Under the Global Umbrella
Welcome to Under the Global Umbrella — a podcast celebrating the people and organisations driving real change in diversity, equity and inclusion across the world
Created by Diversity Umbrella, this series shines a spotlight on the incredible winners and changemakers from the British Diversity Awards, the European Diversity Awards, the Rainbow Honours, and the Employee Network Awards.
Through honest conversations and powerful stories, we go beyond the headlines to explore the impact behind the accolades — sharing lived experiences, bold leadership, and the ideas shaping more inclusive workplaces and communities.
Because recognition matters — but understanding the journey behind it matters even more.
Under the Global Umbrella
Under the Global Umbrella Podcast - Episode: Meet the New CEO of Diversity Umbrella
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In this special pre-episode of Under the Global Umbrella, hosts Char Bailey and Kat Parsons introduce listeners to the next chapter of Diversity Umbrella. Kat reflects on her journey from award-winning diversity leader to becoming the organisation's new CEO, sharing why the opportunity was impossible to resist. Together, they discuss the incredible legacy created by founder Linda Riley, the evolution of the European Diversity Awards, British Diversity Awards, Rainbow Honours and Employee Network Awards, and the growing importance of recognising those driving inclusion in workplaces around the world. It's an honest conversation about leadership, legacy and ambition, offering an inspiring behind-the-scenes look at the organisation and the vision for its future.
Cat Parsons, you are the brand new CEO of the Diversity Umbrella. I am, yes. And under the Diversity Umbrella, there are four awards. There are. There's the Rainbow Honours, the Employee Network Awards, the British Diversity Awards. And the ones we call of the big one, the European Diversity Awards. What does it feel like? What does it mean to you to be a part of something so huge?
SPEAKER_00It's absolutely massive. So at this point, I am about two months into my new role. And but I have been in the scene for a number of years now. So I've won a couple of awards, a British Diversity Award, a European Diversity Award, and I've been part of the employee networks as well in terms of the organisations I've worked for. So I've sort of been around and I've been inspired, and you know, you go to these events and they are like absolutely phenomenal. To sort of host a table from the organization that you're representing, to bring new faces in, like it really does sort of fuel those people in the room. And sort of that's sort of built over time. And because of winning those those awards, that sort of recognition, my career like absolutely just spiked. All of a sudden, people sort of knew who I who I was and were sort of taking note. And I decided to have a bit of a career flex, you know, see see where what was out there. I've been in head of diversity roles for for a number of years now, and the opportunity came to take over as CEO of Diversity Umbrella, and I absolutely bit someone's hand off to take it.
SPEAKER_01Well, you you're taking over, but it it yeah, it must be massively daunting because you know the founder of the Diversity Umbrella and all of these incredible awards, um, Linda Riley, who we we know is a diversity powerhouse. She has literally dedicated her life to inclusion and belonging. And now that she has created this incredible awards and this platform, what does it feel like to, you know, step into those giant shoes? Because she really does have a huge legacy. It's it's massive shoes to fill.
SPEAKER_00I mean, they're they are absolutely ginormous shoes. Um, and I think I don't think about it too much in terms of stepping into her shoes. She's very much firmly in her shoes moving forward. Um, there's no moving her out of those shoes. She what she's created, um, so the European Diversity Awards is uh 16 this year. This this has been going, you know, not when sort of diverse inclusion suddenly became a bit sort of fashionable and and people, you know, organisations started having heads of D ⁇ I, you know, blank piece of paper to to sort of crack on. You know, this has been going when it wasn't, you know, mainstream to have you know a diversity person in your organisation focusing on this role. So, you know, what she's created and the momentum, and it's just built over time, so it started with the European Diversity Awards, which is now, you know, you're talking 1300 people in a room in November, it's it's massive. Yeah, people fly in from literally all over Europe. All over your attend.
