Register from 9am and collect your conference badge.
Louise Banahene, Director of Educational Engagement, University of Leeds
Welcome to the University of Leeds for the third Living Black at University conference.
Session delivered by Sam Kingsley
Carol Thomas, Accommodation Services Manager, University of the Arts London, EDI Lead CUBO
1. University of Leeds
2. Unite Students – Student Support – Luke van der Kooij
3. Living Black at University: Anti-racist Praxis Beyond the Curriculum - Launch 'Teleola Cartwright
4. Black Student Mental Health – Peer Support (University of Nottingham)
5. Behavioural Agreement Guidance - Rebecca O'Hare & Katy Lemmon
Hosted by Jenny Shaw
Participants to choose from:
Reducing the Black Tax: Shifting responsibility from individuals to institutions - Herringbone
What is the ‘Black Tax’ and how does it impact the Black experience in accommodation?
This session moves beyond naming the “Black tax” to focus on how institutions can actively reduce it. The Black tax shows up when the same Black students and staff are repeatedly relied upon to educate others, represent “the Black voice”, or carry the emotional labour of driving change often without recognition, resource or authority.
Drawing on lived experience, this workshop will explore how organisational systems, cultures and decision-making processes can unintentionally create or reinforce these extra burdens. Participants will examine where responsibility sits within their own contexts and identify practical ways to redistribute labour, resource inclusion work properly, and design processes that do not rely on unpaid goodwill.
Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of how to move responsibility away from individuals and toward structures, alongside one concrete action their institution can take to reduce the Black tax.
Who this is for: Anyone involved in student experience, accommodation, governance or EDI work, particularly those with influence over how work is designed, resourced or recognised.
From Allyship to Action: Using power, privilege, and courage to create change - Tweed
‘If you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else.’
Toni Morrison
This practical workshop focuses on what meaningful allyship looks like in real institutional settings. Moving beyond awareness and intention, it explores how individuals at all levels can use their power and privilege to challenge racism, influence decisions and create safer, more inclusive environments for Black students.
Through scenario-based discussion, participants will consider how to act with confidence in moments that matter, such as responding to racist incidents, questioning decisions that maintain the status quo, or challenging inaction framed as “not the right time”. The session also explores how to support Black students and colleagues- without speaking over them- and how to move beyond performative gestures toward sustained, courageous action.
Participants will leave better equipped to challenge without fear, understand their role in driving change, and take intentional action within their sphere of influence, translating allyship into leadership that makes a tangible difference.
Who this is for: Leaders, managers, frontline staff and allies who want to move from intention to impact.
Getting Started – and Getting Serious: Making the case for Sustainable Change - Denim
Designed for institutions at different stages of their journey, this workshop focuses on how to build a strong, sustainable case for improving Black students’ experiences. It goes beyond initial “getting started” conversations to explore what good, better and best practice look like in practice.
Participants will examine how to use data, student insight and sector evidence to make the case for action, and how to embed this work into governance, strategy, Access and Participation Plans and budgets. The session will also introduce key Living Black tools such as the Pledge and the EDI Data Maturity Framework, as practical starting points for assessing progress and identifying priorities.
Attendees will leave with a clearer sense of what effective action looks like, and a practical framework they can use to secure buy-in, resource and accountability within their institution.
Who this is for: Those responsible for planning, strategy, governance, EDI or student experience who want to move from commitment to delivery.
Inclusive Recruitment as a system: Interviewing, Retention and What Every Role can do to Change Outcomes - Wool
This workshop reframes inclusive recruitment as a whole-system issue rather than an HR only responsibility. Who is hired, how they are assessed, and whether they are supported to stay and progress all shape institutional culture, staff experience and, ultimately, the experiences of students.
The session will explore how bias can enter recruitment processes at every stage, with a particular focus on inclusive interviewing practices—from designing criteria and shortlisting, to structuring interviews, assessing “fit”, and making final decisions.
Participants will examine practical approaches that reduce bias, promote fairness and build confidence in decision-making, regardless of whether they hold formal hiring authority.
Beyond recruitment, the workshop will consider retention and progression as essential parts of inclusive practice. Drawing on sector examples, it will explore how induction, workload allocation, support, development opportunities and everyday culture affect whether Black staff feel safe, valued and able to thrive. The risks of waiting to act- maintaining underrepresentation, turnover and loss of trust- will be made explicit.
