ABOUT BCOHCO
A personal quest for equality
BCohCo was founded by Katie Donovan-Adekanmbi following a lifelong curiosity about difference, belonging and fairness.
Growing up as a dual-heritage child in predominantly White environments, Katie became aware early on that inclusion is shaped not only by individual attitudes, but by the systems, cultures and norms that surround us. Even within a loving and secure family, there was a clear sense that social dynamics were at play that required understanding, language and context.
This curiosity led Katie to study International Relations and Social Psychology, where she developed the academic foundations to explore power, identity, group behaviour and social systems. Importantly, this education provided the language to connect lived experience with structural analysis — a lens that continues to underpin BCohCo’s work today.
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Fighting for change
Katie’s professional career has focused on translating insight into action through system-level change. Working across public services and community development, she held frontline and strategic roles that required collaboration across policing, education, health, youth services and the voluntary sector.
As a Sustainable Communities Manager, Katie led complex multi-agency partnerships aimed at improving outcomes at neighbourhood level. Through coordinated, long-term action, a Priority Neighbourhood was lifted out of designation within six years, demonstrating what is possible when systems work together rather than in silos.
She also designed and led a preventative Anti-Hate Crime programme, working proactively with schools and communities to address root causes rather than symptoms. The programme secured central government funding and continues to inform effective practice in community-led prevention work.
BCohCo was established to bring this combination of lived insight, academic rigour and practical systems experience into organisational contexts. Today, the consultancy works across public, private and charitable sectors, supporting organisations to build Cross-Cultural Literacy, redesign systems and strengthen equity and cohesion in ways that are sustainable, defensible and grounded in real-world practice.
Upskilling and professional growth
Throughout a decade working as a Sustainable Communities Manager, Katie Donovan-Adekanmbi continued to deepen her professional capability as an educator, facilitator and programme designer. Alongside frontline community leadership, she undertook formal teacher training and project management qualifications, and worked closely with experienced practitioners to develop effective learning and development approaches.
This period brought together three critical strands of expertise: lived experience, hands-on systems and community work, and the technical skill to design and deliver high-quality learning programmes. The result was a distinctive ability to translate complex social issues into practical, engaging and impactful development experiences for diverse audiences.
By the beginning of 2020, it became clear that this approach could have wider reach and greater impact beyond individual roles and programmes. BCohCo was established to bring this combined expertise into organisational settings, supporting learning, development and systems change at scale.
Katie Donovan-Adekanmbi - BCohCo Founder
And so, BCohCo was born
BCohCo was established with a clear and enduring purpose: to support the building of cohesive communities within organisations, regardless of size, sector or context. The name itself reflects this commitment, ensuring that as the organisation grows, its founding intention remains central to everything it does.
While BCohCo’s roots predate 2020, the events of that year brought longstanding issues of inequality, power and exclusion into sharper organisational focus. The global response to the murder of George Floyd, alongside the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, exposed both the fragility of existing systems and the limitations of surface-level approaches to diversity and inclusion.
Organisations were required to adapt rapidly, not only in how they worked, but in how they supported, developed and connected their people. This created a demand for learning and development that was accessible, rigorous and capable of addressing complex social realities within professional settings.
BCohCo emerged at this moment not as a reaction to crisis, but as a response to a clear organisational need: for credible, system-informed approaches to equity, cohesion and culture that could be embedded alongside other strategic priorities. From the outset, the consultancy positioned this work as integral to organisational effectiveness, leadership and long-term sustainability, rather than as a standalone or reactive intervention.
Leading the change
Today, Katie Donovan-Adekanmbi leads a multidisciplinary team at BCohCo, working with organisations across the UK and internationally. Her work spans leadership development, organisational change and cross-sector collaboration, and she regularly contributes to industry events and strategic conversations focused on equity, cohesion and systems change.
Through this work, Katie has supported thousands of individuals across roles and sectors to develop the understanding, language and capability needed to influence change within their organisations and professional networks.
The DICE Programme she designed and now delivers is a structured learning and development offer, delivered in small groups both virtually and in person. The programme is intentionally designed to go beyond awareness-raising, requiring active engagement, reflection and responsibility from participants. It builds shared understanding, strengthens Cross-Cultural Literacy and supports people to translate learning into action within their teams and organisational contexts.
This is not a one-off intervention or a compliance exercise. The DICE Programme equips participants with the tools to question assumptions, reassess learned norms and apply insight in ways that influence culture, practice and systems over time.
- Katie Donovan-Adekanmbi
Meet the BCohCo Team
All DICE trainers, facilitators, and development workers come with their own rich portfolio of experience within social justice. They spend at least 20 hours working directly with our director to learn and understand the principles that underpin our practice.
