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Welcome to Inclusion Bites, your sanctuary for bold conversations that spark change. I'm Joanne Lockwood, your guide on this journey of exploration into the heart of inclusion, belonging and societal transformation. Ever wondered what it truly takes to create a world? Remember, everyone not only belongs, but thrives. You're not alone. Join me as we uncover the unseen, challenge the status quo and share stories that resonate deep within. Ready to dive in? Whether you're sipping your morning coffee or winding down after a long day, let's connect, reflect and inspire action together. Don't forget, you can be part of the conversation too. Reach out to jo.lockwood@seechangehappen.co.uk to share your insights or to join me on the show.

So adjust your earbuds and settle in. It's time to ignite the spark of inclusion with Inclusion Bites.

And today is episode 181 with the title Beyond Reflection Towards Belonging. And I have the absolute honour and privilege to welcome Gillian Russell. Gillian is the CEO of Beyond Reflections, who champion mental well being and inclusion by empowering the younger generation with chances the older generations never had. When I asked Gillian to describe her superpower, she said it is giving younger people those opportunities her generation was developing. Hello, Gillian. Welcome to the show.

Hey, Jo, how are you?

Yeah, well, yeah. No, yeah, it's been a tough day at the office. Tough day at the office. 16th of April, 2025, and we had the Lord Chief Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom rule on the definition of woman. And that as a trans woman, that affects me and without wishing to out you any further, other affects us both in some ways.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's been a tough day.

It has, it has. It's been one of those days. It's not unexpected, I suppose, but it's still. It's still a kick in the guts really, isn't it? That's. That's the trouble.

Brutal is the word already is.

It is. It is brutal. But no, not unexpected. And I think the problem has been, if I may say, is that in my view. How can I put this, I don't know that we've done enough to a protect the freedoms we had to protect the rights we have. I don't know if we've done enough to take enough action quickly and effectively enough. I don't know. Because we're such a diverse community, as a group of transgender people under that huge umbrella, it's hard to get everybody to come together.

You know, I sit in meetings with CEOs and other structures in the trans health and I listen to people to go talking and talking and talking and talking and talking. And just sometimes I just wish, can we just do something? And I think. I think, you know, there's an orange man in the White House at the moment, and he has proven one thing above all for me. It's something which has been my mantra all my life. It's not what you do, it's how fast you do it. And if you're gonna make change happen, you do it fast. And that means that things happen. And I just think we spent a lot of time consulting, coordinating, thinking, policy making, pontificating.

And I understand why, get me wrong? Because of course, you know, it's. But there's this idea that we have to have everybody on the same train, all going the same direction, whatever that train is and where the tracks are. Sometimes I think. And I'm looking at myself, by the way, Joe, you know, I think this is really important. People like myself, the elders in the community, as it were. And I'm proud to say I'm older than you, so I can call myself a true elder if I'm older than you. That is something, isn't it? But, you know, we've not pressed hard enough. And I think we fought so hard to get the rights we had, and then we sat down and thoroughly celebrated them, and then we sort of went to sleep and we just assumed that was all ours.