Like many people, university gave me the opportunity to come out and to discuss sexual orientation in a safe, supportive yet intellectually challenging environment. This was many years ago and I was one of the first out LGBT Students’ Union Presidents. It therefore came as a shock to go into teaching and have to stay in the professional closet for 15 years, at that time there was no anti-discrimination legislation . I moved into university careers work and vowed never to hide my sexuality again. The work I do now is fuelled by those experiences, but also by the realisation that even now, many students and staff still go out of their way to hide their sexuality.
I taught in secondary schools before moving to the University of Bristol as a careers advisor and then Director of Careers at Birmingham and Warwick universities. During that time I wrote the introduction to Stonewall’s Starting Out Careers Guide. I started my own LGBT consultancy business in 2011 when I set up the first employability mentoring scheme for LGBT students at the University of Birmingham where I have also been a consultant on their LGBT Inclusive Curriculum Project. I chaired the Midlands LGBT Employee Network for four years and am now a regular contributor to the Alliance Network, a networking organisation for LGBT professionals in the Birmingham area. I am a funding member and currently Advisor for the LGBT Network of Networks for LGBT staff in UK universities.
For further details of the work I’ve done, scroll through my News pages.
Costs: My fees are negotiable depending entirely on what I do (preparation, travel, length of session/project). I work on a not-for-profit basis, which means I use my paid work to subsidise LGBT pro-bono and charity work for individuals and small organisations who have little or no resources. Always ask!
I am also a qualified Executive Coach working with senior managers. Details of my coaching work can be found at: seanrussellconsulting.co.uk.
A full CV can be found on my LinkedIn profile.