Independent review of racism within the Fire Brigades Union

Our brief was to carry out an independent review of race and racism across the membership and structures of the FBU. The review is ongoing.

The Career experiences and strategies of Black Prison Educators (UCU)

We are currently carrying out a qualitative study to examine the career experiences and strategies of Black and minority ethnic prison educators.

We were commissioned by the further and higher education union UCU and have submitted our final report to them.

The Career Experiences of Black female professors

In 2018, our Director spoke with 20 of the then 25 UK Black female professors. Published in 2019, the research revealed the barriers faced by Black female scholars as they work to navigate higher education, the impact on their well-being and the strategies they use to help them reach professorship.

This was the first study of its kind in the UK about this little-known group of academics.

For more information, including about the portrait exhibition ‘Phenomenal women’ which led from the research, please see our dedicated page on Black female professors.

The educational strategies of the Black middle classes

This is the first widespread UK study to focus on the Black middle classes. The team (Stephen Ball, David Gillborn, Nicola Rollock and Carol Vincent) were interested in whether Black middle class families possess similar class resources as their white counterparts and whether they are able to use them to their advantage to progress their children through school.

The team found that although these families possess and make use of class related strategies, these alone are not sufficient to help them avoid the continued setbacks and barriers of the school system. Racism remains a barrier.

The findings are published in a series of journal articles and in the book ‘The Colour of Class: the educational strategies of the Black middle classes’ published by Routledge.

We work with individuals and organisations to help them clarify their ambitions around racial justice, prioritise relevant initiatives, identify milestones and minimise risks to delivery. This includes helping to design and write strategic plans, action plans, reports and advice to postgraduate students about their research.

Waltham Forest Council

We worked with Waltham Forest Council to help them identify and implement a suitable strategy for their EDI initiatives. Our aim was to embed a data-led approach and help them prioritise the most effective initiatives by introducing consistent evaluation measures and ways of increasing accountability and buy-in across the Council. We also included a plan to engage the Comms team to utilise messaging to share progress and updates about EDI amongst colleagues.

Cadence Partners

Our Director led and project managed the production of a systemic review, carried out by Health Innovation East, of anti-racism practices & interventions within the NHS.

Deep Dives: Strategic Career Development

These sessions are aimed at Black, Asian and racially minoritised colleagues who need a space to process and think strategically about their career development and ambitions. These private sessions are tailored to individual need, however, typically include:

• an examination of career history (achievements and setbacks) 

• identifying practical strategies to navigate the workplace especially in the context of racism and other barriers

• developing a holistic career game plan

These Deep Dives offer the safety to think, problem-solve and to develop strategic oversight in confidence and away from the challenges and pressures of the workplace.

Deep Dives: Developing a Critical Understanding of Racial Justice

Aimed at Board Members, Senior Leaders and Executives these sessions help clients to improve their understanding of the issues affecting racially minoritised colleagues in the workplace and identify strategies for change. Uniquely grounded in the disciplines of Psychology, Psychotherapy and Sociology, clients work with us to:

• build their personal understanding, analysis and awareness of racial justice

• identify common pitfalls around race and racism

• explore how to introduce practical changes and build trust in the workplace

These confidential sessions are tailored according to need allowing space for deep exploration rarely possible in group training sessions.

TESTIMONIALS

Professor Rollock’s coaching has been genuinely transformative for both my personal growth and my career. She brings solutions to problems that are invisible to others. Through our sessions, I learned to stop reacting and start responding in ways that served my interests and met my needs. Nicola helped me develop the tools to move through challenges with greater strategy and a clearer understanding of the levers for change. I have become more deliberate in my decisions and, in a short period of time, I have achieved goals I once thought were beyond my reach.

Medical Specialist & Academic

Nicola is wise and skilled and steered me, with care and kind challenge, to recognise and address what I had been blind to.

Peer, House of Lords

Nicola encourages deep reflective practice through discussion of personal experience, expertly questions beliefs and feelings, and always heads towards a practical action-based outcome. (…) highly empathetic, Nicola succeeds in the difficult skill of being challenging yet supportive (…) and always seemed to recognise where I was in my own development, and paced sessions accordingly.

Member, Executive Leadership Team, Wellcome Trust

Our Director regularly gives talks, interviews and fireside chats across the UK and internationally.

Recent events include:

• keynote on Authentic Leadership for the Independent Schools’ Association

• pre-dinner talk on challenges to equity for the higher education body AdvanceHE

• fireside chat with Naomi Kellman about racial justice for the Institute for Student Employers

• A series of talks, as an invited guest, with graduate students and faculty at the University of Connecticut and at Pennsylvania State University

• Fireside chat with Partner Kizzy Augustin at Mischon de Reya at their London Headquarters

Our Director holds or has held the following positions:

Member, MOPAC London Policing Board set up following a recommendation in Baroness Casey’s review of culture and standards in the Metropolitan Police (September 2023 - present)

Advisor, Being Black in the United Kingdom, research carried out by the US firm Coqual (January - July 2022)

Senior Advisor (Race & Higher Education) to the Vice Chancellor, University of Cambridge (October 2020 - September 2022)

Specialist Advisor, Macpherson Inquiry: 22 Years On Home Affairs Select Committee (January 2019 - December 2021)

Member, Anti-racism Expert Group, Wellcome Trust (November 2022 - March 2022)

Member, Equality & Diversity Advisory Group, British Science Association (January 2019 - December 2021)m description