Diversify

Last week, our Executive Director, Chisom Udeze, delivered a talk at Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK) to mark the UN World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development.

The session explored what happens when different cultural assumptions meet in everyday working life: in meetings, language choices, feedback, humour, informal conversations, leadership and belonging.

Drawing on recognisable examples from Norwegian workplaces and society, Chisom spoke about the norms we often do not question because they feel familiar to us.

She also addressed the cost of microaggressions that “weren’t meant that way” and the minority stress carried quietly by colleagues who calculate whether speaking up will mean being labelled difficult, excluded further, or professionally disadvantaged.

Cultural diversity is not only about who is in the room. It is about whether people are understood, valued and able to belong once they are there.

Thank you to Siri Antonsen and Janet G. Veum for organising this session, and to everyone at Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK) who participated and made space for such a necessary conversation.

——

If you are exploring programming for Pride Month or the year ahead and would like to have a conversation about what might be relevant for your team, please write to us at [email protected]

Meet our guest speaker for Rebuilding After Divorce: Life, Money, and Identity — an honest hour on loss, money, identity, and starting again with intention.

Elizabeth Sturdy is the founder of Sturdy Coaching and a certified career wellbeing coach (CPCC, ACC). Known for her fierce coaching style, her clients are ready to stop shrinking and sparkle. Elizabeth specializes in supporting nerdy women and sparkly humans as they navigate career transitions and growth. She helps clients move from “grey pebble energy”-the quiet belief that I’m not enough-to “diamond energy,” filled with self-trust, ownership of their value, and a renewed sense of purpose.

Her approach, “From Scrat to Turtle Queen,” helps clients overcome perfectionism, people-pleasing, avoidance, and impostor “syndrome” In a playful, empowering way. Elizabeth supports clients in cutting the crap, getting grounded, defining their mission, and taking aligned action. Through reflection, practical tools, and compassionate accountability, her clients build calm confidence, resilience, and more sustainable ways of working and living.

Originally a primary school teacher from the USA, Elizabeth has built her life and business in Trondheim, Norway, over the past 11 years. She loves hanging out with her people and is a huge fan of friluftsliv: hiking, skiing, and kayaking. She also enjoys her cozy home moments, fantasy novels, and a touch of everyday sparkle.

Tuesday, May 19, 2026 | 12:00 – 13:00 CET
Free | Online

Register for Zoom link. Link in bio!

DigitalEvent

If you have known our work for a long time or engaged with it before, you know that health and wellbeing is central to everything we do and believe in.
So we are very excited to bring you (Un)well, a gathering in partnership with Chiije on navigating mental health.

This is not a wellness seminar. It is not a panel of people who have it figured out. It is an honest conversation about mental health, because all of us are navigating it in some way, on some day, in some season of our lives. What it actually looks like, what helps, what does not, and what it means to be a person who is sometimes fine, sometimes not, and mostly just figuring it out.

We will have real talks, open and honest conversations, and share tools that actually help. Some of our speakers include Chisom Udeze, Economist, CEO of Chiije and Executive Director at Diversify, Wenche Fredriksen, Head of Inclusion and Diversity at DNB, Martin Sundberg, CEO of Wrixit, and more.

20 May | 13.00 to 16.00 CEST | Sentralen, Oslo

Book your spot at the link in our bio.

Tomorrow we’re co-hosting a conversation on Unlearning Shame in Mental Health: Tools for Thriving from 12.00 to 13.00 CEST.

The shame around mental health, the kind that makes you minimise your own pain, push through when you shouldn’t, or stay silent because you’re not sure anyone will understand, that shame is still very much exists. In workplaces, in families, in our own heads.

Chisom, Executive Director at Diversify and CEO of Chiije, will sit down with Chris and they’re getting into all of it. The shame that doesn’t go away just because you know better. The cultural and workplace pressures that keep people silent. The breaking point that comes when you’ve ignored it too long. The practical tools that actually help.

Join us tomorrow. It’s the kind of conversation you’ll probably find yourself thinking about afterwards. Free to join and held digitally | 12.00–13.00 CEST. Sign up for Zoom link. Link in our bio.