The Possibility Project aims to tell the stories of Black people with long-term health conditions who have successfully forged a place for themselves in the world of work. By sharing their journey as first-person narrative, in both video and print, the project aims to not only inspire those looking for work with all that is possible, but also to provide practical guidance to both job-seekers and potential employers around how reasonable adjustments can be made and funded to allow those with long-term health conditions to thrive in the workplace.
Here’s Dana to tell you more about how it works:
Prefer not to watch a video? Here’s a transcript so you can read all about it.
Meet The Team
Working together to deliver The Possibility Project are:
Dana
is the owner and founder of Diversity Dana and has over 10 years’ experience helping organisations build diverse brands and create inclusive cultures where team members want to stick around. The Possibility Project is her brainchild born out of her experiences managing her own long-term health condition. Find out more about Dana here.
Tracey
is an experienced HR generalist with nearly two decades experience with a real passion for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I). She’s committed to removing the stigma associated with mental ill health, especially as she has anxiety and panic. Find out more about Tracey here.
Joanne
is a passionate equality advocate who believes in the duty to create environments where people from all walks of life can thrive! She’s had an exciting and varied career and now works in Occupational Health, is a trained Mental Health First Aider and a proud Havering B.M.E Forum Member. Find out more about Joanne here.
Watch A Finished Possibility Project Video
Want to know what a Possibility Project video will look like? Watch Raquel and Dana’s stories below.
See An Excerpt From The Possibility Project Book
What will the pages of The Possibility Project book look like? It will be very similar to this! While the video introduces the person sharing their story and shares some of their history and advice the book focuses on their career and what skills are required to make a success of it.
Answers To Your Frequently Asked Questions
Please find answers to the most frequently asked questions below.
Have a question that wasn’t answered? Please e-mail hello@diversitydana.com
To share your story as part of The Possibility Project, you must be Black or have Black ancestry with a long-term health condition, disability or mental health condition.
Our aim is to record as many videos as we can before the end of April 2022. Once your interest is registered, we’ll have a short screening call to meet you, get an understanding of your story and answer any outstanding questions. After the screening call, once we are both happy to proceed, we can move forward.
The aim of the project is to inspire people with disabilities, long-term health conditions and mental health conditions in Lambeth. Sharing your story could give hope to someone who is struggling, it could inspire a new direction or career, or it could give someone the motivation and courage to persevere. Our intention is to create a sense of community through the stories we share, with best practices, advice and the lessons learned shared alongside the journey. Those who have participated so far have told us that sharing their story was a powerful reminder of how far they have come and how much they have achieved.
This project has visual outputs, with both the illustrations in the book and the videos revealing the story-teller’s identity. As a result, it will not be possible to conceal your identity.
The videos introduce the person sharing their story, their long-term health condition, teases their career and presents their advice and top tips. The book goes into more detail about their chosen career including what a typical day is like, how to get into the field, and what skills are needed for those inspired to consider the career pathway.
While we would prefer our volunteers to share their stories both via video and in the book, we understand that it may be daunting to appear on video, so we are happy to hear from those interested in being featured in print, but not in being recorded on video.
The simple answer is as much as you are comfortable sharing. If you would prefer to focus on your experiences and advice rather than your condition, that’s absolutely okay. In the demo videos we share you’ll see two approaches. Dana shares less information about her condition, and Raquel shares more and both of those approaches are just fine. The mission, should you accept it, is to tell your story in your way.
Absolutely. You are in control of how much you share. The focus of your story could be on the career path itself, what your work involves, the skills required to do your job, and the support you received which helped you. It is entirely up to you whether you share any details about your employer.
No. Your story is unique to you, and we will be relying on you (and no one else) to tell us that story.
Recording the video should take no longer than an hour. We will provide you with a first look at the edited version of the video, for your approval, within 10 days of recording. Illustrations for the book will be ready 5 days after that, but the book’s text will not be ready for proof-reading until April 2022.
After we record your video, we’ll edit it and then share it with you for your review and feedback. Your video won’t be shared more widely until you sign the release form giving your permission. The approved video will be used to build your story to be shared in the book. The book is illustrated, and you’ll also be asked to approve the text and imagery before we move forward to publishing.
Monitoring data collected by us will be shared with the team at Black Thrive, with your permission. Any data shared will be anonymous.
We’re in the middle of a global pandemic so we understand that the thought of having to travel somewhere to record the video can seem daunting. We are happy to record videos virtually on Zoom, come to you to record in-person (masked and socially distanced) or, if you feel up to it, we can record at our offices in London (also masked and socially distanced).
The videos will be hosted both on YouTube and on the Diversity Dana website. Please note that comments to all the videos in the series will be disabled on YouTube.
Once published, copies of the book will be sent to all libraries and schools in Lambeth. Copies will also be provided to everyone who participated in the project and shared with the public through social media giveaways. An electronic version of the book will also be available for download free on the Kindle store and via PDF on the Diversity Dana website.
You can find out more about the Black Thrive organization on their website at https://blackthrive.org/
Please e-mail hello@diversitydana.com or click here
Of course! There’s a lot of work to be done to get this project off the ground from research, to putting the book together to conducting and recording the interviews themselves, and we’d love more people to get involved. Please e-mail hello@diversitydana.com or click here if you’d like to get involved.