Pride in Leadership🌈 elevate, connect & support LGBTQ+ leaders!
Meet the wonderful Claire Ebrey, Director of ‘On The Level’ and founder of ‘Pride in Leadership.’ Claire’s doing incredible work in Manchester and beyond to create more inclusive work environments and opportunities for people. Read on to learn more about what she offers:
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Tell me a little more about the work of ‘Pride in Leadership’…
Pride in Leadership is a CIC that works to elevate, connect & support LGBTQ+ leaders, and aspiring leaders, to make them more visible. It runs frequent events, both online and in person, an Annual Conference (in Manchester), and offers a free mentoring platform to connect LGBTQ+ professionals.
In addition, it recently conducted a survey of over 1,000 LGBTQ+ people across the country to establish their barriers to career development. There is very little data about LGBTQ+ experiences in the workplace and we hope that this will make a huge difference (the report will launch in April).
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Why is this organisation so important?
There is a lot of support for LGBTQ+ people who are struggling (e.g. with drugs, homelessness, etc), but there is very little out there to help people who are ‘doing ok’. They may have jobs, their own home, etc, but still experience systemic barriers – from imposter syndrome, to feeling unable to be authentic at work.
Many find themselves in a ‘velvet rut’ – an organisation or level of seniority at which they feel safe, rather than fulfilled, and do not strive for more senior roles in their current organisation, or elsewhere. These feelings stem from years of living in a homophobic/transphobic society, and are often ‘buried deep’ inside the individual LGBTQ+ person, regardless of their level of seniority in an organisation.
We aim to break some of these down by 1) demonstrating that there are really senior, positive LGBTQ+ role models out there, 2) creating opportunity for LGBTQ+ professionals to network, do business together and offer each other peer support, 3) creating the opportunity to mentor and be mentored.
In addition, through my own business, On The Level, we offer comprehensive training for LGBTQ+ people to help them overcome these barriers to career development, and to straight/cis people to help them be better allies.
What would you most like people to know about what you do?
I work on leadership and diversity & inclusion. My whole company is built on it and Pride in Leadership focuses in on LGBTQ+. I am very proud of what we have achieved with PIL, and really hope that the report will make a huge difference.Â
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How can people get in touch and work with you?
I’d be delighted to collaborate. They can email me at: claire@onthelevelconsultancy.com
Claire Ebrey is the Director of On The Level, a dynamic micro-consultancy dedicated to transforming leadership and advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI).
Through On The Level, Claire empowers leaders to drive meaningful change at individual, organisational, and regional levels. She works with major organisations to tackle key strategic challenges, such as improving diversity in leadership and building inclusive, high-performing workplaces.
Her work includes strategic consultancy, conducting research into the barriers facing minority groups (including LGBTQ+ people, women, and ethnic minorities), as well as designing tailored EDI training programmes that support diverse talent and create environments where opportunity and prosperity are accessible to all.
Beyond her work with On The Level, Claire co-founded and runs Pride in Leadership, is a trustee of Forever Manchester, and an active volunteer with Stockport Race Equality Partnership (SREP).