13 Dec 2020

Diversity Lens - Issue 5

Diversity Lens - Issue 133 Diversity Lens - Issue 132 Diversity Lens - Issue 131

Dec 13

Diversity Lens - Issue 5

Diversity Lens

Welcome to Diversity Lens, the newsletter from BAME Recruitment and Diversifying.io! We’re excited to be bringing you all the latest news and opinions about recruitment and the world of diversity and inclusion. We’ll also keep you up to date with what our teams have been doing and what’s coming up. Thank you for joining us on our journey. If you have any comments/content suggestions, or would like to contribute to Diversity Lens, please email info@diversifying.io.

Latest News

CEO, Cynthia Davis speaks at DiversityQ D&I Practitioners Summit
Last week our CEO Cynthia and other members of the BAME Recruitment team attended the DiversityQ Diversity and Inclusion summit. The day involved many provoking discussions and presentations on taking diversity and inclusion strategy to the next level. Cynthia also took to the main stage and moderated the discussion panel on 'How can better senior leaders best support heads of D&I?'. Click below to see our highlights video.

BAME Recruitment attends DiversityQ D&I Summit

Diversity-focused Venture Capital fund, Harlem Capital debuts with $40 million
Harlem Capital Venture Fund has upgraded to a full venture capital fund. It was founded by Harvard Graduates, Henri Pierre-Jacques and Jarrid Tingle. Harlem is one of the few venture capitals that makes diversity necessary for the business. Unlike other businesses, Harlem aims to specifically support diverse early-stage businesses through funding. Despite the wide push for diversity in other sectors, the data showed that the median amount of funding raised by black female founders, as of 2018, was $0. Harlem hopes that its venture capital can help change this current landscape. For more information click on the photo below.

BAME Recruitment and Diversifying.io fundraises for Christmas Jumper Day 2019BAME Recruitment and Diversifying.io are taking part in today's Christmas Jumper Day raising money for two incredible charities, Save the Children and Centrepoint. We're doing our Christmas Jumper Day a little bit later on Monday 16th December so that all our teams can take part! Look out for next week's issue for some photos of our teams participating. Every pound we raise will give young people in the UK and around the world the chance to grow up healthy and happy, so they can become who they want to be! Please help us by donating to one (or both) or the charities by clicking on the respective photos below.

Diversity and Inclusion Insights
Google Diversity Annual Report 2019
Google has released their annual diversity report showing the slow but significant changes the company has made towards furthering diversity. The report revealed that the number of women working at Google increased by 0.7% making up 31% of the workforce. In the U.S, representation of Black+, Latinx+, and Asian+ employees increased by 0.3 %, 0.4 % and 1.7 %, respectively. In contrast the representation of Native American+ employees remained stable. The representation of White+ employees, the largest racial demographic group at Google, decreased. The shifts in gender representation were most notable in tech, whereas increases in race/ethnicity representation were more notable in non-tech. In addition to these figures, Google now hosts 15 different employee resource groups ranging from groups focusing on LGBTQ+ employees to veterans and Black employees. To read this report in full click on the photo below.

Story of the Week

Ex-offender and drug addict turned life around to be named 'London's Happiest Bus Driver'
Patrick Lawson has turned his life around after facing prison, homelessness and drug addiction. Since then he has gone on to being commended over 100 times in his job. This year he was named the ‘Happiest London Bus Driver’ and he says that he aims to do whatever he can now in life with a smile and help those around him. In addition to these fantastic achievements of overcoming adversity, Patrick is now the face of a campaign to encourage employers to look beyond the pasts of ex-offenders and those recovering from addition, see more at morethanmypast.org.uk.

Featured Video
Robot café in Japan controlled remotely by workers with degenerative disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
Pop up cafe open now in Toyko's Akasaka district shows how technology can help those with disabilities to have employment and social life. The cafe uses robots controlled by people with diseases like ALS, a motor neuron disease also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The 1.2-metre robots, which weigh 20 kg, can transmit video and audio over the internet so they can be directed from home through tablet and personal computers. The CEO Kentaro Yoshifuji who designed the robots was inspired by his own suffering with a disability in childhood. He states his goals for the cafe as "I want to create a world in which people who can’t move their bodies can work too”. For more info click on the video below.

Robot Cafe controlled remotely by workers with degenerative disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

Inspirational Person of the Week

Deborah Williams
Deborah is an award-winning actor, writer and the Executive Director at Creative Diversity Network. With a career as a disabled artist spanning 30 years, her experience across arts, culture and the creative industries is extensive. She previously designed the BFI diversity standards and Arts Council England’s equality analysis process; for public sector equality duty compliance. In 2015 she ran two marathons, in two weeks.
Deborah was the recipient of the prestigious Lifetime Achiever Award at the 2019 Inclusive Companies awards. Deborah is transforming UK broadcasting and leading on the initiative to double the percentage of disabled people working in the freelance supply chain by 2020.
For more info about Deborah and the Creative Diversity Network, click on the photo below.