Dr Elly Barnes MBE was voted No: 1 in The Independent on Sundays Rainbow List 2011 for her commitment to LGBT+ in education and awarded a 'highly commended' by the TES 'Teacher of the Year' 2012. More recently in 2018 was voted DIVA Activist of the Year.
As an experienced educationalist, Elly began LGBT+ inclusive work in 2005, setting up her own school as a Diversity Training Centre in 2010, offering LGBT+ training, CPD and resources to schools and organisations nationally.
This whole school approach was recognised by Ofsted as 'best practice' for successfully tackling homophobic, biphobic and Transphobic bullying in 2011 and described as innovative and visionary in 2016.
Elly developed her Educate & Celebrate PRIDE in Inclusion Award Programme - an accredited best practice certification, by drawing on her experiences of implementing the most effective strategies. There are now 1000's of organisations accessing Educate & Celebrate services nationally and internationally.
In 2015, she spearheaded the Educate & Celebrate programme as part of the pilot Anti-HBT bullying project with the Department for Education for which she received an MBE for her contribution to Equality and Diversity in Education. This was followed by an Honorary Doctorate from The University of Aberdeen.
Throughout the development, Elly partnered with Goldsmiths University of London and together with Dr Anna Carlile wrote a book of research of best practice released in March 2018 called How to Transform Your School into an LGBT+Friendly Place: A Practical Guide for nursery, primary and secondary teachers
Elly is a regular keynote speaker, consultant, researcher and writer who speaks at numerous events globally.
E&C works in partnership with a range of organisations to support them to embed equity, diversity and inclusion including County Councils, Businesses, Corporates, Boroughs, Universities, Charities, Consortiums and Multi Academy Trusts.
The work continues to impact education and business globally with projects and Award Schools in Spain, Switzerland, Ireland, Thailand, Hong Kong, Cambodia and Singapore.
"She was mesmerising! She is such a great public speaker it was nice to have someone like her come into our school" Walsall Teacher
"Best Training on ANY topic I've had in years!" KittyC on Twitter Feb 2020
"..just 10 minutes of E&C's @elly_barnes and the way I communicate about diversity has changed forever: So damn good" Robert James Twitter Feb 2020
Elly is regularly interviewed on the radio and by the press regarding LGBT+ inclusion. She is an energetic, ebullient and inspirational speaker.
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Dr Elly Barnes MBE is an experienced educationalist, founder and CEO of Educate & Celebrate, a charity that empowers and supports leadership teams, boards, governors, schools and businesses to build a future of inclusion and social justice.
Beginning in the UK in 2005 and spearheading the Department for Education HBT anti-bullying project, Elly went on to be voted No: 1 in The Independent on Sunday's Rainbow List 2011 for her commitment to LGBT+ in education and DIVA Activist of the Year 2018. Throughout the development of her pioneering PRIDE in Inclusion Award Programme, Elly and Dr Anna Carlile wrote a book called How to Transform Your School into an LGBT+ Friendly Place: A Practical Guide for nursery, primary and secondary teachers released in March 2018.
