If you’ve been following this series, you already know why a DEIA strategy matters, what a consulting partnership looks like, and the measurable returns a well-implemented strategy can deliver.
But knowing what a DEIA engagement should look like in theory is one thing. Knowing what it looks like in practice, with a specific consulting team, is another.
This post is about pulling back the curtain. We want to show you exactly how One DEI Consulting works with organizations, from the very first conversation to the deliverables we leave behind and the capacity we build along the way.
Because when you’re choosing a consulting partner for something this important, transparency matters. You deserve to know not just what we do, but how and why we do it.
Our Approach: Intersectional, Evidence-Based, and Built for Your Organization
At One DEI Consulting, we don’t believe in off-the-shelf solutions. Every organization has its own culture, its own history, and its own set of barriers that need to be understood before any meaningful change can happen.
Our approach is built on four principles.
We take an intersectional lens. We examine your organization as a whole: leadership styles, policies, workplace environment, programs, and communications, and how all of these interact with each other. DEIA challenges rarely exist in isolation. A hiring gap might connect to a policy issue, which might connect to a leadership culture, which might connect to how communication flows across the organization. We look at the full picture.
We ground everything in evidence. Our recommendations are never based on assumptions or trends. They come from what we find through employee surveys, confidential interviews, policy reviews, and data analysis. When we recommend a training, a policy change, or a structural shift, it’s because the evidence from your organization tells us it’s needed.
We tailor everything to your context. A municipal agency and a tech startup face very different DEIA challenges, even when the goals overlap. We design every strategy, toolkit, and training program to fit the organization we’re working with, not the last one we worked with.
Our work is trauma-informed and culturally sensitive. DEIA work touches on deeply personal experiences, including racism, discrimination, exclusion, and harm. We approach every conversation, every interview, and every training session with care, recognizing the emotional weight this work carries for the people involved. Creating a safe and respectful space is not an afterthought. It is central to how we operate.
What an Engagement Looks Like, Step by Step
While every engagement is different, the general structure follows a clear path. Here’s how it typically unfolds.
Step 1: The Initial Conversation
Every engagement starts with listening. Before we propose anything, we want to understand where your organization is, what prompted you to seek support, and what success would look like for your team. This conversation helps us determine whether we’re the right fit and gives us the foundation to scope the work appropriately.
Step 2: The Diagnostic
This is the most important phase. We conduct a thorough review of your organization, including developing and conducting employee surveys and interviews, a review of your existing policies and procedures through a DEIA lens, an assessment of your leadership structures and communication practices, and an evaluation of any existing DEIA initiatives or committees.
The diagnostic gives us the honest baseline your organization needs. It tells us what’s working, what’s not, and where the most significant gaps and opportunities are.
Step 3: Strategy Development
Based on what we find, we work with your leadership team to develop a clear, phased DEIA strategy. This includes short-, medium-, and long-term goals, measurable outcomes, and a timeline for implementation.
We don’t hand over a document and disappear. We build the strategy collaboratively, so your leadership, HR team, and DEIA committee are aligned from the start.
Step 4: Deliverables and Tools
This is where the work becomes tangible. Depending on your organization’s needs, we develop practical deliverables that your team can use long after the engagement ends. These might include a multi-year DEIA strategy with phased goals and milestones, a Diversity Lens to embed equity considerations into everyday decision-making, Terms of Reference for your DEIA or Diversity Committee so the group has clear roles, responsibilities, and governance, policy recommendations reviewed through a DEIA lens, or customized toolkits covering the history and context of racism, discrimination, and systemic barriers relevant to your organization and sector.
These aren’t generic templates. Every deliverable is built specifically for your organization, your challenges, and your goals.
Step 5: Training and Workshops
Our training is always informed by what the diagnostic uncovered. We don’t deliver a standard presentation to every organization. We design workshops around your specific gaps and needs.
Topics we cover include (but are not limited to) an introduction to DEI, how to be an ally to racialized people, outreach fundamentals for engaging equity-deserving communities, the history of racism and colonization in Canada, unconscious bias, appreciation versus appropriation, including people with disabilities, understanding and managing microaggressions, and understanding privilege.
Every session is designed to be practical, honest, and grounded in real organizational context.
Step 6: Ongoing Support and Evaluation
DEIA is not a one-time project. We support organizations through implementation, helping to build the accountability structures that keep the work moving forward. We also help you measure progress against your goals and adjust the strategy as your organization evolves.
Case Studies
To show what this looks like in practice, here are two examples from our work.
