Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Ann-Marie Smith works full time as a Senior Consultant Psychologist at Work Psychology Group. She specialises in the design, delivery, analysis, and evaluation of talent assessments.

Ann-Marie has experience in leading large, complex projects within selection and assessment, leadership development, organisational change, employee engagement and diversity and inclusion. She is particularly skilled in quantitative research methodologies such as adverse impact analysis and the criterion-related validation of assessment processes. She is interested in equality, diversity and inclusion and has been involved in several complex equality, diversity, and inclusion evaluation projects.

Prior to her current position, Ann-Marie worked as a Senior Consultant for 3 years at Korn Ferry Management Consultancy, and for 4 years as a Research Psychologist for Saville Assessment.

Ann-Marie graduated with a Master of Science degree in Occupational Psychology from Birkbeck college, the University of London. She also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Brunel University. She is currently a Trainee Occupational Psychologist, on course to become a Chartered Psychologist.

Ann-Marie also works part-time as an Associate Tutor at Birkbeck college, the University of London, teaching Research Methods, Selection & Assessment and Employee Relations & Motivation modules on the Occupational Psychology MSc.

Ann-Marie hopes to bring her research, project management and facilitation skills to the EDI-TFG, to lead the recommendation of practical solutions.  She feels particularly passionate about improving the representation of diverse groups in Occupational Psychology. 

Sathi has been at Royal Dutch Shell for eight years designing and supporting global leadership assessments. Now as interim Head of Diagnostics she is leading and shaping the global assessment strategy and methodology for recruitment, potential, leadership development, employee engagement and culture.

Sathi came from the BBC where she had over nine years' experience as an Assessment Consultant and then moving internally where she became People and Organisational Development Manager for BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC.

Here she project managed a range of initiatives including the identification of high potentials through targeted assessment programmes and the design and delivery of development centres for new and established leaders.

Prior to the BBC, Sathi spent four years at Capita plc as a consultant including the provision of psychometric services to the Civil Service Fast Stream graduate selection process.

To the EDI-TFG, she hopes to bring a workplace perspective which will help provide input to practical opportunities and improvements.  Core to her values is creating assessment methods that are fair and non-discriminatory.   She is keen to enhance the representation of diverse groups in our profession. 

She is a Research Centre Manager for agiLab at the University of Sussex and a member of the Digit (Future of Work) Research Centre at University of Sussex. She holds an MSc in Occupation Psychology (distinction) and an MRes in Business and Management (merit).

Deepali is registered at and certified by British Psychological Society as a competent Test User: Occupational Ability and Personality. She is a member of the Division of Occupational Psychology at the British Psychological Society (BPS) and European Association of Work and Occupational Psychology (EAWOP).

Within her role as a researcher, she is involved in ED&I research from an academic and practitioner perspective. She is also actively participating in a DEIB book club to learn, understand and create dialogue around diversity and inclusion topics.

She is passionate about EDI and hopes that the BPS ED&I taskforce can help create an inclusive and truly collaborative environment for international students, academics, and practitioners within BPS and the wider psychology community.

Only with collaboration can we truly elevate the experience of equality and inclusion.

She is currently a senior research fellow at the Hertfordshire Business School, University of Hertfordshire, Global Work and Employment research group that draws on an inter-disciplinary perspective for critically examining contemporary developments in work and employment in the global economy. Her teaching specialisms include Organisational and Occupational Psychology, Managing People, Introduction to Organisational Behaviour and International Human Resource Management.

She has previously worked on several national (e.g. Rolls-Royce and Meggitt) and international (Horizon 2020) research projects focused on growing multidisciplinary fields of human robot/automation interaction. She is currently running several projects aimed at exploring how social media and technology can impact our lives and psychological well-being.

Tetiana is a member of the Division of Occupational Psychology EDI Task & Finish Group at the British Psychological Society.

Hi, my name is Phil McKee and I currently work in the Financial Services (FS) industry, in the UK. I have been in FS for almost 15 years; my experience includes banking (Retail & Investment) and Consultancy. I am passionate about diversity and inclusion (D&I), I developed and deployed a variety of initiatives to drive a more inclusive workplace for all. A recent example that I am particularly proud of was the national rollout of a D&I workshop I created for our managers.

