Member Spotlight: Catherine Millan, Founder, Be What You See Consultancy

Introduce yourself:

I’m Catherine Millan, founder of Be What You See Consultancy. My purpose is rooted in creating spaces where marginalised communities are celebrated, not excluded. I specialise in workplace discrimination prevention training, with a focus on Active Bystander approaches and building psychologically safe workplaces.

Career highlight:

Winning the 2025 Northern Power Women Person with Purpose Award has been the standout moment of my career. As the largest gender equality awards in Europe, being recognised on that stage and then winning was incredible. A key reason for this recognition was the real impact of our Active Bystander training. One story that really stood out to the judges was of a participant who, after training with Be What You See and learning the techniques, went on to use them to intervene and stop someone from taking their own life. Knowing that our training can have life-saving impact is both humbling and motivating. The award gave me and Be What You See Consultancy the confidence to go bigger, scaling our work nationally and ensuring more people have the tools to challenge discrimination and create safer spaces.

Name three words that describe your personality:

Purposeful, resilient, compassionate.

What’s the best thing about pro-manchester?

The opportunity to connect with leaders across sectors and collaborate on making Manchester’s business community more inclusive, innovative, and socially responsible.

What are your priorities for 2025?

To grow the reach of our Active Bystander training across the UK, work with more organisations and businesses to embed psychological safety at every level, and build partnerships that drive real, lasting change. A key priority is to build a model where, for every adult who receives the training, a young person gets it for free ensuring the next generation also has the tools to challenge discrimination and create safer communities.

What do you think are the most important things going on in Manchester at the moment?

Manchester’s ongoing work to tackle inequalities, strengthen community cohesion, and ensure the city’s growth benefits everyone. There’s also an exciting energy around innovation and collaboration that gives me real hope for lasting change.

Favourite meeting place in Manchester?

The People’s History Museum café — a space rooted in social change that always sparks meaningful conversation.