MMCS MD Monica Mwanje has recently featured as a guest on the Invennt Ltd Podcast “Construction Big Breakfast”. Host Ben Pritchard interviewed Monica on a variety of topics but the main focus was on Monica’s involvement as co-Founder of Diversity and Inclusion in UK Nuclear.

Monica talked about the rationale behind Diversity and Inclusion in UK Nuclear, and the palpable shift in discussions in the industry about how the workforce can be more diverse and inclusive.

Monica and Ben discussed the impact of Covid-19 on the nuclear industry and that the possibilities of remote working could open up opportunities to a wider talent pool during these challenging times and beyond. The long-term benefits of a more diverse and inclusive workforce in the industry was also covered.

Monica then shared her ambitions for the future of Diversity and Inclusion in UK Nuclear, and her hopes for the nuclear industry overall.

Check out the full conversation in the video clip below. The audio is also available on Apple Podcasts and Podbean.

Find out more about Diversity and Inclusion in UK Nuclear here.

Find out more about the Equal Engineer’s “Engineering a Winning Workforce: Engaging the Majority” training here.

In addition to the Business Development and Bid Management services we provide, MM Creative Solutions also provides consultancy and training services on the subjects of Diversity and Inclusion (D&I).

With the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement back into public consciousness in 2020, we have seen a steep increase in enquiries on how to address issues and inadequacies of D&I, particularly in the workplace.

Read our MMCS Insights article “The Privilege of Silence”.

Below is a short case study of a workshop we delivered earlier this year.

Case Study: Inclusive Leadership Masterclass

In April 2020, MM Creative Solutions MD Monica Mwanje , in partnership with Jasmine Gartner, Social Anthropologist and Consultant on Unconscious Bias and D&I, delivered an online masterclass entitled: ‘Introduction to Inclusive Leadership’.

This masterclass gave attendees with a top-level understanding of what inclusive leadership is. Monica and Jasmine explained that Inclusive Leadership was to make the invisible structures of systemic inequality visible, and then changing them. The key point being that these structures are only invisible to those whom they privilege.

Monica and Jasmine also talked about levels of privilege and inequalities within institutions; some people may feel safer and more included in some institutions than others, for example.

They then discussed how the experience of institutions can be different for certain demographic groups (Those with disabilities, and the LGBTQI+ community were two such examples discussed), before giving practical tools and starting points to the attendees, to promote a more inclusive work environment and culture.

As a result of this training, attendees could formulate a practical action plan that they could apply to their workplace.

Feedback from attendees:

“This was a nicely put together workshop that could work as a good basic introduction to Inclusive Leadership. Thank you for running this!”

“The presenters are clearly very passionate about inclusive leadership and deliver the session with empathy.”

“I attended the training about inclusive leadership and I would like to thank the speakers for this interactive and inspiring webinar. It allows me to get the consciousness of my own behaviour that in certain cases could have been exclusive while I always considered myself as open minded to diversity. I realise now that being inclusive needs everyday effort to ask yourself if what you do, the way you do it, is inclusive enough.”

Click here for more information on Inclusion Training from MMCS.

D&I School is a new initiative from Monica and Jasmine to provide training for senior management and employers, view their website here.

MM Creative Solutions has signed up to the Business & Technical Services Marketplace (BATS)  supply chain list of the Shared Services Alliance (SSA), a collaboration on common supply requirements for the nuclear decommissioning estate.

The Business and Technical Services Marketplace is for professional services associated with supporting business delivery across 13 scope categories. It builds on the success of the Business Services Marketplace (BSM), led by LLWR, which has proved to be a popular and simple option for supplying services since it became the first Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) the SSA launched in 2016.

The SSA was founded in 2009, with the aim of working across the estate to find common supply requirements and to save money on procurement across the estate:

• Direct Rail Services
• Dounreay
• International Nuclear Services
• LLW Repository Ltd
• Magnox Ltd
• National Nuclear Laboratory
• Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
• Radioactive Waste Management
• Sellafield Ltd

The SSA also aims to improve interactions with the supply chain, and receive optimum value for money.

We have specifically signed up to the Supply chain under the category of Public Affairs Support. This includes PR, marketing and communications support, amongst other services.

MMCS has collaborated with members of the nuclear supply chain since its inception in 2015, providing business development consultancy, bid writing and management, bid training, as well as Diversity and Inclusion consultancy and training services.

Contact us for more information on how we can help your business thrive within this sector.

MMCS MD Monica Mwanje is soon to take part in TotalDECOM’s regular series of webinars.

Monica will be co-hosting a webinar alongside Callum Thomas, CEO of Thomas Thor. In 2019 Monica and Callum founded Diversity and Inclusion in UK Nuclear, a non-profit initiative to raise awareness of the topic of Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) and to support people ready to drive change in the UK nuclear industry.

Read more about the 2020 Diversity and Inclusion in UK Nuclear Conference here.

Their webinar for TotalDECOM is titled Lessons and learns from the ‘’Diversity & Inclusion in UK Nuclear’’ initiative which takes place on Thursday 10^th September at 11.00am. This is for anyone that would like to hear a summary of what Monica and Callum are doing in Diversity and Inclusion in UK Nuclear and some of the interesting lessons they have both learned from their journey so far.

Monica is also involved in D&I School, an initiative to educate employers and senior managers on building a practical Diversity and Inclusion strategy. Visit the D&I School website for more information.

Back in March of this year, MM Creative Solutions MD Monica Mwanje attended the International Youth Nuclear Congress in Sydney, Australia.

Under the theme Diversity in Nuclear, the mission of IYNC2020, a week-long event, was to promote and enable the diversity of people engaged in the many peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology.