I completed my Psychology Masters in 2020, my research project focused on D&I in the workplace. This Masters was my first introduction to the field of psychology (including Occupational Psychology). I am relatively new to this area but my passion for evidence-based solutions to drive D&I has led me to embark on my Occupational Psychology (OP) Masters which I start in September– I hope to eventually be a Chartered OP.

My practical application of D&I in complex, matrix organisations is something I feel will add to the diverse experiences and backgrounds of the other members. Meeting this diverse set of individuals was ultimately my reason for wanting to participate in the EDI Task Force and engage with the DOP.

Finally, one interesting fact about myself – I am a keen painter. I like the escapism after a long and intense week at work.

Although her student research focuses on the challenges faced by women in or entering leadership positions, she is passionate about all aspects of fairness in the workplace. Her goal is to provide organisations with the information they need to enable them to improve their culture and start to remove the barriers to progression that marginalised populations currently experience.

Her practice also includes organisational change; with over 15 years' experience training and managing change across different industries, including finance, healthcare, and transport industries, she has a range of business transformation skills which she brings to play to support the necessary changes.

She holds an MSc in Organisational Psychology, a Postgraduate Diploma in Management and is currently completing a PgDip in Psychology to allow her to progress to chartership status.

As a student member, Victoria was so encouraged by the support and advice she received at her first BPS conference in 2020 that she was inspired to repay this by dedicating time to support the society with its EDI opportunities. She passionately believes that we can make a difference in making the society more inclusive.

She is a chartered member of the BPS and a member of the Health and Occupational Psychology Member Networks. She has worked for the past 20 years as a practitioner in organisational development, leadership, wellbeing, and culture change. She is passionate about creating inclusive supportive cultures at work.

Her most recent role in the UK was Wellbeing Lead at the Bank of England, where she also played an active role supporting the diversity and inclusion agenda. She has previously worked in a variety of organisations in the UK including the Equality and Human Rights Commission, and the Department of Health.

She is currently based in Australia where she is working as a practitioner in people and culture change.

I work primarily as a practitioner as a Diversity and Inclusion consultant and have worked in the D&I space for 10 years with a wide variety of organisations, so I feel I have a lot of practitioner experience to bring to this EDI task and finish group. I am passionate about diversity and inclusion in workplaces and society and am excited for the opportunity to get involved on a wider platform with the BPS. I would like to use my voice and experience to contribute to bigger group as well as benefit from an opportunity to learn from others with a similar mindset and values.

I previously worked in Ireland where I was the chair of the Division of Work and Organisational Psychology division within the Psychology Society of Ireland. During this role I appreciated the benefit of being involved with the committee for my own personal and professional development. I also appreciated that giving back to our industry and profession was an important part of my own career aims. I see being part of this group an ideal way of my meeting my own career values and being part of something good within the psychology profession.

I hold an MSc in Work and Organisational Psychology from Dublin City University (DCU), a BA in Psychology from Dublin Business School (DBS) and am a current doctoral researcher with Birkbeck University studying career transitions for older workers. 

She has a particular interest in the role of self-awareness in leadership.

Led by the passion to help people create the right conditions to thrive and express their talent, Nami is a keen facilitator and coach with a specific focus on supporting diverse staff to navigate leadership challenges and their career within the organisation. She has played a key role in building allyship behaviours and establishing staff networks.

Prior to joining the NHS, Nami has worked in several consulting firms. She has identified, designed, and delivered solutions for multiple sectors including Financial Services, Pharmaceutical industry, and healthcare.

Nami has earned an MSc in Occupational Psychology from the University of Nottingham.

I have been a member of the BPS since 1997 and completed my PhD in Applied Psychology at the University of Nottingham in 2007. Much of my career has been as an academic in Occupational and Organisational Psychology, other than when I took a career break for two years into the Humanitarian sector in 2015 to work with refugee resettlement projects in the UK and in Sri-Lanka. 

In my research, I look at how to improve access to work for marginalised communities and how to improve resources (e.g., refugee community, those coming out of the judicial system or homelessness).

My interest in EDI work comes out of my research, from the curiosity that arises out of my own experiences as a woman from an ethnic minority in England and ethnic majority in Sri-Lanka (where I grew up) and knowing first-hand that we can find better ways of engendering equality in systems and societies.

I am very excited to be part of the DOP's EDI task and finish group, and to be part of the wider drive by the BPS to create more EDI informed practice for all Psychologists.