The student had lost the competition. On EDI’s website, an unnamed Microsoft Business Challenge alumnus describes taking a project into an interview anyway. The group’s solution became an example of collaboration and problem solving. The interviewer wanted to hear more. The student’s account ends with a graduate job. For a competition, that is a curious result: the useful part survived defeat.
- EDI connects diverse students with employers through projects, mentoring and career programmes.
- Its I Accelerator combines a business brief, teamwork and a presentation to senior leaders.
- The practical prize: experience students can explain when an interviewer asks for an example.
That small story gets close to the problem Everything D&I is trying to solve. Employers want evidence. Students need opportunities to produce it. A student without work experience may have plenty of ability and very little to say when an application asks about commercial judgement or teamwork. The gap is between possessing a skill and having a convincing occasion on which to demonstrate it.
“I didn’t win the challenge, but I did secure my grad role”Microsoft Business Challenge alumnus
Testimonial published by EDI
The candidate needs a story
EDI works in that gap. Its programmes connect students, educators and employers, with a particular focus on race, gender and social mobility. There are business challenges, mentoring schemes, career coaching, recruitment support and introductions to degree apprenticeships. The common thread is access to people and problems that might otherwise remain on the far side of an application form.
The distinction is useful. A job board can show a vacancy. A careers talk can explain an industry. EDI’s project programmes add something students can participate in: a brief to interpret, colleagues to work with and an audience to persuade. Those activities can supply material for the very selection processes that make early work experience difficult to obtain.
Five people. One brief.
Consider the advertised Microsoft undergraduate I Accelerator for July 2026. Students were to work in teams of five, spending four days collaborating virtually before presenting at Microsoft’s London offices on the fifth. Microsoft workshops ran alongside the challenge. The schedule was 10am to 4pm each day: thirty scheduled hours in a week, including the final presentation.
An editorial reading of EDI’s project model, not a hiring guarantee.
The format makes the work manageable. Students have a deadline and a shared task. The employer provides a problem and professional attention. EDI handles management and supervision. Its broader I Accelerator description promises workshops, team mentors and the chance to present to senior leaders, using projects from partners including Microsoft, Rolls-Royce and Deloitte.
Deloitte’s version offers a particularly clear example. Over four virtual days, participants developed sustainability recommendations for a fictional fast-fashion company and presented to Deloitte judges. The firm reported more than 180 participants and over 120 employee volunteers, with some participants subsequently joining Deloitte. These are reported programme outcomes; they do not establish a placement rate for everyone taking part.
Participation reported by EDI since inception, also described in its 2024 Inclusive Awards shortlist profile.
Someone who knows the way in
Frances Trought founded Everything D&I, incorporated in 2018. The I Accelerator followed in 2019 with Microsoft. Trought also writes career guidance, including Brilliant Employability Skills and a degree-apprenticeship application guide. Her company’s stated ambition is compact: “Talent is everywhere and EDI aims to ensure opportunity is too!”
Opportunity can mean a professional who answers an ordinary question. EDI’s mentoring offer specifically addresses students who are first in their family to attend university or lack professional networks. Sessions can cover career choices, applications, CVs, LinkedIn profiles and interview preparation. A student exploring work outside their degree subject gets someone who can explain how the pieces fit.
Its Future Leaders programmes address a related blind spot. Students may recognise a brand without understanding the jobs inside it. Conversations with professionals reveal the business functions behind the familiar name. The corporate version is described as a three-week programme; university offerings bring employer speakers and networking into students’ career development.
The organisation between the organisations
EDI serves employers seeking broader access to talent and educational institutions seeking practical industry connections. Students are the participants and beneficiaries. The company markets programme delivery, recruitment, coaching and training. For employers, the proposition includes visibility, contact with potential recruits and a structured use for staff volunteering time.
There is unglamorous work in this arrangement. Someone must organise students, supervise projects and fit professional contributions around existing commitments. EDI’s employer pitch puts that responsibility at the centre of its offer. Its AGCAS presentation also identifies student engagement and inconsistent holiday dates as challenges. Even a short programme depends on calendars agreeing.
That gives the model boundaries. A virtual project needs access and attendance. A mentor needs time to listen. A useful brief needs room for students to make decisions. A presentation provides evidence about a particular task; it cannot reveal everything an employer would learn from months of working together. Programme eligibility matters too, with different listings specifying school year, degree stage or residency.
A bigger room
The Windrush I Accelerator extends the idea across borders. Launched virtually in 2023 with UWI Cave Hill and Microsoft, it connected UK and Barbadian students around a project. UWI’s departmental report records an in-person week in June 2025, involving approximately thirty local students and ten from UK universities. The programme combined projects, mentoring and professional networking.
Other partnerships bring industry into existing classrooms. Surrey announced an EDI collaboration in November 2024 to support computer science employability, including cyber security and data science. As of October 24, 2026, EDI’s listings advertise an Accenture virtual insight event for October 27 and an Adobe London insight day for October 28. Each offers a specific next step into an employer’s world.
The useful lesson travels beyond any one programme: give people a bounded problem, professional guidance and a chance to explain their decisions. For students, the next move is to check a cohort’s eligibility and commitment, then keep a record of their own contribution. The student who lost the challenge had something left to talk about. That was enough to make the next conversation different.