Early Years Wales has been privileged to work with Liz Pemberton over the last few weeks exploring what anti-racist practice in early years means and why this is important to all of us in the sector. From reflecting on what it means to be Welsh, to hearing Liz’s experiences as a professional black female practitioner, to exploring race, equality and diversity across all affected groups in society the whole process has allowed us to consider our personal and collective values.

As CEO, my aspiration is that we continue to grow and reflect as an organisation, to ensure our values align to best practice. With Liz’s help we have explored these topics candidly, openly and with the freedom to question and understand the perspective of the BAME community. As I said in engaging Liz’s services, I can never say I understand how it feels to be profiled by virtue of colour or race, but I can do all I can to understand what that means in reality, and stand tall in my support of colleagues, children and families in my sector and my society.

For Early Years Wales, Liz has allowed us to consider where we are with though provoking content. We are all on a journey of breaking down barriers and making society better. We are in a gifted position of working with the Early Years sector, who in turn, have an important role in shaping the type of society we aspire to live in through their work with young children and families. The journey continues, but with greater insight and empathy for all.

Dave Goodger
Chief Executive Officer
Early years Wales, Prif Swyddog Gweithredol

Liz has an incredibly skilled way of ensuring her training is engaging and open, whilst never compromising on the important objective of anti-racism in the early years. She has created a training package which 'digs deep' - going into far more depth and detail than other training I have experienced in the past. This commitment to a high-quality, in-depth training experience ensured that practitioners were exposed to new ideas and concepts; and encouraged to reflect and discuss changes they can make in their practice. I would highly recommend signing up for her 'Inclusion in the Role Play' 3-part training - you won't regret it!

Katherine Richards-Bryant
Early Education Lead
Reach Children’s Hub

Liz is one of the most professional, talented, and eloquent people in Education consulting and training today. From the moment I first spoke on the phone with Liz, she's been warm and got me comfortable being uncomfortable understanding and learning about my own white privilege to kick us off on a journey to help support others. As she delivered a perfectly pitched training webinar to over 1300 Early Years professionals for us, I was just happy I got to watch and learn for myself, let alone share the 'stage' with her. Liz knows how to change minds, she knows how to deliver training that provides real change, and she knows how to promote and support your event like it's 2021. I couldn't be happier to work with Liz and would recommend her in a heartbeat.

Matt Arnerich
Head of Content & Brand Voice
Famly

Liz has been a phenomenal asset, working as a sensitivity consultant for one of our non-fiction titles, bringing vast early years expertise paired with good humour and insightful judgement. She’s a joy to work with, and provides honest, detailed feedback at the speed of light.

Louie Stowell
Publisher
Ladybird Education, Penguin Random House Children’s

I first met Liz when we she joined us as a guest on a podcast in September 2020 to talk about antiracism in the early years. I am a white person who sat comfortably and unknowingly with my ‘I’m not a racist’ outlook on the world. Then I listened to Liz, on that podcast and in our conversation immediately after it and I realised that my comfort and my not knowing was the problem. My white colleagues who listened to the podcast saw this in themselves too. The impact of that discussion with Liz was that we began to educate ourselves: about our white privilege, about our unconscious biases, about what systemic racism really looks like and where it is (which is everywhere) and about anti-racist practice. We are learning, and will always be learning, about what it means to be an ally.

We have followed Liz’s work, and I have had other conversations with her since. Liz always knows the right question to ask at the right moment, and she is there through her work and words, to help me find an honest response.

Jules Mickelburgh
Foundation Stage Forum and Tapestry
Content Editor and Education Advisor