Build Trust. Navigate Change.
What this year's National Inclusion Week theme actually means for your team, and what a session on it could look like.
National Inclusion Week runs from 14 to 20 September 2026. This year's theme, set by the campaign's organisers, Inclusive Employers, is “Build Trust. Navigate Change.” It's a fitting theme for the moment: inclusion work is facing real scrutiny, budgets are tighter, and plenty of people are unsure what they're still allowed to say. Trust and change are exactly what's under pressure.
The theme is broad on purpose, which is useful, because it means a session doesn't have to be generic to fit it. Here are three ways we could take it, each grounded in evidence rather than a slogan.
Trust: why most EDI training doesn't build it
Most one-off EDI training changes very little. A meta-analysis of around 492 studies found the effects on implicit bias were small, and didn't reliably translate into changed behaviour. The UK Government's own Behavioural Insights Team reached the same conclusion in 2020: no good evidence that unconscious bias training changes behaviour long term, or shifts who gets into leadership.
A session built around this theme asks the harder question: if training doesn't build trust, what does? The evidence points to transparency and accountability, not awareness. We'd walk through real examples of what that looks like in practice.
Change: the 30-Day Test
We've developed a simple, three-move method for finding out what's actually getting in the way in your organisation, no budget, no consultant, done in a month. Count one thing that reveals who really gets the interesting work. Ask the two questions people don't normally get asked. Change one thing, and check whether it moved. It's a practical, evidence-led way to turn a broad theme like “navigate change” into something a team can start on Monday.
Trust, the other way round: psychological safety
Trust runs both directions. Harvard's Amy Edmondson and James Detert found 85% of employees have withheld something important from their manager out of fear of the consequences. Google's own research across 180 teams found psychological safety was the strongest predictor of team effectiveness, ahead of talent or seniority. A session on this theme could focus squarely on what makes it safe for people to say the true thing, not the comfortable one.
If you need something for this week
All of the above can be shaped into a focused lunch-and-learn session, a longer half-day workshop, or a keynote-style talk, whichever suits the time you've got. Formats and starting prices are on our training and speaking pages.
I keep a handful of slots free during National Inclusion Week specifically for last-minute bookings like this, so if the date's coming up fast, that's not a problem.
Need something for National Inclusion Week?
Tell me the date and the audience, and I'll tell you honestly whether it's doable.