TOP 10 NETWORK GROUPS

RACE & ETHNICITY COMMITTEE

Allen & Overy

This law firm is committed to bringing about change when it comes to racial and ethnic diversity. They are working hard to understand how the systemic inequalities that exist in society affect people’s experiences at work and how they result in less favourable outcomes for A&O’s ethnic minority colleagues. Much of their focus in recent years has been on ensuring they attract and recruit a more diverse group of people. This work will continue but we know from our data analysis and external research that so far it isn’t enough. They’re also looking at retention and creating a more inclusive culture.

BEYOND MULTICULTURAL UK&I EMPLOYEE NETWORK GROUP

AVANADE

Beyond is digital services company Avanade’s first UKI Multicultural Employee Network and is fully aligned with the UKI Achieve IT Council. This network has been created to help them normalise the conversation around race and ethnicity in the workplace and celebrate how multicultural they are as an organisation. This is a fully inclusive group welcoming everyone, Black, Asian and minority ethnic and allies alike, and it will be driving conversations, awareness and education related to those topics and initiatives. Their vision is to foster an inclusive environment within Avanade that supports and enhances the career experiences of employees from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, while also celebrating cultural diversity. They have created a Beyond BAME Mentoring Program across the business and help mentor/coach members to become leaders. They celebrate so their wider business can appreciate, learn and respect everyone.

CULTURE CLUB

LEGAL & GENERAL

The Culture Club ERG at the financial advice company promotes and celebrates the understanding and appreciation of multiculturalism, diversity and religion through collaboration, dialogue, inclusion and action. It focuses on progressive improvements in workforce diversity while influencing HR policies and programmes across the recruitment, progression and retention of Black, Asian and minority ethnic colleagues. With their allies, Legal and General have formed a strong network that holds senior leaders accountable while ensuring they hire and retain top talent from diverse cultural backgrounds. In addition, they create a safe space and a sense of belonging for colleagues and work to ensure meaningful actions are implemented for a more inclusive workplace.

 

EMBRACE ERG

GSK

With employee membership of 2,000+, Embrace is the global race and ethnicity ERG in the pharmaceutical company GSK, which has circa 100,000 employees across 110 countries. Embrace advocates, with senior leaders across the organisation, for greater transparency and early ERG engagement in GSK’s inclusion and diversity efforts. The group has partnered to set aspirational targets for ethnically diverse individuals, implement mandatory inclusion training and develop a specific leadership programme for ethnic minorities. The name “Embrace” represents holding all the parts of the organisation together – the act of embracing and ensuring that “race” is a clear identifier.

EMEA Black Inclusion Group

Moody’s

The financial services company’s Black Impact BRG has a mission to support the recruitment, retention, empowerment and advancement of Black, Asian and minority ethnic employees. It also aims to promote and foster allyship to maintain a diverse, inclusive and collaborative culture at , where the organisation as continued to take concrete steps to strengthen their approach to DE&I at every stage of the employee lifecycle. Moody’s is also a Headline Sponsor at the UK Black Business Week.

NG I Am Me

I AM ME

SAINSBURY’S

The supermarket giant is committed to being a truly inclusive retailer where people love to work and shop. Its ‘I Am Me’ network plays a pivotal role in driving positive and impactful change for ethnically diverse colleagues by building confidence and support across the business. This includes training senior leaders and the board in understanding and fluently talking about race and ethnicity, influencing key divisions to drive leadership, accountability and action, increasing network membership and opportunities, working with a range of charities in the Black community and more.

ROOTS

MEDIACOM

The media agency has a team of people all driven by the desire to better inform the way they approach diversity and inclusion around ethnicity in their industry. They want to help grow their people by striving for better representation within MediaCom and the wider industry, with a focus on recruiting, developing, retaining and pushing talent through the pipeline to create more diversity at senior positions. They aim to inspire, support and help grow clients and business through open, honest discussion, project-led action, and by building a hub to offer a greater spectrum of cultural insights.

RACE TOGETHER

Nationwide Building Society

The building society’s ethnicity network, Race Together, went through a rebrand and internal change journey in 2020. The network is now set up into working groups to ensure they deliver on their priorities. They support members and colleagues to champion diversity at a society-wide level and accelerate systemic change to make Nationwide a more inclusive place for all, regardless of race or ethnicity. By championing the power of multiculturalism, bringing together diverse voices, actively creating development opportunities, producing educational content, providing safe spaces and encouraging people to speak up respectfully, they are raising awareness of the issues that affects their members to influence change.

RISE

SEGA

The games company’s ERG, Rise, encourages staff members to embrace their individualities and believe that all employees are all united through beliefs of equality. Hence the name, Rise: Reinforcing Inclusion through Solidarity and Equality. Rise has created a safe space for staff members to discuss their experiences, celebrated diversity by organising activities and published staff-written articles to recognise key cultural dates. Sega has partnered with Black Twitch UK and CoppaFeel for a charity stream raising breast cancer awareness among the Black community, raised £27,680 for BLM-related causes and organised an ‘intro to gaming’ workshop for secondary school pupils of Black, Asian and minority ethnic origin from inner-city schools.

EMBRACE

SERCO

The Embrace group is a colleague-led network that celebrates diversity in race, ethnicity and culture at the public service contractor. Founded in 2017, the network now has more than 500 members in the UK and chapters in all regions that Serco operates in, including North America, Middle East and Asia Pacific. Embrace’s vision is to make Serco an employer of choice for people from all ethnic backgrounds, achieving representation that reflects the diverse communities they serve at all levels.