Graduate champions change for all with equality role at national charity

A graduate’s passion for equality has found the perfect outlet with a new, national equalities role, a natural progression from her lessons at University of Northampton (UON).

Turn2us is a UK charity helping people faced with financial insecurity and poverty. They are ramping up their social justice work with a newly created role; their first Head of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging is UON graduate Thesia Gervelie Kouloungou.

Starting later this spring, Thesia will have primary responsibility for Turn2us’ long-term diversity strategy. She says: “As the Head of EDIB I will oversee our EDIB workstream as well as safeguarding, accountability, and co-production, which means working alongside people with lived expertise to design and deliver services that affect them.

“This means we will combine the power of Turn2us with the collective power of people with experience of challenging personal situations. My priority over the next few months is to develop our first organisation wide EDIB strategy and action plan.

“For me, EDIB acknowledges that people are different, and they have different needs. Gone are the days when people ‘fit’ into a culture that ignores what they need to feel included. It acknowledges that a one-size-for-all approach to solutions doesn’t work and that if you want people to engage with your work, you must do things with them and not ‘to them’ or ‘for them’.

“It further acknowledges institutional, systemic and structural issues that prevent people from fulfilling their potential. More importantly, it’s about taking action to address those inequalities and learn from your successes and failures.”

EDIB and reducing barriers for underrepresented groups of people are matters close to home for Thesia. Born in Congo Brazzaville, she moved to the Ivory Coast after the 1997 civil war to join her father, who had fled persecution. The family were forced to leave after another civil war broke out in 2002, leading them to seek asylum in the UK.

She adds: “It’s a real privilege and honour, but as a Black woman under 30 stepping into my most senior role to date, I naturally experienced imposter syndrome. But I think that was because I came from a place of ‘I want to do this role justice’ rather than doubting my ability to do the job. My family is incredibly proud, particularly my father who has always been my biggest cheerleader.

Thesia graduated from UON in 2017 in Multimedia Journalism and Sociology, although the Sociology half of her course piqued her interest and she feels learning at UON helped her land the Turn2us role, as she says: “Sociology has always been my favourite subject. We had the best lecturers at University of Northampton, who challenged us to think differently and critically.

“A lot of the concepts I come across in my work stem from the field of sociology, so the course gave me a head start to understanding issues related to inequality and social justice. The simple fact that I was at a university that was so diverse meant I had the opportunity to meet people from all walks of life and learn about different cultures, identities, and experiences.”

Find out more about Sociology (BA) at University of Northampton.