Monica was one of the participants for the panel discussion “Challenging the Status Quo”. Joining Monica was Thomas Thor CEO Callum Thomas – together they have co-founded the Diversity and Inclusion in UK Nuclear not-for-profit initiative. Completing the panel was Robert Floyd, Director General of Australian Safeguards and Non-Proliferation Office, Dr Jo Lackenby, a nuclear safety and licensing specialist at the OPAL Reactor in Australia and the President of Women in Nuclear Australia, with the panel chaired by Celine Li of Kinectrics Inc.

The panel discussed the challenges when promoting diversity, and the changes that need to take place for everyone to feel included and accepted in workplaces within the nuclear sector. The panel shared their own personal insights and practical solutions that people could use to foster diversity in the workforce.

Find out more on Diversity and Inclusion in UK Nuclear by visiting their website, and their LinkedIn page.

Monica is also proudly involved in D&I School, providing training to people who want to create a D&I strategy for the 21st century. Their first course starts on 12th September 2020.

Since our inception, MMCS has provided bid consultancy and delivery services to a range of organisations in the nuclear, defence and energy sectors. As a result of our efforts, our clients have successfully secured multimillion pounds contracts via competitive tendering.

Our Bid services cover the entire process, from strategy to writing and review, and is carefully managed along the way. We work with microbusinesses who may be new or unfamiliar with the bidding process through to multinationals who need expert resources to bolster their business development teams.

Read more about what our clients think below:

“We came to Monica Mwanje of MM Creative Solutions (MMCS) for support in understanding why one of our recent bids for work in the UK nuclear sector was not successful. The insights we gained from Monica through review and dissection of our tender response were extremely valuable. We were so impressed at how Monica understood our business offering and differentiators that we hired MMCS to project manage tender responses for us. The fact that MMCS also tracks opportunities means that we have support in identifying and bidding for work in one partner, which is extremely valuable.”

Confidential International Professional Services Client

“MM Creative Solutions provided us with an excellent quality, flexible bid production service supporting bid management and bid writing. MM Creative Solutions also provided high calibre editorial and graphics support at short notice, at a competitive price. We can definitely recommend the service and will continue to use MM Creative Solutions to support bid strategy, development and production.”

Confidential Engineering Consultancy Client

“Over the past 8 months I have worked with Monica on two major projects in the nuclear sector. Personable and a strong communicator, she brings unique knowledge of the sector and its many stakeholders. Monica’s support is further enhanced by her excellent bidding skills, expertly analysing and interpreting requirements before working with her client to set out how they will meet and exceed them.”

Confidential Engineering Consultancy Client

Contact us if you require any more information on our bidding services.

More info on Bid training services, including our upcoming Bid Bootcamp, can be found here.

We are proud to announce that our MD, Monica Mwanje, is now a member of the board of Trustees for the RECLAIM initiative.

RECLAIM is a youth leadership and social change organisation, using their experience and platform to support and amplify the voices of working class young people. Their aim is for working-class people to be represented in places where decisions are made about their lives and to be recognised for their talent, strength, and diversity.

Current projects include working with Leigh Lads youth rugby team on ending mental health stigma and “Toxic Masculinity”, and mentoring girls and young women in leadership skills.

Monica says: “When I heard about the fantastic work going on at RECLAIM, I was keen to actively support it. Access to opportunities and the chances for talent to shine is not always equal. The work RECLAIM does advancing youth leadership, instilling confidence and enabling access to greater opportunities, challenges the status quo and helps to make change happen.”

Read more about the RECLAIM project and its vital work here.

MM Creative Solutions has worked closely with members of industry networks since its foundation in 2015.

Our MD Monica Mwanje is part of the steering committee for the Northern Nuclear Alliance, a professional body which represents all aspects of the supply chain in the industry.

The Alliance acts as a business intelligence resource for industry and plan the programmes for the quarterly meetings on the most appropriate current topics. Both companies and individuals operating in the Nuclear sector in the North West are able to use this platform to network, promote their service or products, and access valuable resources and information.

Prior to this, Monica was an active member of the Nuclear Institute and its networks. She chaired its Young Generation Network in 2013, and in 2016 she was elected to the position of chair of the North West Branch, a position she held until January 2019.

Find out more about the Northern Nuclear Alliance here.

Places are filling up fast for the next Bid Bootcamp!

• Does bidding feel like a minefield to you?
• Are you confused about how to put a bid response together?
• Are you looking for tips on how to best prepare bid answers or how to be better organised when facing the next bid?

If you have answered YES to any of these questions, then this online bootcamp, on 29^th and 30^th September 2020, is for you.

Suitable for Business Development personnel in all sectors, this two-day course will take you through the bid process. It will provide practical strategies and techniques you can apply to produce great, effective bids. It is compiled by bidding experts who have a proven track record of helping clients secure new business.

Our bootcamps have been running since 2018 and the testimonials below give a flavour of what our previous participants had to say about them:

“A great workshop with valuable insights delivered by professional. Monica is clearly an expert in this field.”

“This course was really useful to introduce the bidding environment. The interactive activities were helpful to challenge thinking and application and also work with others from different organisations and experience a new perspective.”

“This course is an excellent overview on bid writing that will maximise our chances of winning future opportunities.”

“Identified the key time saving and success rate elements of a bid process. A really useful short course.”

“The course was great! Although I have been working as part of a bid team for two years, I feel I expanded my knowledge even more.”

“The course identified areas of bidding which I hadn’t previously considered and improved my understanding of the roles other people play in the bidding process.”

“This was a really useful course that I will be putting into practice when I’m back in the office.”

How can I book?

Be sure to book your place asap by clicking here.

More information and other dates for 2020 can be found here.