A one-day gathering for Black professionals
You Are Not Alone.
One day to understand what is really happening, say it out loud with people who get it, and leave with a plan and a community.
Only 20 seats. Early bird ends Sunday 13 September or when the first 10 go.
You know the feeling.
It shows up in different places. It is the same thing.
At work
The only one in the room. The extra effort nobody names. The calm face over the exhaustion. The appraisal where HR suddenly “sits in”. Everyone says you are doing brilliantly, and you have never felt more on your own.
With friends
The people who love you but do not quite get it. The conversations you have stopped starting because explaining is more tiring than carrying it. You have become very good at “I’m fine”.
Everywhere
The first. The only. The one who has to represent. The one who learned early to adapt, to shrink, to be twice as good — and who now feels a little numb, and is not sure when that started.
It is not in your head. It is not because you did something wrong. And it is not happening only to you. There is a pattern to it — and once you can see the pattern, you can do something about it.
What you leave with
Not inspiration. Things you can use on Monday.
The playbook, named plainly
The patterns that happen to Black professionals at work — the sudden “come straight to my office”, the restructure, the performance plan out of nowhere, the slow walk to the door. Once you can see the pattern, it stops being about you.
What to do at each stage
Practical moves: what to write down, who to tell, when to get advice, how to leave on your own terms if it comes to that. Putting your seatbelt on does not mean you will crash.
A room that gets it
19 other people who have been there, or are there now. No code-switching, no explaining the basics. And a way to stay in contact after the day.
A 30-minute 1:1 with Pam or Marcia
After the event, a private conversation about your situation with one of the hosts — both experienced coaches to Black professionals and leaders. Included in your ticket.
This day is for you if…
- You are a Black professional, manager or leader in the UK and you have felt, at least once, that nobody around you would understand
- You are doing well on paper and exhausted underneath
- Something at work has shifted and you cannot quite name it yet
- You are fine today, and you would rather build your support network before you need it
- You have been through it and want to help someone who is in it now
Your hosts
Two coaches who have spent years in the room with Black professionals at exactly this point — and have been there themselves.
Pam Rowe
Co-founder, ADI · Leadership adviser and coach
Thirty years advising senior leaders and boards across public services, safeguarding and education. Pam has sat with Black professionals at exactly this point — the ambush appraisal, the restructure, the slow walk to the door — and has been there herself.
Marcia Daigo
Co-founder, ADI · Executive coach and author
Executive coach and published author, fifteen years across the NHS and public sector. Marcia works with leaders who have done everything right and still find themselves squeezed: name the pattern, fortify yourself before you need to, act on your own terms.
What the day looks like
Not a conference. A room of twenty, round tables, two hosts who ask the real questions. From a previous ADI gathering.
Tickets
20 seats. Lunch and refreshments included.
Early bird
First 10 seats, or until Sunday 13 September. Less than the lunch costs.
Reserve, then pay £24.99Reserve your seat
Free, 20 seconds. Guests can then secure the early-bird ticket; members are confirmed by the team.
Getting there
Oatlands Park Hotel
146 Oatlands Drive, Weybridge KT13 9HB
- 25 minutes from London Waterloo to Weybridge station (South Western Railway)
- 5 minutes by taxi from Weybridge station; free on-site parking
- Lunch and refreshments included with every ticket
Questions
- Do I have to stand up and share?
- No. You can listen all day if you want to. Nobody is put on the spot.
- Is this a day of complaining?
- No. It is a day of understanding what is happening, what to do about it, and who has your back. You will leave clearer and stronger, not heavier.
- I am not a member of ADI — can I come?
- Yes. This day is for any Black professional. ADI members attend free; guests pay for their ticket, which includes lunch.
- Is it only about work?
- Work is usually where it shows up first, but this is about you as a person. What you learn applies everywhere.
- What if I reserve and then cannot come?
- Reserving is free and commits you to nothing. If you have bought a ticket and cannot come, tell us and we will transfer it to the next gathering.