About
PILAA are a team of forward thinkers, creative professionals, and expert facilitators in Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion
We have strong research backgrounds – We are creatives – We are past and present educators – We are active in the advancement of our field.
We regularly promote our field on TV, radio and exhibitions. We publish extensively, and are acclaimed engaging speakers.
We deliver multiple ways of understanding EDI related themes and practices. We are non-judgemental. Instead we facilitate the exploration of your personal experience. You are listened too.
From unconscious bias training, anti-racism/structural racism training, disability awareness, LGBTQ+ inclusive welcomes, effective Leadership and mentoring, to an equality, diversity and inclusion agenda, we give you the tools to thrive on your journey to inclusivity.
Our values
Fun
Whilst some of this work may be difficult at times, it also doesn’t have to be. Whatever we do, we always try and bring an element of fun into it, after all, you tend to learn more when you actually enjoy what you do.
Open Mindedness
We encourage you to come with an open mind, but leave your ego aside. Self-development can’t even begin if we are closed off to ourselves and others. Being open-minded allows us to always appreciate other perspectives, without judgement.
Creativity
We fully believe that we can learn a lot from the visual arts in unlocking the creative potential that life can bring. Creativity breeds innovation and there’s no better place to start, with this value at the heart of what we do and how we think.
Understanding
Learning to agree to disagree doesn’t have to be an empty statement, rather it can be that kumbaya moment; the moment of realisation, when you start to see outside yourself and simultaneously, become more self-aware.
Sincerity
We take all of our values seriously. We speak not only from the business perspective, but more importantly, from the heart. It is character rather than kind that will enable us to collaborate with others in ways unexpected and because of this, we value true sincerity, integrity and kindness.
Who we are
Dr. Ope Lori
Founder and CEO of PILAA
Dr Ope Lori brings to PILAA a wealth of knowledge and experience in race, gender, sexuality, liberational thinking, visual arts and education related fields.
She was a Lecturer at both Chelsea School of Arts and Leeds Arts University between 2009-2019 and is a Guest Lecturer at the Royal College of Arts, between 2020-2022 as well as other leading art institutes.
She held a Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship at TrAIN (Transnational, Art, Identity and Nation) Research Centre UAL, between 2016-2018, before fully utilising her knowledge and training in the Diversity and Inclusion industry.
She is also an emerging artist; specializing using video and photography in her political practice, and exhibiting nationally and internationally, including at La Fondation Blachére, France; Santorini Biennale of the Arts, Greece; 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning and Beaconsfield Gallery, both in London and most recently at Autograph in London.
She is the author of ‘Should I, shouldn’t I?’: A self-reflexive study in unpacking ideologies of race while devising a critical studies fine art programme’, in Hatton, K. (ed.) Inclusion and Intersectionality in Visual Arts Education, (UCL Institute of Education Press, 2019) and is author of her upcoming book, ‘Beyond the Feminine: The Politics of Skin Colour and Gender in Visual Representations’, (Bloomsbury, 2022).
When not working, Dr Lori is sports and dancing enthusiast. She is a staunch supporter of Liverpool FC and is waiting for them to reclaim the Premiership title in front of a packed crowd!
Dr. B.J. Woodstein
Research Associate
Dr B.J. Woodstein was born and raised in Chicago, but has now lived outside of the United States for more than half her life, initially in Sweden and then here in the UK.
After many years as an associate professor in literature and translation at the University of East Anglia, she is now an honorary professor there. Her research and teaching interests have been queer literature, children’s literature, comics and graphic novels, Jewish literature and literary translation, and her EDI passions are, among others, topics related to queerness, Judaism and antisemitism, motherhood and breastfeeding, disability and neurodiversity.
B.J. has published many books and hundreds of articles. One of the publications she’s proudest of is We’re Here! A Practical Guide to Becoming an LGBTQ+ Parent, which centres queer people’s journeys to parenthood and explores queer approaches to becoming and being a parent.
She is also a translator, primarily from Swedish to English, and she especially loves translating works for children. In addition, B.J. works as a doula and lactation consultant.
