“We live in a diverse world
and a diverse society, and our organisations needs to reflect that diversity to
make us more representative and pluralistic”. That is one of the most
compelling yet simple arguments I have heard in response to the question on
‘Why diversity’ ?
As a not-for-profits sector,
there is another even more compelling imperative. We are united in our purpose
to create a society that is more equal, more fair, more just and more safe. We
do it differently of course and have different pathways, but that is
essentially the core essence. In delivering our mission, we seek to understand
the challenges of those who are vulnerable, living in different parts of the
country or the world, so that our work responds to their struggles and their
challenges. Diversity helps bring some of that understanding and empathy if our
teams have people who have the lived experience of those challenges or can
relate to them better than others, given their social or economic status.
And as we embed diversity in
our organisations that reflect diversity in society, it is equally important to
work towards an environment which is truly inclusive, that respects people from
diverse backgrounds, that enables people to share their diverse perspectives,
that is free of any form of discriminatory or exclusionary behaviour, that
creates and promotes safe spaces and enables people to perform to the best of
their abilities and effectively.
All of this is part of a ‘culture
conversation’ that is very important for every organisation to have. While our
success will be measured by what we do, our success will be amplified if we
also consider how we do it. Any culture conversation needs to consider what
kind of an organisation we aspire to be, and needs to have diversity and
inclusion at the heart of it. There is now plenty of evidence on how diversity
and inclusion drive higher degree of engagement and therefore more effective
performance. Diversity is also now considered to be a driver for innovation and
lateral thinking.
At ActionAid, we have embarked
on a culture journey which we started about three years ago. It started with a
reflection on the culture we currently have and conversations on the culture we
seek to create. It was also the time when we were developing a new strategy,
which revolved around the rights of women and girls living in poverty. We
understood issues of gender inequality being driven by patriarchal values,
norms and culture. And we recognised the power of feminist values to redress
this ‘power imbalance’ as part of our strategy and programmes. But it was not
good enough for feminist analysis to be ‘out there’ in our programmes. It was
also important for us to talk about feminist principles ‘in here’. Thus started
the journey of embedding feminist values as the basis of our organisational
culture, and therefore a very comfortable nesting of diversity and inclusion
within that, which essentially emphasises respect, self awareness, self care
and zero tolerance to discrimination as some of its core principles.
A process that started off
within our staff teams was soon widened to include our board of trustees,
recognising the key role of governance in influencing organisational culture.
We were very fortunate that the board fully embraced this concept and devoted
time and effort to participate, engage, influence and shape the feminist agenda,
within our strategy, culture and behaviours.
This has not been an easy
journey because it makes us ask some hard questions about ourselves and raises
some difficult, uncomfortable conversations. And there are no right answers or
right solutions either. It is all about the principles and the values we hold
dear. Even if there is a theoretical or ideological acceptance on issues of
culture, feminist principles and diversity & inclusion, it eventually boils
down to behaviours of each individual, for it is ultimately through our
behaviours that our commitments are brought to life. It puts incredible
pressure on the leadership to hold themselves accountable, to demonstrate the
right behaviours, to acknowledge and accept where we get it wrong, to call out
behaviours that are not aligned to our principles. Hence, it is all the more
importance to embrace it and commit ourselves to get better.
We are getting clearer on some
of these aspects. We are on the verge of finalising our diversity and inclusion
framework that looks at what we are currently doing and what we need to do. We
are consulting with various staff groups looking at various aspects of diversity,
including gender, LGBTQ+, mental health. We are looking at our measures and how
we report on these. We are digging deeper on specific areas of inclusivity, be
it around flexible working or safe spaces. We are connecting it to feminist
principles and coming up with a framework called ‘My Feminist Behaviours’. We are
embedding it in everything that we want to do around our people, be it on
recruitment, retention or advancement, across staff and trustees.
Reflecting on our work over
the past three years, it does give me a deep sense of satisfaction that the
journey has truly begun. It even makes me feel proud. Equally, I am very
conscious that a lot more needs to be done in fulfilling our aspiration of an
organisation that has diversity and inclusion at the heart of our culture that
is embedded in feminist principles. What I do know is that we have the support
of engagement of staff across the organisation and our board – and of course,
we are still seeking answers !
(Originally published by the Institute of Fundraising, April 2019)
