt says: “I believe that a community can only truly be successful and harmonious when it is as inclusive and diverse as the environment allows. My focus is ensuring that we seek to address the biases that might exist in the island that can prevent this outcome. My passion is good Mental Health and ensuring that we create an environment where it is understood, accepted and all islanders can be their authentic selves.”
Nadia Lewis, Founder - Nliten Consulting
Nadia is a long-standing member of the board and has championed TDN’s aims from our very first event back in 2018 (The Surprising Power of Difference).
She has had a long career in Financial Services, starting as a lawyer, moving into compliance and most recently edtablishing her own regulatory consultancy practice.
Nadia says: “As a young woman in a very male dominated profession it was not unusual for the others in the board room to be looking behind me for my male boss to arrive. It was unusual for a female under 30 to be leading the legal function for a large offshore bank and I was often the only woman in the room.
Thankfully so much has changed, with many professions and institutions now seeing the value a diverse leadership team brings - not only to the quality of the discussion but also to the bottom line. That said, there is still so much to do to have a truly equal society, and inequalities and exclusion extends so much wider than gender.
I have dyslexia, something that I hid at the beginning of my career as it was less accepted and understood, and not least because of a humiliating incident and the cruel words of a school teacher. I have learned though that my (dis)ability is in fact my strength, because I problem solve in a different way to others, often coming up with a novel way to tackle problems. I share this as I want for other people, especially young people, to not be held back because others don’t fully understand the challenge and the benefits that neurodiversity can bring.
Whilst we have taken some giant steps forward since my school days, we still have a long way to go on the journey to a society that is truly accepting, open and supportive of all kinds of difference.”
Nour Belal, Corporate & Employment Solicitor
One of the most recent additions to our Advisory Board, Nour is an inspirational employment lawyer and passionate campaigner for equality in the workplace, particularly championing disability, neurodiversity and social mobility.
Nour says: “I am very passionate about how the law, strategy and policy can impact organisational culture and create more inclusive and accessible workplaces. Being a woman with a disability from an ethnic minority background and working in law, diversity and inclusion has always been close to my heart. Now, more than ever before, businesses are becoming alert to the benefits of diversity. Research in recent years has clearly shown that a zero-tolerance policy for discriminatory behaviour, such as bullying and harassment, helps to foster a more progressive workplace and stronger business performance overall.
As an Employment lawyer, I am connected to the issues of social justice and societal change every day. Recent issues that affect the work force have included race, disability, neurodiversity and the menopause. I believe issues of diversity are constantly evolving and I thoroughly enjoy working with employees and employers by managing their cases and having a practical impact on real people. I truly believe that businesses must work towards supporting their most important assets – people. Businesses that have a good understanding of what diversity means are the most likely to thrive and grow. Diversity and inclusion helps businesses to retain staff, outperform their competitors and create a more attractive employer brand overall.”
Will Paine, Chief Risk Officer for Channel Islands & Isle of Man - HSBC
Will is one of our newest members of the Board and brings a great deal of experience to the table. A proactive champion for HSBC's progressive D&I agenda in the Channel Islands, Will is also a board trustee of Jersey Childcare Trust and believes passionately that every child should be able to fulfil their potential and become our future business talent.
Will says: “One of my key learnings from the past 20+ years of working in the banking sector across different countries and communities, is that humans are all different, and they all interact with the world differently. Most companies need customers of some sort, and in order to attract them you need to understand who they are and their needs.
Google it, read the studies, it’s a fact - the most successful companies have acknowledged and prioritised our differences. They’ve learned that by having a board and workforce that better reflects the customers and communities they serve, they intuitively design and offer products and services that customers want.
Striving towards gender balance and racial diversity has been a starting point for many organisations, but there are so many aspects to diversity and inclusion (D&I), such as age, sexual orientation, culture, disability, Neurodiversity and religion. When organisations strive to challenge and support all aspects of D&I, it’s not only of benefit to them, their people and customers - importantly, it makes for a more diverse and inclusive community too.
I believe that we can all make a difference, and the reason I joined the advisory board at The Diversity Network is to help educate people and organisations, about the overwhelming benefits that a diverse culture and workplace provides."
Kate Wright, Co-Founder of TDN & Director of Arbre Consulting
Kate Wright is an HR Consultant and Cultural Change specialist. Coming from a corporate HR background in financial and professional services, she established Arbre Consulting 15 years ago to provide coaching and consultancy services to a wide range of clients in the Channel Islands and the UK. She has been a Commissioner for the Jersey Appointments Commission since 2022.
Kate co-founded The Diversity Network in Jersey in 2017 and works with local employers and campaign partners to help promote and facilitate diversity, equity and inclusion across the business community.
A passionate campaigner for equality, Kate also Chairs the Jersey Community Relations Trust and is a founder member of Women for Politics. She is currently the independent Chair of the Violence Against Women and Girls Taskforce, which is due to present its findings and recommendations to Government at the end of April 2023.
Farewell to Sam Duffy
My best TDN memory
There are so many! On a general level, it sounds a bit cliched but the people. You meet the best people when you start to talk about diversity and inclusion. They’re interesting, compassionate, funny and they have a strong moral compass. If I were to choose one event it would be the ‘Man Down’ event for men, with Taymour Qabazard and Simon Nash. Amazing speakers, so honest and insightful. There was a larger turnout than we expected and the atmosphere in the room was electric. I’ll never forget that.
Some wise, parting words from our wonderful Co-Founder, Sam Duffy, who recently stepped back following a move to the UK...
What inspired me to start TDN?
It was 2016 and Kate and I were observing the impact of movements such as ‘Black Lives Matter’, ‘Me too’ and the ‘Gender pay gap’. These campaigns were capturing public awareness and driving change more successfully than other more traditional methods had previously, such as legislative change. We could see that Diversity and Inclusion were at the heart of these issues and that this was rippling through many areas of society at a rapid pace. Around the same time, we took over an existing network called the Womens Development Forum and decided that we could use this platform for positive change but it had to be for everyone, we had to be inclusive!
My top tip for increasing the diversity of your workplace.
This definitely isn’t a project, something with a start a middle and an end that you dip into when you have a bit of time. Some organisations can struggle with that. It is a mindset or an intention, a deeply held belief. Leaders must have this attitude towards D&I in order for people to want to engage, regardless of the change you are trying to make. You might be trying to encourage a different demographic into your workplace, challenge unwanted behaviours, remove barriers or empower minorities. It really doesn’t matter how big or small the change - for it to stick, you have to start with the heart. The rest will follow.