We’re one year on from the report we published with Colorintech, "The Chief Diversity Officer in 2019", and we’re asking ourselves: what has actually changed? Black Lives Matter is a stark reminder that not enough is being done when it comes to equality from an ethnicity perspective and COVID has given us some scary and very real insights into the imbalances between men and women in the home, especially those trying to parent and home-school whilst working during lockdown.

There has been a wave of organisations suddenly advertising for Heads of Diversity & Inclusion roles; speaking out about their beliefs in this area; and talking about their plans for change.

Before this change loses momentum, we're hosting three brilliant expert speakers at this free webinar, to think about the role of Diversity and Inclusion as a theme within our society but more widely as a business strategy within our organisations.

Join our co-founder Kirsty Trafford-Owen as she speaks with Sheree Atcheson (Global Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Peakon), Joyce Adeluwoye-Adams (Editor, Newsroom Diversity at Reuters) and Jay Muthu (Executive Director of Employee Experience at Virgin).

We'll be discussing:

• Is the UK tech industry behind or ahead of the curve on the movement for organisational equality?
• How can CEOs be genuinely improving Diversity and Inclusion within their organisation?
• What should a Head of Diversity and Inclusion role be expected to do and who should they report to in the company?
• How can we concentrate more on the 'I' for Inclusion?
• Has the term "BAME" helped or hindered the role of the Head of Diversity and Inclusion?
• Are targets helpful for Diversity and Inclusion within organisations?
• How can we raise the conversation up to the senior management team and board level?
• One of the big frustrations that emerged in our report was Diversity fatigue (the phenomenon where people switch off from topics on D&I). How does one go about preventing this in an organisation?
• People talk a lot about diversity, but how can we change the narrative for long-term impact on business strategy, not a short-term box ticking exercise?

Our Guest Panel:

Joyce Adeluwoye-Adams, Reuters

Before her current role as Editor at Reuters, Joyce was the Global Director of Diversity, Inclusion and Sustainability at Swedish gaming company King, where she signed the company up to the Tech Talent Charter and designed and developed a Games Industry Pledge to push games and tech companies to take measurable steps to increase diversity.

At the BBC from 2015, she designed and implemented a new onscreen and workforce diversity strategy across BBC Content, before becoming the Corporation’s lead on Diamond, a pioneering industry-wide approach to tracking and improving workforce and on-air diversity in UK broadcasting. Adeluwoye-Adams played a pivotal role on the project – which also includes ITV, Sky, Channel 4 and Viacom – defining its reach, dealing with its members, and gaining parliamentary support for its goals.

Between 2009 and 2015 she was Head of Diversity at the Producer’s Alliance for Cinema and TV, a UK trade association that has led efforts to increase diversity, both on- and off-screen, in the broadcasting and production industries. During Adeluwoye-Adams’s time there, PACT signed up more than 500 organisations to a pledge that committed them to putting diversity at the heart of their businesses.

In 2018, she was awarded an MBE for her services to diversity in the media industry, while the Financial Times named her one of its top 100 influential BAME (Black, Asia and Minority Ethnic) tech leaders.

Jay Muthu, Virgin

Jay Muthu is the Executive Director of Employee Experience at Virgin. In his role, he leads Talent Acquisition, Future Careers, Talent Management, Inclusion, Performance Management, Leadership Development Employee Engagement & Well Being.

Jay is also the HR Director for the digital function in Virgin Media. Prior to Virgin Media, Jay has worked at Monster.com, Thomson Reuters and Vmware.

Originally from India, Jay has lived in London for the past 6 years. He is a lifetime wheelchair user having had polio as an infant and believes that positive role modelling is essential to break stereotypes and pre-conceived notions.

He has been instrumental in designing and delivering a number of award-winning people development initiatives and speaks regularly at conferences.

He is a passionate advocate of Inclusion at the workplace and has influenced several meaningful changes in all his assignments. An area of inclusion he is extremely committed to is the inclusion of people with disabilities at the work place and society at large.

Jay has a broad range of interests including reading, sports, food and travel. He has been to almost 40 countries and lives by the credo, “One life, do more”.

Sheree Atcheson, Peakon

Listed as one of the UK's Top Most Influential Women in Tech & an international multi-award winner for her services to Diversity & Inclusion in industry, Sheree is the Global Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Peakon; Board-Appointed Global Ambassador, Women Who Code; Contributor, Forbes. Currently, she is writing a book for Kogan Page on Diversity and Inclusion, to be released Spring 2021.

Sheree is a Global Diversity & Inclusion leader (ex. Deloitte and Monzo), having worked in many regions providing leadership and training to C-suite/Executive leadership to develop fully formed focused diversity and inclusion strategies.

As a passionate advocate for gaining/retaining women in the industry, she launched & led the award-winning U.K. expansion of Women Who Code since 2013.

As an industry leader, she has spoken at many global events, conferences and leadership sessions and is regularly profiled for her work. Sheree and her work have been featured in many publications, such as Forbes, FastCompany, Evening Standard, HuffPost, Business Post, Marie Claire, Wired, ComputerWeekly, The Guardian, Sunday Telegraph, Newsletter & many more.

The aim of her career is ensuring people are aware of the fantastic opportunities the industry has to offer and make certain that all humans are able to benefit from these and reach their full career potential.

Register in advance for this webinar and join us Friday 2nd October 11am on Zoom.