Looking back and baking cake

Reflecting on my Deloitte Digital Connect experience has been really interesting — it’s amazing how much it’s taught me without realising.I recently baked a vegan carrot cake for the office and when I was asked if I was a vegan and I replied no I’m not, the follow up question was “Why did you bake a vegan cake then?”I’ve gained such a better understanding of the differences between accessibility and inclusion, and the value of being accessible AND inclusive, that as well as in my professional life, I’m doing what I can to be inclusive at home. By baking a plant based cake, vegetarians and vegans felt included — as did those who weren’t. Further to that, it’s made me consider than I need to add a vegan AND gluten free dessert to my repertoire!I’m part of the DDC network created by Deloitte and CAST and though the initial project has finished, I’ve also had a change to my working role and am now in a position to try even harder to implement positive change. I’m still working closely with other areas of the organisation to make Severn Wye more accessible and inclusive, digitally and in other ways and I’m still able to draw on the knowledge and expertise of a cohort of wonderful charities and resources.I look forward to learning more, doing more… and baking more!Looking back and baking cake was originally published in Deloitte Digital Connect on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Reflecting on my Deloitte Digital Connect experience has been really interesting — it’s amazing how much it’s taught me without realising.

I recently baked a vegan carrot cake for the office and when I was asked if I was a vegan and I replied no I’m not, the follow up question was “Why did you bake a vegan cake then?”

I’ve gained such a better understanding of the differences between accessibility and inclusion, and the value of being accessible AND inclusive, that as well as in my professional life, I’m doing what I can to be inclusive at home. By baking a plant based cake, vegetarians and vegans felt included — as did those who weren’t. Further to that, it’s made me consider than I need to add a vegan AND gluten free dessert to my repertoire!

I’m part of the DDC network created by Deloitte and CAST and though the initial project has finished, I’ve also had a change to my working role and am now in a position to try even harder to implement positive change. I’m still working closely with other areas of the organisation to make Severn Wye more accessible and inclusive, digitally and in other ways and I’m still able to draw on the knowledge and expertise of a cohort of wonderful charities and resources.

I look forward to learning more, doing more… and baking more!

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Looking back and baking cake was originally published in Deloitte Digital Connect on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.