B.J. lives with her wife and their children in Norwich. She is happiest when with her family, and together they enjoy walking, swimming, vegan cooking and baking, and spending time with their dog and two cats.
Dr. Dawn Woolley
Artist Associate
Dr Dawn Woolley is an acclaimed British artist, a research fellow at Leeds Arts University, and an Honorary Research Fellow, in the Faculty Research Centre Business in Society at Coventry University. As part of PILAA’s creative leg her artistic practice encompasses performance, photography, video, and installation, blurring the boundary between self-portraiture and still-life. In 2017, GQ magazine named early works such as ‘The Substitute (Holiday)’ (2007-8), as “the world’s best selfie.”
Dr Woolley’s practice, described as a feminist critique, examines her experiences as a neoliberal subject in contemporary consumer culture and the processes of constructing ideal gendered bodies through a queer, feminist, and anti-capitalist lens. She creates public domain interventions in physical commercial advertising spaces in cities and in virtual ones, utilising online social networking sites.
Solo exhibitions include; “Consumed: Stilled Lives” bildkultur Gallery, Stuttgart, (2022), Perth Centre for Photography, Australia, and Blenheim Walk Gallery, Leeds (2019); and other recent exhibitions include, “Mirror of Self” Hangar Photo Art Center, Brussels, (2023), “New Talents” Kommunale Galerie, Berlin, (2022), “Self/Selfie” Ballarat International Foto Biennale, Australia (2017) and “From Selfie to Self-Expression” Saatchi Gallery, London (2017).
Dr Woolley is the solo author of “Consuming the Body: Capitalism, Social Media and Commodification”, published in 2022 by Bloomsbury and other recent publications include: “The Quantified Self, The Ideology of Health and Fat”, in The Body Productive, London: Bloomsbury, 2023; and “The Dissecting Gaze: Fashioned Bodies on Social Networking Sites”, in Revisiting the Gaze: Feminism, Fashion and the Female Body, (London: Bloomsbury, 2020).
As part of the PILAA team, she will be lending her artistic craft to our EDI campaigns, making her the perfect PILAA Artist to work with on all projects and briefs dealing with gender, consumer culture, still life and self-portraiture.
In her spare time, when not working, she likes swimming, yoga, cooking, going to the cinema and, hanging out with her guinea pigs.
Dr. Lateesha Osbourne
Research Associate
Dr Lateesha is an experienced Equality, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion consultant and trainer, with a track record of working with clients across the public, private, and third sectors. Drawing on her academic background, she provides evidence-based solutions that work for clients and staff at all levels of seniority. Lateesha has developed and delivered bespoke courses, including Unconscious Bias, Diversity in Practice, Decolonising the Curriculum, and Micro-Inequities, for clients such as HiTech GP Formula 2, University of Oxford, Meta, and World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.
In 2022, Lateesha graduated with a PhD in Psychology from the University of Bath. Her doctoral research focused on Black students’ sense of identity and belonging in higher education in the UK. Using qualitative methods, she explored Black students’ everyday experiences, including encountering “acceptable” racism on campus. As part of her PhD, Lateesha presented her research findings to the Vice-Chancellor and senior managers at the University, seeking solutions to the issues that Black students face.
Lateesha excels at facilitating open, honest, and strategic discussions that identify key issues affecting staff, including leadership teams. She has a talent for seeking solutions to fraught, contentious, and polarised debates within organisations. Drawing on her knowledge of sexuality, gender, and race equality issues, Lateesha liaises with key stakeholders to recommend, influence, and inform Widening Participation and Equality, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion strategies.
As a Hogan Practitioner, Lateesha uses psychometric data to provide insightful feedback to teams and individuals. She is a respected and sought-after speaker who has participated in numerous speaking engagements, including international conferences, guest lectures, discussion panels, and forums.
When not working, Dr Osbourne enjoys gigs/concerts, good food, and travel. She is a proud Londoner and Tottenham Hotspur supporter by association.