SPEAKER_01And I think sometimes people come from even further just because their organisations are that big.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, 100%. And then there was sort of like you know, Linda was saying, there's this sort of gap in terms of focusing on British diversity and and what we're doing in in this country. So the British Diversity Awards was five this year. Um we've just had the rainbow on us as well, which this was the fifth one, so my first one as a CEO. And the Employee Network Awards are our baby of the uh of the awards. There we are, three this year. But again, it was that sort of everything's sort of flexed over time. So the employee network awards, although they're new, are absolutely massive because so many organisations have employee resource groups or business resource groups or just sort of networks or inclusion councils, shadow boards, all these sort of new gatherings of people, and there wasn't sort of a space really dedicated to them for the work they do, side of desk, extra hours. Like it's a really tough role.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, especially because it's not, you know, it's not in their job description, it's not in their contract, they're not getting paid for it, they're doing it out of sheer commitment to inclusion. And I think that's something that really echoes when you're at any of the awards, you feel the people in the room, they really do care. And you know, even for me, I've been at the our Rainbow Honours and the BDAs since the beginning, and and the ENAs now since since they started. And for someone who has my level of intersectionality, you know, my friends will laugh and say, Sha, you are a walking DNI tick box, you're a lesbian, you're a woman, you're a person of colour, you're neurodivergent, anything else. Um you know I never imagined that I'd be backstage interviewing winners, and it's only because someone like Linda Riley, in fact, not someone like Linda Riley, the Linda Riley, you know, saw me, gave me an opportunity where others would have, you know, laughed or presumed that I wasn't capable or, you know, thought that I was not the right fit for that kind of job. And it really does provide people who are often othered the the safety to actually thrive and be themselves. And you know, I think that was one of the reasons why we've connected and become such, you know, I might use the term loosely, friends. Friends, friends. Um, because we we both know what it's like to to feel othered, uh, to not be psychologically safe, to not be seen, and then to actually be recognized and pulled and helped up by this incredible organisation, which you are now at the helm of. I know.
SPEAKER_00And actually, I mean that's the first time we met. So I had won a Diva Award for Head of Diversity of the Year, and I had not everyone says this, I'd not prepped, I'd not I went over. I remember being in the car with my wife on the way there, and um she said, Um this was my first, I'd never been nominated for anything before. I was very much like head down, get the work done, don't look up, you know, keep going. And um she said, um, do you not think you should write some a speech? And I said, no. And then she said, some bullet points? And I said, no, there's no way I'm ever going to win this. Like the people in the category for header DI were massive. They've been doing it for ages. I'd been doing it for probably about 12 months, um, and I was pushed into the role, I would say pushed. You know, it wasn't part of my career path at all. I'd been in construction and environment and health and safety and all these sorts of roles. Um, but I think the thing that I that was common was I know how to get stuff done, I know how to connect with people very quickly to be able to move things at pace. So when this role of head of DI came up, I was a bit like, oh, this is a bit soft and fluffy, I'm not sure this is for me. And then that's my biggest regret ever. Um, it's it's the hardest job there there is, I think. Um, but when I won that award and I had literally, I had no idea what to say on stage at all. I just remember being like, oh, like all these faces, all these people. And I came backstage to you, and uh you said, Who are you? What have we won? Congratulations, like you were absolutely brilliant. And then I said, Um, it's Cat, and you said, not Catherine, and I said, No, it's it's Kat. And then I said, only my mum calls me Catherine. And then the interview starts, Catherine, congratulations on your award. And then I knew we'd be friends.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, I have always thought myself as a very maternal motherly role, so it just makes complete sense. Um, and it is, you know, massive the the impact that that winning an award has. And I guess that's the reason why we've created this platform, because you know, it's not just about the the accolades and the recognition, it's about the story behind the person, it's about the difference that they make and have will continue to make. It's it's such an inspiring way for us to really connect with those award winners and really see a little bit more about them. Because I have, you know, it's a massive, it's probably the biggest privilege of my career that I get to stand backstage, hold that space with, you know, as much warmth and kindness and openness and gentleness because the winners come backstage. Um, as you know, you're like your mouth's dry, you need a glass of water, people need a moment. I often, you know, I spend my time holding hands, doing deep breaths with people before they're ready for their interview. And I'm so excited that we have bought this podcast to life because I think being able to share those stories with a wider audience has so much potential for inspiration. And I'm so excited to find out what people do having heard those stories.
SPEAKER_00And I think that was, you know, Linda was would always ask me, like, after I'd won an award, like, what what does this mean to you and do you think it's benefited your career? So it was never all you know just about the recognition or holding the award or you know where it sits in your office. It was always about like personally, what was it doing for you? Was it moving you forward? Was it a positive experience? And so my career just absolutely flew from that first moment of getting the first award, and then it just snowballed, and I was on lists and I was in rooms and I was like I was really being recognised. And I I jumped to a couple of organizations, some massive brands, um, because of because of that recognition. But my when Linda was sort of talking about you know what this could look like moving forward with Diversity Umbrella, obviously the awards are like the thing. They are prestige, they are massive. We get so many thousands of nominations, it's absolutely incredible. And I think for me, because I'm diversity inclusion, because this has been my my job, it's sharing best practice. You know, my sort of take on it, taking this role is how do we open the filing cabinet and say, right, this is what this person has done, and this is why they were stood on stage, and really sort of extend that moment. So you have the moment on stage where you are sideswiped and you're in shock. We get backstage, we speak to you, we have to take a moment, you're trying to garble something together, but you never get like what they actually did. Like we don't give them enough sort of space um to pro to process and be able to communicate.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I think it's it's difficult, isn't it? Because when you're in that environment on the spot, your your energy is up there, you're so excited, you've just won, you want to get back to the table and see your colleagues and your partner and your friends, and being able to really sit down with people and capture their story and give them an opportunity to really talk about who they are, where they've been, how they got to that moment of receiving that recognition, I think that is that's the reason why lots of people do this work, isn't it? It's it's you know, we used to say back in the the industry that I used to work in in sales, oh I'm sorry about that. Um, but we used to say facts tell and stories sell. And I think if we want to quotation sell people on inclusion, on belonging, on why that's important, then these are the stories that need to be told. Because right now the world is a difficult place to exist in for many people, not just marginalized people. And the more we can engage people in these conversations, we can open minds, we can soften hearts, and we can really allow people an opportunity to thrive being exactly who they are. And I think we are we're on to something here.
