Jacobs chair and CEO Steve Demetriou has joined the Catalyst CEO Champions for Change (CCCC) companies, a group of over 50 international CEOs pledging to advance women into all levels of leadership. The move underlines Jacobs’ commitment to achieving gender equality and follows on from the UK’s first round of gender pay gap reporting for large firms, which revealed an … Read More
Closing ‘Diversity gap’ will strengthen tech sector
In the first of a series of written and video interviews with diversity champions in technology, serial entrepreneur Lopa Patel suggests strategies to improve diversity and productivity. Serial entrepreneur Lopa Patel has called on tech companies to take the lead on closing the ‘diversity gap’ to strengthen the sector. Patel founded online businesses Redhotcurry.com and TheRedhotshop.com before setting up think … Read More
Over 50% of UK employees surveyed feel disability inclusion is most important in the workplace, survey finds.
Disability in the workplace is a hot topic in the media today, with broadcasters such as BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky, along with government ministers, committed to doubling the number of disabled people involved in television by 2020 to make the industry more inclusive. However, it is not just the broadcasters who need to implement a culture of change. … Read More
Disability champions set to open industry doors
On International Day of Persons with Disabilities (3rd December) the government announced that it will be recruiting 6 new disability champions to help tackle the issues disabled people face as consumers. The champions will use their influential status as leaders in their industries to promote the benefits of being inclusive to disabled people across 6 new areas: fashion, technology, countryside … Read More
Strictly Come Dancing’s Lauren Steadman hopes to be first disabled dancer in the final
Paralympian Lauren Steadman is hoping to become the first disabled dancer in the Strictly final…if she can make it through this weekend. The swimmer-turned-paratriathlete, 25, says: “I’m so proud to have made it to the semi-finals of Strictly. The competitor in me always wanted to make it as far as I possibly could. “Normalising disabilities was one of the reasons … Read More
Touchstone – International Volunteers Day: 5th December
The Touchstone Volunteers Project is very open, diverse and service user (SU) friendly. Not only do our SU benefit from the contributions of volunteers, but some also take on the role themselves. Volunteers have the opportunity to volunteer in a number of roles across Touchstone and with partner organisations. Some of our volunteers are befrienders for SU’s. This has resulted … Read More
How can organisations support better progression for BAME employees?
The CIPD recently revealed that a third of black employees thought discrimination was getting in the way of their career progress. But where can organisations begin to address this? Managers and role models are a good start, finds Virginia Matthews. Last week the CIPD released some research suggesting that a third of black employees felt their careers have been hampered by discrimination. … Read More
‘Take the pledge’
My name is Siena Castellon. I am a sixteen year old nationally recognised autism and neurodiversity advocate. I am autistic, dyslexic, dyspraxic and have ADHD. When I was thirteen, I created a website -www.qlmentoring.com – to support young people with learning differences and autistic young people. When searching for information about my conditions, I found that all the existing websites were focused on providing … Read More
Revealed: Top 50 UK Employers for D&I
Fifty firms have been recognised for starting their journey to attracting and retaining a “truly diverse workforce, achieving equality, diversity and inclusion at its purest form”. The Inclusive Top 50 UK Employers List recognises the outstanding efforts of organisations demonstrating the promotion of all strands of diversity including age, disability, gender, LGBT, race, faith and religion. “The most successful and … Read More
Alan Bell wins lifetime achiever award
The volunteer manager of Ardrossan based charity, The Scottish Centre for Personal Safety, won the Lifetime Achiever Award at the prestigious Inclusive Companies Awards. Alan Bell picked up the gong at the Inclusive Companies Awards, the only UK awards ceremony that recognises organisations for harnessing a truly diverse workforce across all protected characteristics. The Awards cover excellence in all areas … Read More