Diversity, equity and inclusion

Governance

1. Trustees have undergone training on unconscious bias and some have undergone diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) recruitment training. DEI training will continue to be provided on a regular basis with opportunities to reflect on the learning and to implement action plans as required.
2. When Trustee vacancies arise, in addition to identifying the skills and experience required, we also emphasise the value of first-hand experience of poverty and/or discrimination, in the advertisements.
3. All our vacancies are advertised as widely as possible, aiming to go beyond the networks of our current Trustees by using social media and our grantee contacts, to encourage people from diverse backgrounds to apply.
4. We have recently openly recruited four co-optees to our two grants committees based on their first-hand experience of poverty and inequality. Other committees are also working to increase their diversity by recruiting co-optees.
5. We undertake a Diversity Audit of Trustees, Cooptees and Staff every three years to monitor and review our progress towards becoming a more diverse organisation.

Staff

Our equal opportunities policy clearly outlines how we will strive to ensure the talents and resources of employees are utilised to the full and that we treat all job applicants and employees fairly and equally. In addition, we also:

1. Provide line managers with training in diversity, equity and inclusion in relation to recruitment, with action plans developed as required.
2. As job vacancies arise, we review the job descriptions and person specifications to ensure there are no unnecessary requirements which would act as a barrier to some people applying.
3. Equal opportunities monitoring data is collected anonymously alongside each job application. This data is summarised and reviewed annually by our Finance and Resources Committee.
4. All staff have participated in Disability Equality Training, which has resulted in an action plans to address any barriers experienced by Deaf and disabled people which may prevent access to our funding, staffing or other resources. Similar training will be provided to the Trustees.
5. Have a range of policies to ensure that the Trust strives to be a good inclusive employer.

Resources

We have a long history of prioritising our funding to organisations of people who have been disproportionately affected by poverty and inequality. This continues to be a major theme in our current funding strategy. Specifically:

1. Prioritising our funding to user-led organisations – specifically those that have strong and meaningful engagement of people directly affected by poverty and inequality in the leadership of the organisation, service design and campaigns. We have gone further for work relating to Deaf and Disabled people, as we will only fund organisations which have a majority of Deaf and Disabled people on their governing body (ideally 75%) and with at least half their staff members being Deaf and/or Disabled.
2. We are considering how to implement this higher benchmark to other equality groups in order to increase funding to organisations addressing poverty related to racial and gender inequality, LGBT+ rights and the intersection of these identities.
3. Targeted Special Initiatives – to tackle entrenched issues where discrimination and poverty continue to persist, and where a more strategic approach is needed, we work alongside relevant strategic partners to invest larger sums of funding to work toward systemic change. We have two current Initiatives focused on young black men and employment (Moving on Up) , and strengthening the rights of Deaf and Disabled people (SVRR). We will continue to proactively target the groups most acutely impacted by poverty and inequality.
4. Strengthening the voice of marginalised people – by funding capacity building work and by convening networks to strengthen the collective voice of people, particularly in innovative work to influence policy. Most recently we supported the establishment of a Commission of Enquiry on the Social Security White Paper, whereby all the Commissioners are claimants or ex-claimants.
5. We also want to link groups of individuals to organisations who have influence to create allies and encourage joint work.
6. Using our influence with potential and current grantees – by raising the issue of diversity, equity and inclusion in assessment meetings. Specifically how well their governance, staff and resources reflect the communities they serve and by encouraging more action be taken as needed.
7. Promoting an inclusive organisation which ensures that everyone including staff, grantees, visitors and anyone involved in our work feel valued, confident to be themselves, and are able to participate fully. This includes: ensuring that barriers to full participation are identified through training and feedback, and that all reasonable adjustments are made, as well as any other action needed to overcome these; staff and trustees new to the organisation are given a comprehensive induction and a buddy to support them to become fully engaged in the organisation; staff are actively consulted and involved in decisions that directly affect them; offering training and learning opportunities to staff and trustees to support them in their work.

Accountability

We will be transparent about our progress by publishing on our website:

1. Analysis of our Diversity Audit survey.
2. Reports on our Gender and Ethnic Pay gap (annually); the ratio of highest vs lowest paid; and highest paid and FTE on London Living Wage.
3. Analysis of the distribution of our funding to organisations addressing inequalities including those led by BAMER, Deaf and Disabled, LGBT+.

1. Consideration to be given to creative ways of reducing bias in recruitment (e.g. reading applications without the names or details of education) and other forms of positive action that could be taken to ensure we recruit a diverse Trustee board and staff team.
2. Agreeing benchmarks to prioritise funding to groups of people more likely to be affected by poverty and inequality, in ways similar to the priority we currently give to Deaf and Disabled people’s organisations.
3. Review our current policies and practices to identify further ways we can enhance our activity to become an even more inclusive organisation.
4. Building in more time to reflect on the learning gained through training and to implement change as required.