SPEAKER_00I think so. And it's so not only is it this podcast series, so we're going to be interviewing award winners, networks, sponsors, sponsors as well, yeah. Why why they're putting their money and their brand behind the awards as well. We're doing it as a blog as well, so we can have more a more regular sort of stream of content. So we've we've had the rainbow honors recently, so we'll be going through and giving that space for each of those award winners to say, you know, what was it? What is your message to others? You know, what did you find difficult? You know, give us the tips, you know, the things that you did that that you know led to this award. But equally it's about connection and networking as well. And that's sort of a big piece. You you go to the awards, so the British Diversity Awards, I think we had about 1100 people in the room in March. Absolutely massive. And um, my tactic before this role was always to take a picture of the seating plan, and then I'd I'd network my way around that room. Like I knew every table that every person was on, because I had like a hit list of like, I've spoken to you before, I've connected with you on LinkedIn, like I'd I'd work that room as much as I possibly could. But it's not really the environment for that, it's an environment to sort of, you know, you're with your colleagues, you know, it is a busy place, you're in your tucks, you're looking great. It's it's not necessarily the place to be sort of having those deep conversations about like how are you doing this, how are you doing this. So from from that grew the global inclusivity membership as well. So this is a way that organizations can get involved and they can connect. So we have um uh a lunch on a quarterly basis, and we bring no more than 10 to 12 uh leaders together, and it's leaders across, not just DNI, because we end up being in DNI spaces talking to DI people, and you're talking to everyone who's already on the beach. Yeah, you don't want to preach in the choir, do you? So, so how do you broaden that conversation? So um, diversity inclusion goes across talent, recruitment, learning and development, well-being, health and safety, sustainability-like all these different spaces all have DNI as as a lens of it. So we bring together leaders across those spaces, and I always describe it as a bit like Christmas. Like, it's not like you're sat around a table of 12 people and you're chatting to the person on your left and the person on your right, and that's it, and you kind of miss out the other side of the table. It ends up being one conversation round the table, and you're all sort of chipping in, and the conversation just you know, you start with a bit of a conversation starter, and then I can never get people to be quiet. Like it's like And that's what we want, isn't it? That's it, yeah. And it's it's like sharing, not only like we talked about resilience at our last one, this is a really difficult role. This will come up across the podcast a lot, resilience and um you know, it's it's a challenging space because of budgets and small teams and external pressures. So it's a space where you can sort of say, This is hard. Like it feels a little bit like counselling. This is hard, are you finding it hard? Okay, good. Then there's reassurance in that. But equally, that it then moves into a space of like, well, how have you done that? And what was it that kind of made others have a penny drop moment? And how can I what are the roadblocks? It's that best practice, isn't it? 100%.
SPEAKER_01It's that how can we help each other? What did you do? What worked, what's not working, what can we try? Is there a way we can collaborate? Because ultimately we have to create those moments of synergy. We are all trying to get to the exact same moment. We're trying to become obsolete. And if we if we don't work together, we're never gonna get there. I think what I love about the diversity umbrella is that we think about inclusion every step of the way. Whether that's an award, whether it's backstage when you're interviewing me, and I'm thinking, I wonder what knees this person have. Would they like a hug, a handshake, a high five, or just a wink? You know, we think about it by having the quiet rooms, we think about it in what happens throughout the year, in the training that we're giving, in the conferences that we're holding, in the education that we're trying to provide. And that really is what it looks like to embody diversity, to embody inclusion, to embody belonging. And if we can each as individuals embody that essence of belonging, then that can ricochet out into our organizations, into our teams, into our ERGs, and hopefully, oh forgive me for saying, into the world. The world, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I think it's um it's almost infectious, isn't it? I think, yeah, you you like the lunch that we had recently as part of the membership, like everyone was absolutely buzzing. They they left that room, and I was getting emails before I'd even got in the taxi to say, like, that was the best conversation I've had in a long time. Because, you know, as professionals, you get invited to lunch, brunch, conference, panel. Like, there's a lot that lands in your diary, and there's a lot of people trying to do a lot of great work. But we are all short on time. And and sometimes you sort of go to these events and you think, please let there be like a golden nugget that I can leave with. So that there's you know, my day's been worthwhile. So we've started to create um conferences. So as an organization, you can come to us and say, I can't, like, this is stuck. I've I've got these three things, and they are not moving as much as we try. Well, we've got banks and banks of award winners who are who are doing this stuff. They may be from different sectors, different size organizations, but they'll have similar challenges. So to be able to sort of start to pull those sorts of events together as well and be so bespoke, you you're guaranteed that you're not gonna send your uh you know your employees to an event for the day hoping to find something. You're gonna send them and they're gonna come home with a like an absolute notebook.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, isn't that the definition of diversity of thought?
SPEAKER_00100%.
SPEAKER_01And having the benefit of that diversity of thought that we have really tried to nurture and cultivate. Um Kat, we talked about Linda, the Linda Riley. I feel like she's the kind of person you have to say, Linda Riley. Linda just doesn't quite cut it. Um and Linda Riley has, you know, got this legacy of being known as Diversity Riley. She has. What do you hope that your legacy will be across this journey of you know being at the helm of the diversity umbrella now? What's the next phase?
SPEAKER_00That's a really great question. And she you know, she absolutely is Diversity Riley. I think mine is around that sharing and networking piece. And I haven't thought of a quirky name for that yet. So suggestions welcome. But mine is we're throwing the doors open. We want you to know what our award winners are doing, we want them to have an extended platform, we want the sponsors to be able to see the benefit of the categories they're sponsoring and the awards they're sponsoring as well. You know, they're the ones that are putting their money behind these events, you know, to to keep them going, to keep them thriving. And uh equally in terms of your brand being out there, the talent and the visibility that your brand has, you know, to to sort of encourage people, you know, you'll put it's times are hard, budgets are hard. So yeah, to be able to really sort of showcase not only the winners, the sponsors, but to really throw throw those doors open to say this is the calibre of the people we've got, and have that slight bit of everyone loves a bit of competition. Oh yeah. I never let my kids win again anything. It's terrible. You've got to teach them early. You do, but now I'm now losing and it's not our choice. You taught them too well. You've become obsolete. Well done. I have, but it is, I think there is a bit of that competitiveness to say, you know, how are how is our organisation doing that and why are we not doing it? So if we can, you know, if that's a way of a driver for for other organizations to to step up and do more, then we will showcase the very best of the best. Um but equally we'll we'll share warts and all that, you know, this is a difficult job and there's pivots all the time and there's roadblocks constantly, but but progress is still in the right direction. So how do we support that and and move it forward?
SPEAKER_01Well yeah, if you if you I guess for the most part we want to collaborate. But if we do have to compete, we want to compete to be the most inclusive. So that's a great competition to be a part of.
SPEAKER_00It is, it is.
SPEAKER_01Is there anything about this podcast that you think our listeners need to know before we let them go and listen to our very first episode?
SPEAKER_00I'd say um be open-minded, be curious. We've got some great people that we've selected to do this, and this is the first series we're gonna do to see how this goes, to do say warts and all, why why people have got into these positions, how they've managed to get themselves onto stage. This is not a simple pro process. I mean, even to get on a short list is uh such an achievement out of the the so many thousands of nominations we get. So these people have got something to say and they're making change. So I'd say grab a brew and a pen. I'm still with the pen era, I don't tend to do notes on my phone, but grab a pen because they they've got the answers. And equally, I think these people are giving their time up to come and chat to us. So if you hear something that you love, then go and find them on LinkedIn. Most of them will be hanging out there and go and ask them, you know, questions. They'll happily give up their time um to to come and brainstorm with you in terms of issues you're having, or you know, just some reassurance, I think. So go and look them up because they are absolutely phenomenal.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I think we've we've heard the applause and it's time to hear about the cause. I'm really looking forward to finding out what makes the people tick, how they got their success, and how they're now sharing that with the rest of the community, of industry, and with us. Um, we're looking forward to hearing your feedback on our Under the Global Umbrella podcast. Please remember to give us a like, leave a comment, and if you heard something that someone else needs to hear, then please feel free to share. Thank you so much for listening. We'll be back soon with a very special guest.