Despite law permitting limited positive action initiatives to combat inequalities faced by marginalised groups since the mid-1970s in the UK, the subject has notoriously been a neglected and highly controversial area. This lecture will explore the case for using positive action as an effective tool to address inequalities in challenging times and encourage a reassessment of the benefits of appropriately framed preferential treatment. A Law graduate from Oxford University, Chantal qualified as a solicitor specialising in Employment, Human Rights and Discrimination Law, worked for the Equal Opportunities Commission in Manchester and is now professor of Law, Equality and Diversity at the University of Chester. She developed and is Director of the Forum for Research into Equality and Diversity, was funded by the Young Women’s Trust and the Equality and Human Rights Commission to research the use of positive action in apprenticeships and worked with the HE Authority in Ireland on a ground breaking positive action initiative to increase female representation within professorships. She sat on the board of Cheshire Halton and Warrington Race and Equality Centre and the Equality Challenge Unit, currently sits on the Sustainable and Inclusive Growth Commission, is co-vice chair of the Law Society’s Women’s Law Division Committee and has recently been appointed to sit on AdvanceHE’s Equality Diversity and Inclusion Committee. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx