🌈 The Modern Workplace Toolkit – Session 5: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

This breakfast is part of The Modern Workplace Toolkit – Real Solutions for Today’s People Challenges, a 7-part series tackling the most pressing issues facing employers today, including attraction and retention, neurodiversity, AI in the workplace, intergenerational communication, and diversity, equity & inclusion.

Building truly inclusive workplaces isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s a business imperative. Inclusive organisations attract better talent, foster innovation, and deliver stronger outcomes.

This breakfast session will give employers practical strategies to create workplaces where everyone feels safe, valued, and able to thrive.

Ideal for: Employers, managers, HR professionals, and leaders at every level who want to ensure diversity and inclusion is embedded across their organisation.

🎤 Guest Speakers:

Shannon Dawson, BOccThy – Disability Program Director, Metro North Allied Health Services

Shannon leads initiatives that remove barriers and ensure equitable opportunities for people of all abilities.

Michael Wilson, APD – Acting Senior Dietitian, Metro North Health & Chair, Pride in MN (Working Group)
Michael is a senior allied health leader and diversity advocate with deep experience in embedding inclusion in large organisations.

Olivia D’Heureux – Diversity, Inclusion & Leadership Specialist, HELP Employment and Training

Olivia has worked in the Employment Services industry for a number of years and is passionate about advocating for people with disability. Olivia is driven by her personal experience of raising two children with disabilities and an unwavering commitment to matching the right candidate with the right employer. Solutions focussed and creative in her approach, Olivia has fostered strong relationships with businesses right across SEQ to maximise their return on investment, and showcase the benefits of hiring people with disability.

Why this is worth your morning

Turn values into measurable practice.
Move from “we support DEI” to a simple operating system: standards, behaviours, and checkpoints you can actually run.
Hire from a bigger talent pool.
Learn low‑friction tweaks to job ads, interviews, and onboarding that attract qualified candidates you’re currently missing.
Retain—and grow—the people you already have.
Get career pathways, recognition, and flexibility levers that reduce churn and lift engagement across teams.
Safer culture, fewer headaches.
Practical tools for psychological safety, respectful behaviours, and early intervention—before issues escalate.
Inclusive by design, not by exception.
Bake inclusion into meetings, decision‑making, and projects so everyone can contribute (and deliver better outcomes).
Data you can act on.
How to gather meaningful DEI metrics (without boiling the ocean), set baselines, and show progress to leadership.
Quick wins next week.
Walk away with language guides, a bias‑resistant hiring checklist, and team norms you can pilot immediately.
Local context & peer ideas.
Discuss what actually works with nearby employers over a focused breakfast session.

🔜 What’s next?

The Modern Workplace Toolkit series continues throughout the year — diving into the topics that matter most to employers. From navigating AI in the workplace and boosting efficiency without compromising safety, to tackling mental health, intergenerational communication, and building cultures where people thrive.

Stay tuned — each session will bring new insights, new tools, and real solutions for real workplace challenges.