Beyond the Project: What the EDI+ Fellowship Makes Possible
When people hear about fellowships, the focus often lands on the project outputs — the toolkit developed, the research published, or the event delivered. While these are important, my experience of the EDI+ Fellowship has shown that its impact goes far beyond any single deliverable.
At its core, the fellowship is not just about what you produce, but how it changes the way you think, lead, and act.
Through a combination of structured training, peer learning, and applied project work, the fellowship creates a unique environment to explore EDI in a deeper, more critical way. Engaging with concepts such as theory of change, inclusive leadership, and evaluation has provided a framework for moving beyond well-intentioned activity towards evidence-informed, sustainable interventions.
Equally important has been the opportunity to engage with a diverse cohort of fellows from across institutions and roles. As one of the few Professional Services participants, this space enabled me to both contribute a different perspective and learn from others, creating a collaborative environment that challenged assumptions and strengthened thinking. The professional learning network and action learning sets provided space to test ideas, reflect on practice, and learn from real-world challenges faced by others working in complex EDI contexts.
This combination of learning and practice has been transformative. It has enabled me to move from delivering EDI as a set of activities to embedding it across systems — within research design, organisational processes, governance structures, and cross-sector partnerships. Importantly, it has also increased my confidence in navigating more complex and, at times, sensitive contexts, where EDI work must be carefully adapted to different organisational and cultural environments.
The fellowship has also strengthened connections across the sector, opening up opportunities to collaborate, influence practice, and contribute to national and international conversations on EDI in research.
Ultimately, the most significant outcome of the EDI+ Fellowship is not just the project outputs, but the development of people, equipping participants with the tools, networks, and confidence to drive meaningful and lasting change.
In this sense, the fellowship is not an endpoint, but a foundation enabling ongoing impact across institutions, sectors, and systems.
