30/05/2025
Claudine Adeyemi-Adams FIEP. David Elsmere FIEP. Veejay Patel MBE FIEP. Out of these incredible ambassadors for the IEP and the Employability Sector, only one will be crowned Fellow of the Year 2025 (sponsored by Fedcap) at the IEP Summit 2025 Networking Dinner (sponsored by Get Set UK) on 12 June in London.
Ahead of the big day, IEP’s Head of Marketing, Communications & Brand, Heather Ette FIEP, chatted with last year’s winner Liz Sewell FIEP, Founder of Belina Grow and a leading voice in women’s economic empowerment. In this interview, Liz reflects on nearly two decades of work supporting disadvantaged and excluded women into employment.
From her early involvement in student activism to founding her own organisation, she shares insights into the Grow programme’s 18-year journey helping women overcome barriers to work. She discusses the importance of flexibility in employability support, the impact of digital tools, and the power of confidence-building. As an IEP Fellow, she highlights the value of collaboration, innovation, and professional community in shaping the future of the sector. Looking ahead, she emphasises the need for continued partnerships, employer engagement, and sector-led innovation to drive meaningful change.
Check out our interview with Liz Sewell FIEP below:
What does being an IEP Fellow really mean to you, and how has it influenced your work and leadership?
I can’t tell you how chuffed I was when I became a Fellow, because it’s recognition from your peers. You go through a process that’s really good for self-reflection. You have to think about not only what you’ve done, but also what you’re prepared to offer.
What I love about the Fellows – and our sector – is that it’s actually a very sharing sector. People ask, “Are you in competition?” Of course, you compete for bids and things, but everybody shares all the time. I love the IEP dinners, I love the Summit, I love being with other people who are really passionate. Everybody in employability is passionate – otherwise they’d probably get a better-paid job somewhere else.
That passion and commitment is what I really enjoy – being with people who want to do their best. What’s great about the IEP is that it gives people lots of ways to participate and be involved. You could just contribute to the IEP Journal, or you could be on a working group, or you could mentor. Whatever you can offer – put it in. I’m really looking forward to seeing who gets it next year and talking to them about what they’re going to do.
Why do you feel that engaging with the professional community like the IEP is important for those working in employability?
For me, the IEP is about the individuals. For example, this year I’ve been part of setting up the AI Working Group, and that really feels like we’re at the cutting edge. We know this is happening – everyone’s talking about it – but not everyone’s using it. So how can we bring together people who are using it and help them share that information with the whole sector?
It’s about being part of a really active, involved community of people who want to make it better for everyone. What I love about the Working Group is that everyone’s thinking: “Could we share this? Could we do a case study? Can we talk about how people are using free resources, or unique ways they’re doing things?” It’s that energy that I enjoy.
There’s always something happening in the employability sector – and I love being part of it.
Looking at your work with Belina Grow, what inspired you to focus on supporting disadvantaged and excluded women in the employability sector?
So my entire life, really, women’s economic empowerment is what has driven my career. From the very first time I got involved in anything – when I was Vice President of the National Union of Students – I got involved because I wanted to be part of the NUS Women’s Campaign and focus on women students. Then I worked on things like the Workplace Nurseries campaign when I was Chief Executive of Gingerbread.
I really started to get involved in employability when I worked with Harriet Harman on the establishment of the New Deal for Lone Parents. So, as a single parent organisation, we were asked to be involved in training the staff, and that’s where I got my first real understanding of the support women who weren’t working could and couldn’t get. That really excited me. Then, about a decade later, I went on to set up my own organisation – I thought that would be a great place to start.
How many years has the Grow programme been around, and what challenges do you think or know that most of these women face? How does Grow help them overcome those barriers?
Eighteen years. So I think it’s that idea that we might know what we want to do, and we might be able to do that. Almost all of the women I work with can work, but what they don’t know how to do is get from here to there.
I always think of it like having a midwife – someone who’s helped other women do it before, who knows how it works and can help you on that journey. What I really love is when somebody comes in, and they don’t quite know what they want to do. They work with the team, maybe start with some training, then go on to an accredited training course, and then they look for a job—and then they find a job.
What they feel is that what Grow has given them – it’s all in there inside them already – but Grow has given them the confidence and the pathway to move forward. That’s what I feel it is. People have it in them; they just need a little helping hand to find their route.
How many women do you think you’ve been able to support into work?
It’s probably about 10,000 women who have been through the programme over the years. The numbers have been increasing as we’ve gone along, as we’ve been lucky to be funded by the Lottery, by the government, by the Mayor of London. Those opportunities to do different things in different places have allowed us to develop the programme – and that’s what I love: that I’ve got a team of women now who work on the programme, and it’s developing all the time.
It’s gone more online as well, hasn’t it?
Absolutely. And I think what we all need to accept is that there’s no one way to help everybody. Some people only want to do face-to-face stuff. Other people don’t want to leave their home and find childcare even for a short time – and they love the opportunity to do something from home.
I think the app has allowed us to create a community where we really do know what people are interested in. We can see what they’re looking at, what they’re clicking on, and what they care about. We’re in communication with them every day, and I think because we’ve got the app and that ability to be there 24/7 – whenever people want us – they can choose whether to do in-person or online. They know it’s all available.
And I think that’s how employability needs to go. Commissioners shouldn’t say, “We know what people should get.” They should leave it to the experts to come up with ideas and prove what works.
Looking ahead, what are your hopes for the future of the employability sector, and how can initiatives like the Fellowship continue to drive change and improvements?
I think we’re at a really interesting point where the government is thinking about how it’s going to deliver its return-to-work programmes. I hope they listen to the expertise in the sector.
What the Fellowship does is take things out of the everyday. When you’re at IEP events, you’re not talking about your specific programme or what you’re bidding for – it’s much more about the sector as a whole. At the last Fellows Dinner, Patrick said something I loved. We’re always asking, “What reasons do we have to be cheerful?” and people were coming up with really positive things the sector can do.
That’s what the networking and opportunities outside the day-to-day bring. Then you have people like David Imber FIEP, the previous Fellow of the Year, doing wonderful work around professional development. The deep dives we want to do into what’s working around the world – it’s those shared discussions, research, and collaborations that excite me.
I love working with passionate people across the sector. I hope they enjoy working with me and with Grow too – because we love being part of that.
Is there anything else you’d like to add? Anything you want to speak about at the upcoming summit?
I’m really excited because I’m chairing a session with an employer. I think we’re really beginning to focus on what employers need as well as what we need to do – and that’s another partnership we have to develop.
I think the Summit is going to be great. It’s exciting that it’s grown and now needs a bigger venue. I’m really looking forward to it.
And of course – I love the Networking Dinner. So I’m looking forward to all of it.
Celebrate at the IEP Summit 2025
The Fellow of the Year 2025 winner will be revealed at the #IEPSummit2025 Networking Dinner on 12th June at 116 Pall Mall, proudly sponsored by Get Set UK.
Join us to celebrate their achievements and connect with Sector leaders: https://lnkd.in/eUQcZTNr
Share your support for our finalists using #IEPFellowoftheYear2025 and tag The Institute of Employability Professionals and our award sponsor Fedcap to join the celebration!
Once again, congratulations to each of our finalists – you represent the very best of our profession and the values we champion.