Toronto Seniors Housing Corporation
Toronto Seniors Housing Corporation (TSHC) came to One DEI Consulting to develop a structured, sustainable approach to DEIA. They understood the importance of the work but needed expert guidance to translate that commitment into a clear plan with practical tools.
What we delivered:
One DEI Consulting developed a comprehensive three-year DEI strategy for TSHC, incorporating short-, medium-, and long-term goals to guide sustainable change across the organization. The work included the creation of a Diversity Lens, a practical reference tool designed to embed equity considerations into decision-making at all levels. We also developed Terms of Reference for TSHC’s Diversity Committee, giving the group clear roles, responsibilities, and governance to ensure it could function as a meaningful part of the organization’s accountability structure.
Why it mattered:
The engagement combined strategic planning with organizational capacity building, helping TSHC lay the groundwork to strengthen inclusion for staff over the long term. By pairing a phased strategy with practical tools and clear governance, TSHC moved from good intentions to a structured, sustainable approach to equity.
Ontario NDP Caucus
One DEI Consulting supported the Ontario NDP Caucus with a comprehensive approach to ethnocultural community engagement. The challenge was twofold: the Caucus needed to build stronger, more authentic relationships with Ontario’s diverse ethnocultural communities, and it needed its members and staff to be better equipped to engage meaningfully across cultural contexts.
What we delivered:
The engagement included outreach to diverse ethnocultural communities, both within unions and in the broader public, as well as the development of an ethnocultural outreach strategy for priority ridings. Working closely with the media relations team, we created an ethnocultural media strategy to ensure authentic, community-focused coverage. We provided one-on-one coaching for caucus members and staff, prepared briefing notes on diverse communities, wrote speeches tailored for events in ethnocultural communities, created event itineraries, served as a subject matter expert, and coordinated roundtables with ethnocultural communities and the then-leader.
Why it mattered:
This multifaceted approach strengthened relationships, built trust, and positioned the Caucus as an active, informed participant in Ontario’s diverse political landscape. It’s also a strong example of how DEIA consulting extends beyond internal workplace culture. The same principles of listening, learning, and building genuine connection apply just as powerfully to external community engagement.
Why Organizations Choose One DEI Consulting
There are many consultants and firms offering DEIA services. Here’s what makes our approach different.
A Racialized, Neurodivergent, Women-Led Equity Firm
One DEI Consulting is a racialized, neurodivergent, women-led equity firm grounded in anti-oppression, intersectionality, and systems transformation. Our team brings more than professional expertise. We bring lived experience.
Gurpreet Kaur Sodhi, our founder, has over 30 years of experience in diversity, equity, inclusion, ethnocultural outreach, and media relations. She holds a B.A. and M.A. in Indigenous Studies, a Journalism Diploma, and certifications in Anti-Racism and Diversity & Inclusion. She grew up as a Sikh woman in a small Ontario town and was diagnosed with dyslexia in university. That combination of navigating difference firsthand and building a career dedicated to inclusion gives her a perspective that can’t be learned from a textbook.
Our associates bring equally rich backgrounds, from disability advocacy and anti-racism policy work to community engagement and political organizing. Combined, our team brings over 40 years of professional expertise across public service, nonprofits, and unions. We understand the communities we serve because we are part of them.
A Tailored, Not Templated, Process
We’ve said it throughout this post, but it bears repeating: we don’t use cookie-cutter solutions. Every strategy, toolkit, training program, and policy review is designed for the organization in front of us. What works for a municipal agency won’t work for a nonprofit, and what works for a 50-person team won’t work for a 500-person one. We meet you where you are.
An Evidence-Based Foundation
Our recommendations are grounded in what we find, not what we assume. The diagnostic phase is central to everything we do because it ensures the strategy that follows is based on your organization’s actual reality, not a set of generic best practices pulled from a slide deck.
We Build Your Capacity, Not Your Dependence
Our goal is not to become a permanent fixture in your organization. It’s to equip your leadership, HR team, managers, and committees with the skills, tools, and systems they need to sustain the work on their own. We’re here to help you build something that lasts.
Final Thoughts
DEIA work is deeply personal, and choosing the right consulting partner is an important decision. We believe you deserve to know exactly how a consultant works before you commit.
At One DEI Consulting, our process is transparent, collaborative, and built around the organization we’re serving. We bring the expertise, the tools, and the lived experience to help you move from intention to action, and from action to lasting change.
If that sounds like the kind of partnership your organization needs, we’d love to hear from you.
Let’s talk: gurpreet@onedeiconsulting.ca
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