We are a network of academic and professional services colleagues from the universities of Amsterdam (NL) and Birmingham (UK). We are working collaboratively to share research and best practice to embed EDI across institutional policy and governance, research, and education.
Dr. Anne de Graaf
University of Amsterdam
Anne de Graaf began working as the Chief Diversity Officer of the UvA in 2017. Her role is to identify, stimulate, create and facilitate initiatives promoting equality and inclusion within the university. Together with Diversity Officers from each faculty, she is a key player in shaping diversity policy at the UvA. Anne is also Senior Lecturer at Amsterdam University College (AUC), where she teaches human rights and peacebuilding. Her research interests focus on marginalized groups, as well as peace and conflict studies, and explores the role of voice -specifically young people’s- as a means of claiming agency. Full biography.
Professor Jo Duberley
University of Birmingham
Jo Duberley is a Professor of Organisation Studies at UoB, and Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor (EDI). Central to her research is an interest in the concept of career. Her main contribution in this area has been to develop a more sociologically oriented and contextually embedded understanding of career. In recent years, she has developed research examining the impact of gender, ethnicity, social class and age on careers in a variety of contexts. She co-directs the Work Inclusivity Research Centre with Dr Holly Birkett and has successfully won over £2m of research funding to support her research. Full biography.
Dr Seval Gündemir
University of Amsterdam
Seval Gündemir joined the University of Amsterdam in 2017 as an assistant professor in Work and Organizational Psychology. Her research focuses on diversity and inclusion, and more specifically around the topic of Organizational Diversity. During her PhD, she received the Fulbright grant to conduct research on the effects of diversity policies on minority leadership emergence Yale University, where she defended her PhD-thesis titled “The Minority Glass Ceiling Hypothesis” in 2015. Afterwards, she received the NWO Rubicon grant to continue her research on female and racial-ethnic minority leadership. Full biography.
Dr Scott Taylor
University of Brimingham
Scott Taylor is Associate Professor of Leadership & Organisation Studies at University of Birmingham. He researches the human experience of work and management, with a focus on how and why sexism, patriarchy and misogyny are reproduced or resisted in workplaces, by both men and women. Scott’s research has been published in a range of peer-reviewed journals, such as Sociology, Work Employment & Society, Organization and Human Relations. He has also written or contributed to a number of books, and writes regularly for media outlets such as The Conversation. Full biography.
Dr Mieke Lopes Cardozo
University of Amsterdam
Dr Mieke Lopes Cardozo is Senior Lecturer in Education and Inclusive Development at the Amsterdam Institute of Social Science Research, assistant Professor in International Development Studies at the UvA and part of the Governance and Inclusive Development Research Group. Her research and teaching focuses on the role of education in processes of peacebuilding, social and gender justice and transformation. She recently co-directed the Research Consortium on Education and Peacebuilding in collaboration with the University of Sussex, Ulster University and UNICEF. Full biography.
Professor Julie Allan
University of Birmingham
Julie Allan is Professor of Equity and Inclusion in the School of Education at the University of Birmingham. Her work encompasses inclusive education, disability studies and children’s rights and is both empirical and theoretical. She has a particular interest in educational theory and the insights offered through poststructural and social capital analyses. Julie has been advisor to the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly and the Dutch and Queensland Governments and has worked extensively with the Council of Europe. Full biography.
Dr Guido de Wilde
University of Amsterdam
Guido de Wilde manages International Student Affairs in global student experience and engagement. He is the creator of the UvA Exchange Ambassador Programme for which he was awarded the Orange Carpet Award by EP Nuffic. Guido specialises in intercultural communication, student leadership, building engaging student communities and developing competencies of exchange students. Guido is also a member of three multi-university EU funded partnership projects: NICE (the Network for Intercultural Competence to facilitate Entrepreneurship), Digipass (a virtual environment to support students and staff throughout professional mobility) and TICKET (Transnational Intercultural Competences through Knowledge Exchange and Training). Full biography.
Dr Sammy Li
University of Birmingham
Sammy is the institutional lead for student EDI at the University of Birmingham. He has a strategic role in advancing inclusive policy and practice in education and campus life across the University’s UK and Dubai campuses. Sammy has a unique hybrid background of academic and management experience in higher education. He is also the Convener of the LGBT+ Network of Networks in Higher Education for over 220 EDI professionals from more than 90 UK universities and research institutions. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Sammy is a seasoned international traveller with a doctorate in tourism management, who has a research interest in identities and perceptions, and enjoys exploring the diversity of different cultures and societies. Full biography.
Gabriella Thompson
Our Bodies Our Voice
Gabriella Thompson co-founded Our Bodies Our Voice -which tackles sexual violence at university- and now works as the foundation’s Project Manager. As such, she is in charge of creating and delivering most workshops, facilitating constructive discussions around the topics of boundaries, consent, active listening, bystander intervention and survivor support. Before becoming a moderator, Gabriella was a student at AUC (Amsterdam University College) where she was elected Resident Assistant and was trained to be prepared for crisis situations, for example providing first aid assistance. Our Bodies Our Voice website.
Dr Elliot Evans
University of Birmingham
Dr Elliot Evans teaches on the MRes Sexuality & Gender Studies and the MA in Comparative Literature and Critical Theories at the University of Birmingham. With a background in Modern Languages, Elliot is interested in the ways in which constructions of sexuality and gender vary across cultures. They have previously published work on the perceptions of (and resistance to) the #MeToo movement in France; as well as a monograph on the development of queer theory in France. They are co-organiser of the seminar series ‘Critical Sexology’. Full biography.
Daniel Guinness
Good Lad Initiative
Daniel Guinness is the Director of the Good Lad Initiative, a UK-based foundation offering boys and men the tools and introspection necessary to support positive changes in their communities. In addition, Daniel is also the Treasurer and Head of Staff Workshops at Our Bodies Our Voice, a student NGO aiming to both prevent sexual violence at university and assist victims with existing support systems. Previously, he received his PhD from the University of Oxford and was part of a 4-year European Research Council funded project investigating masculinities, global labour markets and migration. Good Lad Initiative website.
Sheena Griffiths
University of Birmingham
Sheena is a member of the HR Equality and Diversity team at the University of Birmingham, where she is responsible for raising the profile of and increasing engagement with equality and diversity both in the University and externally. Sheena is the HR lead for the Race Equality Charter and is responsible for the University’s application to the Stonewall Top 100 Employers index. She has an MSc in Strategic Diversity Management and a particular interest in innovative, collaborative projects and approaches that help to embed research into organisational practice.
Professor Dina Kiwan
University of Birmingham
Dina Kiwan is Professor of Comparative Education at the University of Birmingham. Her research programme focuses on citizenship and inclusion, and is interdisciplinary and comparative in scope. She is currently PI on a GCRF Network Plus project ‘Disability Under Siege’ (2019-2024, £2M) working with partners in Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine to address the challenge that over 95% of children with disabilities never go to school in the region. She is also collaborating with the AHRC and the UN on developing a UN global framework to guide a disability inclusive recovery from COVID-19. Full biography.
Dr Nicola Gale
University of Birmingham
Nicola Gale is a Reader in Health Policy and Sociology at the University of Birmingham. Her research has focused on issues of marginalised work and workforce in the health sector. She is also the Director of Postgraduate Research for the College of Social Sciences and has been involved in a series of higher education research projects to understand inequalities and promote inclusive education. She would be interested in collaborating on projects about EDI issues in postgraduate research. Full biography.
Embedding Equality, Diversity and Inclusion 