To celebrate the passing of the year and to welcome the new one the British Council and SOPEG organised an interesting event on Equal Opportunities and Diversity.
This year, we invited our ALUMNI to a Café Diversité. This format based on the Café Scientifique concept, provided a relaxed forum for people to talk about thought-provoking and topical diversity and equality issues and interaction was intense.
The event started with a short introductory talk about Equal Opportunity and Diversity Policies in the United Kingdom and the British Council, delivered by Fiona Bartels-Ellis, Head of the British Council Diversity Unit, via video-conference from London. Fiona then framed a few social, ethical and legal issues that impact on people's everyday work and life.The ALUMNI, from many different backgrounds and a few specially invited guests, then explored in breakout groups while enjoying a Christmas brunch. Later on, the participants re-convened and shared their views with Fiona and the other groups in Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia, who also joined the Café.
Participants were delighted with the opportunity and praised the British Council’s EO&D strategy, saying they would follow up in their own workplaces and would be back for more!!
Watch some moments of the event.
Fiona is Head of Equal Opportunity and Diversity at the British Council, the UK’s principle cultural relations organisation whose work covers the areas of Arts, Education & Training, English Language Teaching, Governance, Information & Knowledge and Science. With offices in 109 countries, the British Council’s equality and diversity agenda must balance the need for consistent standards in this area with the necessary attention to local and cultural norms and issues. This is what makes her role especially challenging but also extremely interesting.
Fiona was born in Ghana West Africa and settled in the UK at the age of fourteen. She lives in London and has a background in social work, social work education and consultancy in equality and diversity. Her qualifications include an Advanced Diploma in Social Work, a Post Graduate Certificate in Higher Education and an M.Phil in Social Policy (Cranfield University). She is a member of the Higher Education Academy and the Professional Mediators Association.
In 2002 Fiona received a Mainstreaming Diversity Award from the European Federation of Black Women Business Owners and in June 2005 Fiona was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for her equality and diversity work.
In July 2008 she won the Ghana Professional Achievers (GPA) Award for humanitarian services to the UK and Ghana.
Click here to see some photos of the event
Know more about the theme through some articles (Portuguese only):
De Martin a Barack (Carta Capital)
Acessibilidade: Um compromisso com toda sociedade (FEBRABAN)
Triste retrato da desigualdade (Diário de Pernambuco)
| 
