Why DEI Matters and How to Do It Right
From Reflection to Action for Third Sector Organisations
Following the strong interest and engagement generated by our seminar with Uzoamaka Anita Asiegbu in June 2025, CoQuality Network is launching a 4-session online course designed to support civil society organisations in moving from intention to implementation.
At a time when exclusionary narratives are rising across Europe and civil society spaces are under increasing pressure, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) is essential to legitimacy, impact, and alignment with the values we advocate. Yet many organisations remain stuck in performative approaches, lacking the tools, frameworks, or resources to create meaningful change.
This course is designed to bridge that gap between our values and our practice—supporting organisations to reflect critically, learn collectively, and take concrete steps towards structural DEI change.
Course Overview
📅 Dates: Weekly Every Friday starting 23rd Of October – 30th October – 6th of November and 13th November 2026.
🕚 Time: 1pm CET to 2:30pm CET.
Approach: Participatory and reflexive learning, peer exchange, and practical exercises.
🌐 Format: 4 live online sessions.
This course will be delivered in English, with simultaneous interpretation available.
🎤 Facilitator: Uzoamaka Anita Asiegbu (DEI Consultant)
📋 Hosted by: CoQuality Network
🔗 Registration: Register here
This course combines live learning, guided reflection, and practical application. Participants will engage in exercises to analyse their own understanding of DEI and assess their organisation’s current practices, gaps, and priorities. Alongside the online teaching, participants will receive readings and practical materials to deepen learning and support implementation.
Throughout the course, participants will work on a real DEI priority from their organisation, culminating in a practical action plan.
The final session focuses on real case studies, exploring concrete examples of good practices, challenges, and successes, and supporting participants to translate learning into actionable steps.
What You Will Learn
This course goes beyond theory to support real organisational change. You will:
- Build a clear and shared understanding of DEI and why it matters in civil society
- Explore how power, privilege and bias shape organisational culture and decision-making
- Learn to distinguish between performative and structural DEI
- Identify practical, low-cost strategies tailored to your context
- Gain insights from real case studies across Europe
- Develop a concrete DEI action plan for your organisation
Course Structure
Friday 23 October 2026 | 1:00–2:30 PM CET : Session 1 – Understanding DEI and Identifying Priorities
Build a shared foundation on DEI concepts, explore common misconceptions, and identify one key DEI priority within your organisation. Participants will begin reflecting on their organisational context and the changes needed to strengthen equity and inclusion.
Friday 30 October 2026 | 1:00–2:30 PM CET: Session 2 – Power, Privilege and Hidden Exclusion
Examine how inequality is reproduced through mental models, organisational norms, and unconscious bias—even in values-driven organisations. Participants will explore how power operates within organisational culture and decision-making processes.
Friday 6 November 2026 | 1:00–2:30 PM CET :Session 3 – From Performative to Structural Change
Explore what meaningful DEI implementation looks like in practice, including leadership commitment, accountability mechanisms, organisational policies, and realistic strategies for NGOs and civil society organisations seeking long-term change.
Friday 13 November 2026 | 1:00–2:30 PM CET :Session 4 – Case Studies and Action Planning
Learn from real examples of DEI implementation across Europe, including challenges, successes, and lessons learned. Participants will translate course learning into a practical and tailored DEI action plan for their organisation and identify concrete next steps for implementation.
How You Will Learn
- Live, interactive sessions
- Reflection exercises between sessions
- Peer learning and exchange
- Practical tools and frameworks
- Final action planning
Participants will complete a pre- and post-course questionnaire, and develop DEI action roadmap for their organisation.
Who Is This For
- NGO leaders and managers
- Fundraising and proposal-writing teams
- Programme and project staff
- HR, Communications and Organisational Development professionals
- DEI, Equality and Inclusion leads
- Staff responsible for organisational culture and strategy
- Civil society organisations seeking to strengthen the integration of DEI across their programmes and operations
Why Join
Because real inclusion requires more than intention. It requires critical ongoing reflection, structural change, and practical action.
This course will support you to start where you are—and move forward with clarity, confidence, and concrete steps.
Facilitator
Uzoamaka Anita Asiegbu is a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Consultant specialising in inclusive representation and intersectionality. She works with civil society and international organisations to design practical, equity-driven approaches to organisational culture and programmes.
She is the founder of Write Hand Hub, supporting young people with disabilities, and her work has been internationally recognised, including a nomination for the Young Woman of Europe Award (2023).
Hosted by:
The CoQuality Network is a European alliance of civil society organisations working to strengthen quality, learning, and innovation across the non-profit sector. Through research, knowledge exchange, and collaborative initiatives, CoQuality supports organisations to improve their practices and drive meaningful, structural change.
