Equity by design: The power of inclusion moments
In this webinar, professionally accredited engineer and multi-award-winning DEI consultant Poggy Murray Whitham explores what these insights mean for workplace culture in male-dominated environments shaped by traditional norms and expectations.
Some sectors, such as engineering, construction, and manufacturing, are facing serious concerns with mental health and discrimination. Research has shown that people working in these sectors are more than three times more likely to die by suicide than the national average, with LGBTIA+ people more likely to be affected by discrimination and harassment than in other sectors, but these industries are not the only ones that are affected. These are shocking findings that highlights a culture where silence, stoicism, and fear of judgement remain deeply embedded, and so-called ‘banter’ can be normalised instead of being called out. What the findings should do is highlight just how vital it is that we recognise the importance of these issues.
In this webinar, professionally accredited engineer and multi-award-winning DEI expert and researcher Poggy Murray Whitham explores what these insights mean for workplace culture, not only in engineering but in any male-dominated environment shaped by traditional norms and expectations.
Drawing on professional and lived experience, multiple research studies they have led looking at mental health more widely and the specific experiences of the LGBTQIA+ community, and insights from their bestselling book Inclusion Moments relating to being a visible Queer advocate in a very traditional sector, Poggy shows how systems thinking and human storytelling combine to reveal the everyday interactions that shape belonging, behaviour, and organisational safety.
Inclusion does not need grand gestures. It starts in the smallest moments, often the ones we overlook, but which define how people show up, speak up, and stay.
This webinar will:
• Highlight the current mental health emergency in the engineering, construction, and manufacturing sectors.
• Share key findings and recommendations from research related to the experience of the LGBTQIA+ community within this industry.
• Demonstrate how storytelling drives behavioural change by helping people feel, not just intellectually understand, the realities of exclusion and allyship.
• Show how Inclusion Moments related to the burden of representation of LGBTQIA+ people, celebrating pride, and intersectionality within Queer spaces can be used to reflect, intervene early, and inspire meaningful and sustained cultural change.
About the speaker | Poggy Murray Whitham
Poggy Murray Whitham is a multi-award-winning DEI expert, researcher, and keynote speaker who helps organisations turn inclusion into a strategic advantage.
A professionally accredited engineer by training and Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute, Poggy was recognised as one of the UK’s Top 100 Manufacturing Professionals and as a National Diversity Awards finalist for being a Positive LGBT Role Model in engineering from over 85,000 nominations in 2025, bringing both professional and authentic lived experience to every stage they step onto.
A former senior manager in automation engineering, Poggy now works at the intersection of technology and inclusion, showing how embracing diversity drives innovation, productivity, and culture change. They combine deep strategic insight with the lived experience of being Black, Queer, Disabled, and Autistic, delivering talks that are as thought-provoking as they are practical. Poggy is also Co-Chair of InterEngineering, an LGBTQIA+ cross-sector network of engineers, and sits as a Committee Advisory member for the LGBT Foundation.
Poggy recently delivered their TEDx talk ‘Engineering Equity with Automation’, and released their debut book, ‘Inclusion Moments’, which instantly became an Amazon Best Seller in multiple categories, cementing their reputation as a sought-after voice on the future of inclusive engineering. Currently pursuing a Doctorate in DEI in Engineering alongside their work, Poggy continues to work with companies nationwide to embed inclusion into the heart of their success.
