Bernadette is currently the Deputy Director for Inclusion, Wellbeing and Employee Engagement in the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). She joined the Civil Service in 1998, starting as a Caseworker in the Legal Aid Board, and she has held a range of roles within the Civil Service across many Government departments and agencies, including, Ministry of Justice, Home Office, Treasury Legal Aid Agency and Cabinet Office.
She is a notable diversity advocate and public speaker, working with leaders across government and the public sector to drive a culture of inclusion, specifically focusing on increasing the pace on representation of Black and Minority Ethnic employees at more senior levels.
For five years, Bernadette co-chaired the multi award-winning Race to the Top G6/7 network, a community of interest network group of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) G6/7 employees across all Government departments and agencies, supporting members by helping to increase preparedness for leadership at the next level, and helping the Civil Service increase the flow of BAME staff into the Senior Civil Service (SCS). She is also a Different Woman Ambassador where she campaigns for a more inclusive gender agenda, amplifying the voices of women of colour.
In 2020 Bernadette won the Workplace Hero category in the national investing in Ethnicity Awards for championing and driving race equality and inclusion across the Civil Service. In 2021 she won one of the prestigious “We are the City” Rising Star Champion awards and also in 2021, Bernadette was awarded as an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE)
Bernadette has also been a Community Governor at a local infant school for over 18 years and volunteers at athletics/sports events such as 2012 Olympics, 2017 World Athletics and she is really looking forward to being a part of the 2022 Commonwealth Gamers. Bernadette’s most important job, however, is being a mother to her two children.