Home > About
About the UWI
The UWI offers a supportive community to encourage the evolution of best practices and knowledge sharing about developing inclusive work cultures. Our role is to connect organisational leaders with the people, products and services that can help to solve workforce problems and challenges.
our purpose
Why we do what we do
At a time when talent is in short supply, a staggering proportion of the available workforce is sitting on the sidelines. Despite 1 in 5 people identifying as neurodivergent, only 2 in 5 are employed. Something has to change.
We saw the need for an organisation that cared enough to steer that change. That’s what the Universal Workforce Institute is about. We believe the key to workplace inclusion is to engineer positive habits and behaviours that include underrepresented communities.
Here at the UWI, our focus is on answering the question of how can business leaders create the mindset, habits, tools and methods to nurture and maintain a high-performance workforce that can adapt to market forces while optimising outcomes for all stakeholders.
Building a Universal Workforce
Our mission is to help organisations develop what we call a ‘universal workforce’—a workforce that embraces diversity in all its forms and cultivates a ‘belonging’ culture. It’s all about:​
Seeing neurodiversity as an asset, not a roadblock
Inspiring people to work together to create positive social change
Having one community, whether workers are internal or external, remote or in-office, fixed, flexible or freelance.
our purpose
We partner with the best
We’re always seeking to work with subject-matter experts and businesses in the various topics that are the building blocks of a universal workforce. Our goal is to create a coalition network made up of people who are making a difference by sharing their ideas, innovation and experiences, helping to improve workplaces for everybody.
With all our partners, we work together in bringing top insights to business leaders through our podcast, magazine and events, providing opportunities for conversation and connection.
Neurodiversity as our core theme
Neurodivergent talent is a growing priority for businesses as a solution to AI and technology business innovation. However, many organisations lack the knowledge, skills, and tools to adequately attract, hire, and retain neurodivergent talent, being stuck with their prevailing workforce initiatives. ​
Consequently, one of our primary purposes is to help organisations with initiatives supporting neurodiversity in the workplace, a topic that features heavily in our podcasts, events and content. We’re also working alongside our partners to co-create solutions to grow awareness of and embrace neurodiversity at work.​
Responsible business
As a certified social enterprise, the UWI is committed to conducting operations in a manner that prioritises sustainability and ethical practices. We believe that a responsible business should embody five essential principles for sustainable performance:
We operate in alignment with a purpose that serves society, respects the dignity of people, and generates a fair return for responsible investors. We invite public scrutiny of our actions to ensure transparency and accountability.
Building lasting relationships with our customers and suppliers is paramount. We prioritise honesty, providing quality products and services that are safe for our customers. We treat our suppliers fairly, paying them promptly and expecting the same in return. Sharing knowledge openly empowers our customers and suppliers to make informed choices.
We treat every individual with dignity and ensure fair pay for all. We encourage constructive dialogue to ensure our actions remain aligned with our purpose. We foster innovation, leadership, and personal accountability within our workforce, nurturing an environment where everyone can learn, contribute, and thrive.
We consider the impact of our decisions on every person as if they were members of our own community. We actively seek and provide opportunities for less privileged individuals. By structuring our business and operations responsibly, we ensure the prompt payment of all properly due taxes, making a full and fair contribution to society.
We recognise our duty to protect the natural world and conserve finite resources. We contribute our knowledge and experience to promote better regulations that benefit society as a whole, prioritising the common good over self-interest. Furthermore, we invest in developing skills, knowledge, and understanding in wider society to foster informed citizenship.
Our team
Our team consists of passionate individuals and over half of us are neurodiverse.
Ian C. Tomlin
Managing Director
Ian is a serial entrepreneur. He discovered his own neurodiversity after experiencing the consulting intervention of his son. His strong suit is his ability to concentrate for very long periods of time—helpful when he writes business books and fiction. He leads a talented, largely neurodiverse team and knows through first-hand experience the behavioural changes needed to make diverse teams work.
Erica Birtles
Marketing Officer
Erica is a passionate millennial woman of words. When not driving the marketing and events agenda for the UWI, she reads, writes, runs a book blog and helps authors find their audience. If that’s not enough, Erica is an academic and follows her passion as an art historian whenever she gets the opportunity.
Mason Alexander Tomlin
Digital Officer
Mason was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome after leaving education. Since then, he has actively sought to change hearts and minds about how business leaders and society should see neurodiverse people. Mason sometimes finds it hard not to speak his mind. Guitars are his special interest, he's a songwriter and designs new guitar concepts in his spare time.
Eve Bluma
Creative Design and Editorial Officer
While English is not Eve’s first language, you would never know it. Eve uses her gift of words to the UWI’s content publications, websites and articles. Additionally, Eve is a creative dynamo through and through—which is why she also heads up our creative team. Eve has ADD and is on the autism spectrum.
Jake Ellis
Senior Consultant, Strategist, Analyst and Researcher
Jake is a historian who turned his head to business research and strategy, only to find out he was good at it. A great team always needs someone with an eye for detail to patiently cross t’s and dot I’s and get the job done, and that's what Jake excels at!