Ky Sargeant Consulting
Ky Sargeant is an EDI Consultant & Facilitator who created Ky Sargeant Consulting to combine her love for language and performing arts with her understanding of empirical research for effective inclusion efforts.
As she explains, “Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion are often viewed either as superficial ‘feel good' exercises, or as cold, calculative systems. I believe the truth lives somewhere in the middle. Engaging in any kind of work for social good requires you to build genuine connections with people, while also recognizing the larger structures that shape our behaviour. I strive to inspire my clients to find the joy in making progress on EDI, and then provide the research-backed tools needed to make it happen.”
Ky started doing grassroots student activism in 2018, which eventually led to the UBC Business School's Senior Dean of EDI offering her a job as her research assistant.
“In my three years supporting the school and doing research, I learned that over the last 40 years, the way we've done EDI work may have caused more harm than good. There's a lot of challenges people don't think about, but one that really stuck with me is the fear that many feel towards the term ‘EDI.’ People often see ‘EDI’ and worry about being a bad person or saying the wrong thing, which is a huge barrier to learning. As someone with years of performing arts experience in poetry and comedy, I found myself uniquely positioned to turn a typically fearful learning experience into something enjoyable and inspiring. The amazing response I had to my work while I was still a student made me realize that there was a big need for this in the business world, which led me to starting the practice I have now.”
For Ky, marketing her business has been one of the greatest challenges she’s faced as an entrepreneur.
“I spend a lot more time focusing on improving my work than I do talking about it. While I love the fact that virtually all my clients come from organic referrals, I often wonder if it will be enough if I don't start marketing myself more conventionally. I think a large part of this comes from my fear of taking space as a transgender woman. There is so much hostility and danger involved with being a publically known trans woman, that I feel held back from doing more in order to protect myself. I also worry a lot about not representing my community well enough. There are so few trans women in the business world that I'm always wary of how people will see my actions as a reflection of others, so I strive to show up in space with a lot of intentionality, which means I need to be more careful of how I manage my energy.”