Background

The UN Global Compact Network UK is committed to promoting anti-racism and ensuring that the human rights of the Black community are respected and upheld through sustained action on Principles 1, 2, and 6 of the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact and the Sustainable Development Goals.

The historic discrimination against Black people in the workplace and the under-representation of Black people in positions of authority make this issue area a top priority for corporate action. To this end, we are calling upon all UN Global Compact Participants and Signatories to embed anti-racism into their behaviours, practices, and policies. For more information on the corporate responsibility to eliminate all forms of racism, please visit the Anti-Racist Action for Business guide on the website of the UN Global Compact.

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SERIES OVERVIEW

Black Lives Matter & Business: Storytelling
Date: 15 September 2020
Time: 14:00 - 15:15 BST

Objectives:

• Learn about Black British history in the context of business
• Understand unconscious and conscious bias through lived experiences
• Understand what exclusionary language is within corporate settings
• Learn about microaggressions and the impact they can have on individuals and in the workplace
• Learn more about how the societal understanding of professionalism is centred on race

To protect the privacy of our panellists, who shared personal stories of racial discrimination, microaggressions, and other challenging experiences from their professional lives, we have decided not to share the recording of this event publicly. However, you can read a few post-event reflections from Jo Appleby, the moderator of the webinar, here.
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Black Lives Matter & Business: Where to start

Date: 30 September 2020
Time: 14:00 - 15:00 BST

Objectives:

• Understand how you can educate yourself and your colleagues on anti-racism
• Learn more about inclusive and anti-discriminatory language in corporate settings
• Understand how to roll out effective anti-racist trainings within your organisation
• Flesh out ideas for developing consistent frameworks which identify systemic barriers / challenges across an organisation, reviewing policies and procedures
• Learn how and where to start collecting D&I data and data about ethnic pay gap reporting

We were delighted to welcome the following guest speakers at this webinar:

• Sandra Kerr OBE, Race Equality Director, Business in the Community
• Russell J Thomas, Director and Senior Consultant, The Diversity Trust | Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing Manager, University of Exeter
• Emma Codd, Global Inclusion Leader, Deloitte

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Black Lives Matter & Business: Recruitment

Date: 14 October 2020
Time: 14:00 - 15:00 BST

We were delighted to welcome Cynthia V Davis, CEO and Founder of BAME Recruitment, as a guest speaker for this event.

Objectives:

• Learn about systematic/institutional barriers impeding recruitment of Black people
• Understand the business case for diverse and inclusive recruitment campaigns and processes
• Learn how to attract and recruit more Black talent
• Learn how to make your organisation’s recruitment campaigns and processes more inclusive
• Explore challenges in relation to diverse hiring within different sectors
• Understand why and how to set affirmative action goals and ambitious targets for recruitment of Black talent

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Black Lives Matter & Business: Retention

This webinar was proudly supported by frontier and emerging market specialists Crown Agents Bank

Date: 28 October
Time: 14:00 - 15:15 GMT

Objectives:

• Learn how your organisation can retain Black talent by being welcoming and inclusive
• Understand which steps all employees can take to be more inclusive of Black people and Black cultures in the workplace
• Explore best practices to retain Black talent, including but not limited to creating leadership connection opportunities, employee resource groups and networks, and having open and honest dialogue about race and ethnicity in the workplace

We were delighted to welcome the following guest speakers at this webinar:

• Marcia Jones, Group Head of HR, Executive Vice President, Crown Agents Bank
• Dennis Owusu-Sem, Oversight Relationship Manager, BMO Global Asset Management
• Naomi Kellman, Senior Manager for Schools and Universities, Rare Recruitment
• Warren Wellington, Associate, Latham & Watkins

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Black Lives Matter & Business: Advancement

Date: 10 November
Time: 14:00 - 15:00 GMT

Objectives:

• Explore best practices for management and advancement of Black talent within your organisation
• Hear about personal experiences of senior Black leaders who participated in leadership/mentorship opportunities for Black talent
• Learn from business leaders how to bring in talented Black men and women to senior leadership positions
• Understand why and how to set targets for promotion of Black colleagues within your organisation

We were delighted to welcome the following guest speakers at this webinar:

• Hannah Smith, Global HR Transformation Consultant, HSBC
• Opeyemi Sofoluke, EMEA Lead, Global Technology Diversity and Inclusion, J.P. Morgan
• Steve Cunningham, Director of Talent, BT

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Black Lives Matter & Business: Changing corporate culture

Date: 24 November 2020
Time: 14:00 - 15:15 GMT

Included in this webinar was the following:

• C-Suite executives from different companies speaking about the Black Lives Matter agenda on a corporate and personal level
• How different companies are influencing company leaders to take action on BLM from within
• The topic of inclusive leadership and understanding the power of top-down influences on organisational structures.

We were delighted to welcome the following guest speakers at this webinar:

• Sanda Ojiambo, CEO and Executive Director, UN Global Compact
• Kevin Ellis, Chairman and Senior Partner, PwC
• Kate Rowlinson, CEO, MediaCom
• Márcia Balisciano, Global Head of Corporate Responsibility, RELX
  
• Sam Okafor, Senior Director, Co-Chair of Global Multicultural Network, and Co-Lead of the Racial Equality Taskforce, NatWest Group

Contact

For any questions about this webinar series, please get in touch with Cynthia Adebiyi-Yekinni or Karla Drpic.