Inclusion Award
Thea Tomison is a management consultant at KPMG who has led a ground-breaking initiative to broaden inclusivity in a very specific and progressive way: the employability of prison leavers. Starting out by partnering with the charity Key4Life, which provides mentoring and employability support for prisoners, Thea became convinced of the case for employing prison leavers at her own firm. To get this off the ground required vision, commitment and rigorous project management. Leading a small project team, Thea engaged with senior stakeholders, including at ExCo level, to get buy-in and support, and worked closely with internal and external stakeholders to redesign recruitment and on-boarding processes, find candidates and ensure they had the right support in place when they joined. Strong governance and risk management were essential, as were dedication, teamwork and leadership.
The pilot scheme launched successfully in 2022, since then eight prison leavers have been employed in full-time roles. The ‘New Futures’ programme has been very well-received internally and externally, including national press coverage and Thea being invited to speak at an All-Party Parliamentary Group session on the topic.
Historically, the employment of prison leavers has largely been focused on the construction and leisure industries – but through Thea’s remarkable efforts, the precedent has now been set in professional services and consultancy. At least one other consultancy firm has followed suit. This is truly inclusivity in action.
View the KPMG profile in the MCA Members Directory.