The Belonging Project

Growing up as a a child of immigrant parents, Mehdi Tounsi did not feel like he belonged - neither in the country he lived in, nor in the country his parents were from. He always felt “different”.

This really resonated with me, so I invited him on the podcast! 🎙️

We had such a great conversation about being an immigrant across cultures, trying to “belong” in various times of life (childhood, school, work), and learning to accept yourself to find a true sense of belonging.

Tune in to get actionable tips and learn what’s needed in ANY situation to feel youbelong. There are also some fun cultural references if you are French-British! 😜

Connect with Mehdi over here.

Connect with Fiorenza, your host, over here.

In this episode, we explore all about psychological safety with Anna Gibson, Clinical Psychologist and Organizational Consultant.

Psychological safety matters in any relational system of any kind (e.g. families, friendship, workplace)

We explore the common behaviours that characterize psychologically safe environments or psychologically safe relationships: behaviours that promote curiosity, that promote deep listening, that promote a sense that it's okay to make mistakes. (and you'll hear more about this in the episode!)

We discuss what psychological safety facilitates. At the top of the list we find:

✅ Inclusion

✅ Belonging

✅ Getting closer to achieving DEIB goals

✅ Innovation

✅ Healthier relationships

Tune in for a deep dive on psychological safety, in the workplace and beyond!

Resources from the episode:

Make sure to bookmark the work done by Amy Edmonson on Psychological Safety and her book The Fearless Organization

Connect with Anna Gibson here

and make sure to follow Fiorenza Rossini on Linkedin

Abda has been a lawyer for over 30 years and a writer of fiction and historical novels, passionate to increase the representation of underrepresented groups in books.

In this episode, Abda talks to us about her books (I cannot wait to read her latest fiction which will address gaslighting as a form of emotional abuse) and her work to raise awareness around culturally-sensitive writing.

Abda shares her journey to Law and then writing. She recalls a dialogue with her career counsellor when she was 15.

“Girls like you don't go to university, do they?”, the career counsellor said.

How can we get a sense of belonging unless we are encouraged to belong?

Abda shares with us how she found determination and strength to go against expectations.

Tune in for more!

** Links from the episode:

Abda's books are listed here and make sure to follow her to be the first to know about her new novel and first historical novel to be out!

Follow Abda on Linkedin or on Twitter

Click here to connect with Fiorenza!

Parents, this episode is for you!

In this episode, we talk with Dr Sharon Lo, Licensed Child Clinical Psychologist.

We explore the different shapes that Belonging can take from early childhood, to adolescent and then adulthood; what factors are important (people, cultural context, environment and groups we are exposed to). We also debunk what's usual to experience at key developmental stages.

I loved the strategies that Dr Sharon Lo shared for parents that may be facing challenging behaviours with their children. My top takeaway strategy is to differentiate the child from, for example, the worry bully voice. By the way, I am obsessed with the Pixar Movie Inside Out: as Dr Sharon Lo mentioned, it does offer a visualisation of our inner voices and different parts of ourselves + it’s super accessible for kids!

I've also loved hearing more about Sharon’s professional journey and the importance of having a community that supports you, understands you and validate you, within the workplace and beyond.

Give this episode a listen and share it with all your parent friends please!

Links from the episode:

• Child      Development Model by Uri Bronfenbrenner


• Dr.      José Causadias work on integrating culture in socioecological theories and      child development


• Internal Family systems: visit      this blog post to learn more + visit      the Institute


• Using      “Inside Out” movie to discuss emotions with children in therapy

In this episode, our returning guest is Helene Bejjani, Global Learning and Development Leader.

We explore how we can leverage our awareness, both of self and of a corporate culture, as a tool to experience a stronger sense of belonging at work.

We provide practical steps on:

• How to increase your self-awareness, including how to get clear on what you’re looking for in a workplace environment.


• How to cultivate a sense of belonging in high turnover contexts

We reflect on:

• What and who influences our workplace culture


• The impact of culture in the workplace

We also provide real-life examples of steps taken by successful leaders and teams to create an environment and culture in which people feel themselves, making them feel like they belong.

