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Simone White
Internal Networks Expert | Inclusion Specialist
Internal Networks Expert | Inclusion Specialist
Simone White is a multi-award-winning specialist, who works to increase the impact of internal employee resource groups (ERGs), maximizing the visibility and opportunities of underrepresented groups to promote equitable inclusion.
Her advocacy focuses on empowering individuals and groups to know their worth, seek commonalities with others, eliminate ‘blind’ spots, and elevate all.
Simone has worked within administration for over two decades. Her passion motivated her to create an internal network for over 500 administrative professionals at the world’s largest asset manager, alongside creating and implementing transparent, equitable career paths for the administrative population. She is a leading voice advocating for the profession.
Simone highlights the need for the administrative profession to be more diverse in terms of gender, race and ability and to be strategically included by organisations when building DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) programs that often omit this group. Her own ERG journey began first with women’s networks, progressed to her own profession and has expanded to those groups that reflect her various intersectionalities.
Simone is an international keynote speaker, writer, mentor, and trainer and has appeared on numerous podcasts. She is a life fellow of EPAA, a lead on the Diversity Inclusion & Belonging team for the World Administrators Alliance and an Advisory Board member for Practically Perfect PA.
Her work has been recognised and celebrated with awards from Women in Investments in 2021 and WeAreTheCity in 2016.
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The Need for Inclusion
There has been an increasing focus on DEI over the past few years. A big push has been made by businesses, schools, universities and those within them to be more inclusive. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) is high on the agenda of corporations, governments and society around the globe. Targets are being set, action is being called for and accountability is increasing.
Many have now been part of or listened to discussions on gender, race, neurodiversity, and sexuality and we have seen actions being taken.
These discussions have certainly made a difference for many, yet a large population of professionals have been marginalised and left out of such discussions due to another bias which has negatively impacted them globally. A bias that is so ingrained that it is viewed as acceptable, despite it having major implications for a group who are majority women.
During this session, Simone will unpack the ongoing impact of this bias and highlight what is needed, why it is needed and how we can influence change to protect the future of the profession.
Learning Outcomes
- What it means to be Included
- How Inclusion can lead to Belonging
- The Power of a collective
- Why Inclusion alone is not enough
- Changing the narrative
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Inclusion is Not Enough
Administrative Professionals are the very heart and foundation of many organisations around the globe. Despite often being told that ‘we could not do without you’ our inclusion and sense of belonging have increasingly diminished over time.
During this session, Simone White, author of the article ‘The Need for Inclusion’ delves deeper into why our inclusion has been negatively impacted.
She highlights what action we can all take as individuals and as groups to ensure that our profession, not only survives but thrives.
Learning Outcomes
- Administrative space
- How can we challenge misconceptions held by others and ourselves
- Why we must work together for impactful change