At the start of the month, our Communications Director Suzie Mills, attended the Change the Race Ratio reception in London. Below she shares her key takeaways from the event.
This was our first in-person attendance of an event with this initiative since we signed up a few months back, so I was intrigued to see who would attend and what discussions would centre around. The reception brought together the founders, signatories, ambassadors and friends of the campaign to further our collective commitments to increase racial and ethnic diversity in Britain’s boardrooms, learn from experiences and connect with like-minded organisations. Whilst businesses have generally taken a substantial step forward in improving diversity and inclusion at senior levels, there is clearly more work to be done and with over 100 organisations signed up to the Change the Race Ratio, the level of interest suggests drive and ambition.
Hosted by June Sarpong, the evening’s guest speakers started with a passionate and poignant keynote speech from Dr Doyin Atewologun, centering around the fact the only way change is going to happen is if we all (the emphasis being on you) make things happen and take responsibility for pushing things forward. Dr. Atewologun’s speech was followed by a lively panel discussion with varying and interesting lived experiences and viewpoints, which provided much food for thought in terms of what we can all do more of.
As a leadership consultancy working in the mission driven sector with a myriad of different organisations and people, Oxford HR are incredibly well placed to push this issue to the top of the agenda. Not just in Britain but globally and within all the organisations we work with. To support those that are striving to make change, and encourage those where change and progression isn’t being prioritised yet, or enough. That is our role and we signed up to the commitments within the Change the Race Ratio, to help push this forward.
These are those 4 commitments Oxford HR have signed up to:
- Increase racial and ethnic diversity among Board members
- Increase racial and ethnic diversity in senior leadership
- Be transparent on targets and actions
- Create an inclusive culture in which talent from all diversities can thrive
Suzie Mills
Suzie joined the Oxford HR Team in January 2019 as our Communications Director. She holds a BA (Hons) in Journalism from Cardiff University and has worked in Marketing for over 13 years.
Prior to working for Oxford HR, Suzie has developed campaigns and worked on the global strategies for companies such P&G, Nissan, Delta Airlines, Barclays, COI, World Horse Welfare, Vodafone and VTECH. Suzie is particularly interested in how technology and digital innovation can contribute to the global UN goal of ending hunger and poverty by 2030 and global problems in general.
Suzie is a Trustee on the Board of the charity CMV Action, endeavouring to support awareness and fund vaccine research for this virus.