Links from the episode:

Explore your Core Values with this activity

Follow Helene

Click here to connect with Fiorenza !

In this episode, we talk with Human Performance Optimization Subject-Matter Expert, Dr. Ford Dyke.

We explore his journey from psychology, exercise science to mind-body connection and human performance optimisation.

We truly stand with the impact of Dr. Dyke’s work, dedicated to making information and education available outside of the academic classroom and we get to know more about it in our conversation.

We also talk about:

• The human experience


• Music and movement as a      universal language, leading to connection and belonging.

Follow Dr. Ford Dyke’s work here: https://www.forddyke.com

Click here to connect with Fiorenza!

In this episode, we talk with Niti Nadarajah, DEI advocate and freelance general counsel.

We talk about:

• Her career transition: out of her successful law career for a big corporation into entrepreneurship


• Growing up in a multicultural setting and the impact on the sense of Belonging


• Leaning into other people, being inclusively curious, meeting people where they are, compassion, empathy and psychological safety: the key ingredients to Belonging


• Intrusive vs Inclusive curiosity

Follow Niti’s work on Linkedin

Click here to connect with Fiorenza!

In this episode, we talk with Ashiedu Joel, inclusive leadership and cultural capital consultant. We are honoured to hear more about her story!

We talk about:

• Her journey, as a Black African woman in modern Britain, from school to the workplace


• Stereotypes, biases and microagressions


• Compassionate leadership


• Why we need more open conversations

Ashiedu also shared with us strategies that helped her find belonging in the workplace. For the most part, those strategies were reliant on herself - deciding when to engage, educate, and when not to. This may have such a toll on one’s mental health.

Follow Ashiedu’s work on Linkedin

Click here to connect with Fiorenza!

In this episode of The Belonging Project Podcast, we meet our community and we explore the lived experiences of not-belonging and the learnings they offer.

Alongside podcast’s host Fiorenza, we hear experiences from three members of our community:

- Tanisha Dayal, DE&I consultant for the Resource Key,

- Pun Chong Hiu, now a Learning and Training Consultant after 9 years of working as staff development specialist at an investment bank

- Dawn Ward, People & Culture Associate Director at Waterstons.

We talk about the following themes:

• Invisible disabilities


• The “where are you from” question


• Building true connections with people while living across the globe


• How short-term challenges can give you a new perspective

We are sharing practical strategies to help you navigate similar situations.

::: Genuine curiosity: Think about the timing and the tone used with your question.

::: Psychological safety: how can you foster it?

::: Self-work: How much do you know yourself? Has it helped you in finding your own definition of Belonging? How much has it helped you to know yourself, to find belonging?

::: Mindfulness: How could you be more mindful and engage in active listening? How you respond will impact the conversation and the person you’re talking to.

Thank you for tuning in!

Hi everyone! The Belonging Project Podcast is back for a third season!

There are a few updates we wanted to share with you ahead of diving into our first episode:

• The Belonging Project Podcast is evolving! Following two amazing seasons of co-leadership by Fiorenza Rossini and Andrea Fleishfresser, Andrea has decided to step away from the podcast leadership. On behalf of our podcast’s community, we want to thank Andrea and we will truly miss her.


• Going forward, Fiorenza will be leading the podcast. Rest assured that our mission and purpose remains unchanged: we are exploring how Belonging can show up in our life, what it feels like to belong and the impact of truly belonging.


• We’re also going to bring you some new types of interventions with our episodes. We want to diversify the kind of information and strategies provided so it gives you even more opportunities to grow on your journey of finding your true belonging.

Any questions or suggestions, please connect with Fiorenza here.

In today’s episode, we are exploring psychologist Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. We look into each level and we talk about how and where Belonging fits in.

1. Physiological needs


2. Safety needs


3. Social needs (incl. Belonging)


4. Esteem needs


5. Self-actualization needs

Thank you for tuning in!