Businesses should be diverse by default – Lloyds Banking Group’s Group Transformation division is committed to their employee base reflecting the UK population as a whole.

You’re invited to join their ethnicity event, to get under the skin of the issues impacting BAME representation in business.

In partnership with Investing in Ethnicity & Race and Digital Leaders, the event will bring together leaders, influencers and allies from the tech industry and beyond, to explore and debate important and topical themes within the ethnicity agenda.

The event will offer an opportunity for candid, transparent discussion, lifting the lid on ethnicity in the workplace to promote understanding, and encourage support and committed action across industries.

Topics will include:

• Ethnicity and AI – tech development is rapid- how do we ensure we proactively develop with diversity in mind?
• Under the skin – what is the role of allies and role models to help surface and resolve issues faced by BAME employees?
• Gay, Muslim, Bangladeshi & British: Compounding barriers – exploring intersectionality when individuals represent multiple diversity strands
• BAME Talent – increasing representation of BAME leadership

Attendees will be invited to join interactive breakout sessions:

Practical action– A call to action will be weaved through the event, providing clear and specific actions for each person to take back to their organisations in the form of online commitments that will be made on the day, and will relate back to the content they have heard in the sessions. In this session, two contributors will share the practical action they’ve taken within their organisations that delegates can learn from and take back with them.

Challenging inappropriate behaviour– There is a large undercurrent of colleagues saying they ‘put up with’ inappropriate behaviour, and feel they cannot seek help in challenging behaviours without it impacting their own careers. In this session, a panel of contributors will share their thoughts and experiences of how businesses can proactively create a zero tolerance to inappropriate behaviour and make colleagues feel able to challenge/ report such behaviour.

Authenticity at work– This session will discuss how companies can create an environment where colleagues can be their authentic self. There is a significant lack of confidence amongst BAME employees in truly being authentic in the workplace. This ranges from changing accents, dress, pretending to be an extrovert, hiding faith, minimising differences etc.
It will air themes around zero tolerance to inappropriate ‘banter’, proactive consideration of different culture needs e.g. sharing workloads around religious festivals, respecting behaviour differences.

Increasing BAME representation in leadership– This session will explore how to increase visible role models and BAME representation in leadership positions. Contributors will share their experience, biggest challenge and how they broke through the ceiling.

Contributors:

Irvinder Goodhew, Transforming Change Director, Group Transformation, Lloyds Banking Group

Julie Chakraverty, CEO, Rungway

Benedict Brogan, Public Affairs Director, Lloyds Banking Group

Fiyaz Mughal, Founder, Tell MAMA

Nayem Chowdhury, Global Agency Lead, Google and Former co-chair of Gayglers EMEA

Sarah Chowdhury, WebChat and Voice of Customer Senior Manager, Lloyds Banking Group

Terry Cordeiro, Head of Product Management, Applied Science & Intelligent Products, Lloyds Banking Group

Simon James, Group VP Data Science, Sapient

Melissa Sabella, Founder & CEO, The Honeycomb Works

Sarah Garrett, Founder, Investing in Ethnicity

Gori Yahaya,  Founder, Upskill Digital

Zarina Mahmud, Senior Manager, Inclusion & Diversity, LBG

Monica Juneja, Managing Director, Financial Services, Accenture

Emma Cusdin, People Director, Aviva

Claudia Ribeiro, Managing Director, Accenture Interactive

Tanvi Gokhale, Retail Segmentation Director, LBG

And more to be announced.

This event is hosted by:                        In partnership with: