The author begins by sharing her own workplace experience from 2013 where she encountered sexism, a toxic culture, and microaggressions, with what she describes as hitting the glass ceiling. Ironically, this was an organisation that had hired her so that they could become the go-to firm for women in engineering. Before this role, Melinda was already very experienced in developing innovation and inclusion strategies for start-ups, Fortune 500 companies, and global NGOs. You wonder how she will turn this situation around. But Melinda is honest and says that sometimes creating change must be done covertly if the leadership and the culture are not ready to address diversity, equity, and inclusion directly. Ultimately, it was her satisfaction in the role that suffered, and this became the catalyst for Melinda starting her own change company. 

The book gives many historical and recent examples of discrimination (predominantly American), which helps to highlight why becoming an ally is important. She explores the nature of privilege and encourages readers to get uncomfortable and to challenge discrimination when witnessed, otherwise nothing will change. 

She explores intersectionality (which was an unfamiliar term to me) in detail and how all too often a DE&I framework focuses on improving one area of a person’s identity and negating another. The author gives well-balanced and actionable advice to put in place here and in many other areas that will ultimately result in a happier workforce. However, I was sometimes seeking more practical examples and detailed strategies of what other businesses had done so that as an HR professional I could more clearly input these. 

Overall, I found that the book serves as a good starting place and a valuable resource for individuals seeking to become effective allies and for anyone wanting to contribute to a more inclusive and diverse workforce.