Throughout this year, The Herald & GenAnalytics have been holding a series of Diversity Dialogues where members of Scotland’s business community and third sector organisations have come together to discuss how good intentions can be transformed into positive action.
The idea is to share innovation and experience in order to create momentum behind progress on diversity that has already taken place.
The concept has proven to be highly effective, with earlier events in both Edinburgh and Glasgow being well-received. Now the final Diversity Dialogue of the year, this time in association with Arnold Clark, will take place on Thursday, 5 September at the GTG Training Centre in Glasgow.
This event will look at the importance of data collection in fostering strong and meaningful inclusion strategies and opening the day will be Arnold Clark Group People Director, Lynne McBurney as she imparts on Arnold Clark's biggest data census to date and how they have come to the start of this journey.
Arnold Clark has an impressive track record in fostering diversity and Lynne will be speaking about her company’s work on encouraging inclusion and about the positive impact that it has had on the company as a whole.
Lynne says: “The Diversity Dialogues series is a unique opportunity to hear and learn from organisations across Scotland who have taken significant steps to cultivate a culture of inclusion from the very heart of their business.
“It is only by listening to others and working together that we can make real, impactful change, and we’d encourage any companies and organisations who wish to work on their own diversity and inclusion strategy to attend. Meanwhile we look forward to working with The Herald and GenAnalytics to raise awareness of the teams and individuals who continue to make great progress in this area.”
The Glasgow event will also welcome Mhairi Taylor, Deputy Director (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion), University of Dundee as keynote speaker. Mhairi will share her extensive career in DE&I roles in the education sector and the incredible work she achieved in capturing pertinent, meaningful data in her tenure at University of Glasgow, which in turn informed successful campaigns such as their award-winning #togetheragainstrascism campaign in 2023 – winner of The Herald & GenAnalytcis Diversity Campaign of the Year 2023.
Mhairi will also talk on the challenges and successes that she has faced over her career and she will outline the importance of language in collating data and how the words used can change the response rate.
The event will also includes a panel discussion, hosted by GenAnalytics director, Jane Gotts, with DEI expert, Irene Mosata, CEO, Knowledge Bridge; Lesley Quinn, Divisional Director, Corporate Affairs, City Building (Glasgow) LLP; Gavin Speirs, CEO, Solutions Driven and Atta Yaqub, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Manager, sportscotland
Sportscotland is heavily invested in levelling the playing field and ensuring fair access to sport at all levels for people from all backgrounds and Forbes Dunlop, Chief Executive, said this week: “Our role as a national agency for sport is to provide leadership to the sporting sector, to influence the changes needed to address inequalities and ensure that everyone has the opportunity to take part in sport.
“The Diversity Dialogues are a fantastic chance for us to productively engage with different sectors across Scottish society and the discussions can help us all to learn and also to drive positive change.”
The Glasgow Diversity Dialogue in association with Arnold Clark and sponsored by Crown Estate Scotland, Diageo and sportscotland, will take place from 10am until 3pm and the cost per delegate is £45(+VAT) and includes lunch. Full details of the event and tickets are available from https://newsquestscotlandevents.com/events/diversity-dialogues/
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