Documenting workplace extraction. Building liberation infrastructure.

The Cost of Black Excellence.

You've felt it, haven't you? That crushing weight of always having to be twice as good. We are building what we needed: structural diagnostics for organisations and liberation infrastructure for professionals.

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The Unspoken Reality

The Excellence Tax™ Explained

The Excellence Tax™ is the hidden cost Black professionals pay to succeed in workplaces that demand more than skill—they demand silence, assimilation, and relentless overperformance.

These costs are invisible on a payslip but are felt daily in terms of wellbeing, career satisfaction, and personal freedom. The Institute's proprietary research confirms: this isn't personal failure. This is systemic extraction.

Read the Core Findings
1000+

In-Depth Datasets

Proprietary research drawn directly from UK Black professionals.

86%

Identity Suppression

At entry and mid-level, climbing to 88% in executive positions.

> 50%

Working Harder for Baseline Respect

Over half of professionals say they always feel pressure to work harder than others just to be seen as competent.

The COBE Platform Is Live

Infrastructure for Liberation

We are not waiting for organisations to save us. We are building alternatives. Choose the pathway that meets you where you are today.

Healing

For those suffering the physical and emotional toll of burnout. Access trauma-informed somatic resources and nervous system regulation.

Exodus

For those ready to leave toxic environments. Strategic exit planning, employment tribunal evidence preparation, and career transition support.

Survival

For those who need to stay whilst protecting their peace. Tools to manage hypervigilance, establish boundaries, and navigate systemic bias safely.

Builders

For the change-makers. Collaborate on policy advocacy, build alternative enterprise structures, and shape the future of uncompromised work.

Join the Movement Today
Natasha Williams
Our Foundation

"I stopped asking why I wasn't resilient enough, and started asking why the system extracted so much."

The Institute's work began not in an academic faculty, but at a breaking point. Our founder, Natasha Williams, spent over 12 years thriving as a Director of Building Surveying. She navigated the intense pressures of corporate leadership and entrepreneurship.

But the drive that earned her recognition was also pushing her body beyond its limits. She was paying the Excellence Tax™. The emotional labour, the identity suppression, and the hypervigilance eventually culminated in burnout so severe it required hospitalisation.

That breaking point necessitated a complete reset. Immersing herself in somatic healing and organisational psychology, the foundation for The Cost of Black Excellence was formed.

Today, the Institute exists to translate that lived experience into undeniable data and structural reform. We are not here to ask organisations to do better. We are here to build the infrastructure so the next generation doesn't repeat our patterns of exhaustion.

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