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Hi, I\u2019m Jess, and I\u2019m the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Co-ordinator for the Departments of Immunology & Inflammation and Brain Sciences.<\/p>\n
I joined Imperial in August 2024.\u00a0 Previously I had been working as a freelance EDI Consultant for a range of organisations both in the UK and internationally, across multiple sectors such as development finance, national government, commercial legal mediation and publishing, as well as for the UK and global HE sectors. Before that I worked at Advance HE in their Charters Team, helping to develop the Athena Swan transformed charter, as well as supporting the creation and implementation of gender and EDI charters around the world. My academic background is in law, and gender and sexuality.<\/p>\n
Trying to work out all the different systems and processes and how they all fit together, along with trying to work out where to find accurate data!\u00a0 Also, there\u2019s so much great work going on in the department, and the university as a whole, but it\u2019s often quite siloed, so trying to get a cohesive overview of what is going on and who is leading different initiatives is a challenge that I still haven\u2019t quite got the bottom of.<\/p>\n
Thanks! It was actually a great opportunity to understand the department from the start through qualitative and quantitative data, and gave me an excuse to ask all kinds of questions to people about culture and behaviours that might have taken longer otherwise.\u00a0 It\u2019s given me insight as to why things are the way they are, and therefore what and how we can improve things for everyone.\u00a0 It was also a wonderful chance to speak to lots of people who were open and candid with me about the real positives of the department as well as the challenges, and reassured me that I\u2019d made the right decision in coming to work here!<\/p>\n
I\u2019m looking forward to actually implementing the initiatives and putting the theory into practice, using our evidence-based analysis to gain measurable successes. \u00a0EDI to me is all about the practical side, of making a positive difference to people and improving cultures and communities so that people feel confident and psychologically safe when they come into their working environment.<\/p>\n
I love tennis, both playing (badly!) and watching it, and I\u2019ve recently restarted ballet lessons which I haven\u2019t done since I was a teenager \u2013 it\u2019s a humbling experience to discover my body can\u2019t move the way it used to!\u00a0 I have two children (5 and 8) and I\u2019m really enjoying introducing them to the things I love, so lots of tasting food from different countries and cultures, going to the theatre and visiting the many museums and art galleries in London, and just embracing as many cultural opportunities as possible.\u00a0 And whilst I wouldn\u2019t call myself a fan, I do find myself at an awful lot of Arsenal games\u2026<\/p>\n
People are interesting! \u00a0One of the best things about my role is getting it speak to people and talk about issues and topics that people don\u2019t often have a chance to articulate, particularly in their professional lives, but which is vital to who they are as human beings.\u00a0 I love finding out what people think and why, even if I don\u2019t agree with them! EDI is not about wanting everyone to agree or think the same, but creating an environment in which people can respectfully challenge and disagree, as well as learning about other perspectives and ideas.\u00a0 Although we each only have one life, there are infinite ways to live it; let\u2019s see what we can discover and learn from each other to make life better for everyone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For our staff profile series we spoke to Jessica Kitsell, EDI co-ordinator for the Department of Immunology and Inflammation and Brain Sciences about her role, completing Athena Swan and the recent silver success in the department.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1381,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[278172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-staff-profile"],"yoast_head":"\n