Polly Neate guest blogs on being inclusive and using our power and privilege in pursuit of racial justice

This is a guest blog from Polly Neate who is Chief Executive of Shelter  

Those of us in leadership roles in civil society, who strive for change and stand for social justice, found our lack of action to tackle structural racism exposed and rightly scrutinised in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020. For years, we could and should have been doing more.

Alongside others leading civil society organisations, I’m writing this blog following many conversations about racial justice since then. Loose collections of us have come together in various ways to discuss, share and learn together. We have been taking a long hard look at ourselves, our organisations, our sector and the power and responsibility we can use to address systemic racism within the various different roles we hold.

Our conversations have centred on a determination to understand the everyday impact of structural racism wherever and however it manifests itself, and to get better at disrupting the status quo, using our power and privilege for racial justice and demonstrating strong allyship.

Allyship is constant action that challenges inequality, oppression and discrimination. It is about using our personal and positional power and privilege to amplify voices, to step aside and to step back. In the positions we hold, we can see who is at the table and who is not. We can seek to understand why not, and above all we can do something about it. This is important in the organisations we lead, but it is also a personal commitment we can make.  

Most of us involved in these conversations have signed up to different standards including the ACEVO diversity principles, and we are working on organisational action plans.

But we also need to work on our own behaviour. If we don’t lead by example, we don’t lead at all. All of us spend time on panels, events, committees and working groups contributing to the production of knowledge and policy. Many of us are offered platforms so regularly we forget this is a privilege. We have a voice, and unless we actively use it for change, we will remain part of the problem – and that’s where we were when we were shocked out of our complacency last summer. Opportunities to speak out and to influence decision-makers are not afforded to everyone. Diverse voices and perspectives are routinely excluded, while those with the opportunity to be heard get to influence outcomes, as well as develop personally and strengthen their careers.

This led us to think about the small but nonetheless significant steps we can take to ensure panels, events, committees, boards and working groups seeking to influence change better reflect the rich diversity of lived experiences and voices.

As a result, I am committing to:

·       Be part of groups and committees that are actively inclusive, and to ask myself who isn’t at the table, who should be and how can we get them there

·       Be part of panels where at least 50% of the panel is women and 20% of the panel Black, Indigenous and People of Colour

·       Take part in conferences where speakers and representatives with diverse backgrounds and lived experiences are heard across all parts of the conference including the main stage

·       Always be asking myself, my teams and other organisers if we are making sure a wide range of voices and lived experiences are heard in our own events and those we participate in

I am also

·       Encouraging others to make these commitments

·       Making this an organisation wide approach in which we encourage everyone to do the same

·       Talking to event organisers about amplifying diverse voices

·       Encouraging thinking about any barriers – financial or otherwise - to attendance at events and consider subsidies and other mechanisms that enable people from diverse communities to participate.

Along with many others in the sector, I’ve been using these commitments to drive conversations about more inclusive spaces. We are keeping a track of them so we can learn as we go. We know we won’t always get it right. When we don’t, we will welcome feedback, and reflect on why and what we can learn.

Many of us are now making these commitments public, so that we name and own the power we hold to create space for more diverse voices to be heard, and for meaningful and inclusive conversations to take place in policy-making and practice development. The more of us that make these commitments the faster we will make change.

They are part of a process of learning and unlearning. We know from experience that having the conversations works and will make sure the spaces we occupy are more diverse, more representative and more impactful as we work together for a racially just society.

There is no badge, no club to join, no fee to pay, just an ask: please join us in committing to do all you can to ensure diverse voices and lived experiences are heard. Will you?

This piece is being published on multiple organisational and individual channels. We would encourage anyone who wants to join us in those commitment to use and adapt the text and publish on your own channels. If you are struggling to access the text, please email ceo@mhfaengland.org and we will send it to you.