Using the Inclusive Recruitment Guide, participants will reflect on their own role within the system and identify practical actions they can take to improve recruitment, interviewing and retention outcomes within their sphere of influence.
Who this is for: Anyone involved in recruitment, interviewing, line management, progression decisions or shaping organisational culture.
Workshops will be repeated at 14:00
Participants to choose from:
Reducing the Black Tax: Shifting responsibility from individuals to institutions - Herringbone
What is the ‘Black Tax’ and how does it impact the Black experience in accommodation?
This session moves beyond naming the “Black tax” to focus on how institutions can actively reduce it. The Black tax shows up when the same Black students and staff are repeatedly relied upon to educate others, represent “the Black voice”, or carry the emotional labour of driving change often without recognition, resource or authority.
Drawing on lived experience, this workshop will explore how organisational systems, cultures and decision-making processes can unintentionally create or reinforce these extra burdens. Participants will examine where responsibility sits within their own contexts and identify practical ways to redistribute labour, resource inclusion work properly, and design processes that do not rely on unpaid goodwill.
Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of how to move responsibility away from individuals and toward structures, alongside one concrete action their institution can take to reduce the Black tax.
Who this is for: Anyone involved in student experience, accommodation, governance or EDI work, particularly those with influence over how work is designed, resourced or recognised.
From Allyship to Action: Using power, privilege, and courage to create change - Tweed
‘If you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else.’
Toni Morrison
This practical workshop focuses on what meaningful allyship looks like in real institutional settings. Moving beyond awareness and intention, it explores how individuals at all levels can use their power and privilege to challenge racism, influence decisions and create safer, more inclusive environments for Black students.
Through scenario-based discussion, participants will consider how to act with confidence in moments that matter, such as responding to racist incidents, questioning decisions that maintain the status quo, or challenging inaction framed as “not the right time”. The session also explores how to support Black students and colleagues- without speaking over them- and how to move beyond performative gestures toward sustained, courageous action.
Participants will leave better equipped to challenge without fear, understand their role in driving change, and take intentional action within their sphere of influence, translating allyship into leadership that makes a tangible difference.
Who this is for: Leaders, managers, frontline staff and allies who want to move from intention to impact.
Getting Started – and Getting Serious: Making the case for Sustainable Change - Denim
Designed for institutions at different stages of their journey, this workshop focuses on how to build a strong, sustainable case for improving Black students’ experiences. It goes beyond initial “getting started” conversations to explore what good, better and best practice look like in practice.
Participants will examine how to use data, student insight and sector evidence to make the case for action, and how to embed this work into governance, strategy, Access and Participation Plans and budgets. The session will also introduce key Living Black tools such as the Pledge and the EDI Data Maturity Framework, as practical starting points for assessing progress and identifying priorities.
Attendees will leave with a clearer sense of what effective action looks like, and a practical framework they can use to secure buy-in, resource and accountability within their institution.
Who this is for: Those responsible for planning, strategy, governance, EDI or student experience who want to move from commitment to delivery.
Inclusive Recruitment as a system: Interviewing, Retention and What Every Role can do to Change Outcomes - Wool
This workshop reframes inclusive recruitment as a whole-system issue rather than an HR only responsibility. Who is hired, how they are assessed, and whether they are supported to stay and progress all shape institutional culture, staff experience and, ultimately, the experiences of students.
The session will explore how bias can enter recruitment processes at every stage, with a particular focus on inclusive interviewing practices—from designing criteria and shortlisting, to structuring interviews, assessing “fit”, and making final decisions.
Participants will examine practical approaches that reduce bias, promote fairness and build confidence in decision-making, regardless of whether they hold formal hiring authority.
Beyond recruitment, the workshop will consider retention and progression as essential parts of inclusive practice. Drawing on sector examples, it will explore how induction, workload allocation, support, development opportunities and everyday culture affect whether Black staff feel safe, valued and able to thrive. The risks of waiting to act- maintaining underrepresentation, turnover and loss of trust- will be made explicit.
Using the Inclusive Recruitment Guide, participants will reflect on their own role within the system and identify practical actions they can take to improve recruitment, interviewing and retention outcomes within their sphere of influence.
Who this is for: Anyone involved in recruitment, interviewing, line management, progression decisions or shaping organisational culture.
Alice Chilver
Melissa Browne, Deputy Chair of the Living Black at University Commission
