Diversity leaders champion intersectionality at PinkNews Business Community event with Milbank LLP

Equality, diversity and inclusion (ED&I) leaders gathered in central London last Thursday (20 April) to learn more about how intersectionality between different minority groups impacts businesses and employees alike.

More than 30 changemakers and employee resource group (ERG) members from a variety of industries throughout the UK gathered for the second PinkNews Business Community event of 2023, which was kindly hosted by the international law firm, Milbank LLP.

Attendees were treated to a presentation from Asad Dhunna, founder and CEO of the award-winning consultancy firm The Unmistakables, and Rosie Ngugi, an inclusion consultant for the firm. Together, the pair presented insights and findings from their recently published ‘Diversity and Confusion’ report. 

During their 60-minute presentation, Dhunna and Ngugi pointed to findings that show that while employees and business leaders may be comfortable talking about the concept of ED&I, when it comes individual issues like racism, homophobia and sexism, people are less confident. 

The pair suggested that lack of confidence can cause frustration to those on the receiving end of those phobias and “isms,” with many simply removing themselves from the diversity and inclusion conversation.  

The Unmistakables ‘Diversity and Confusion’ report is a follow-up to a report published in 2021. Speaking to PinkNews, Dhunna said that the key takeaway from the original report revealed that people were unsure of what could be said and what diversity and inclusion in the workplace meant.

“So we repeated that this year to look at what is the level of confusion,” Dhunna explained. “And what we found is that the level of confusion has changed ever so slightly – people are feeling more confident around talking about DE&I as a thing and a topic.”

The ‘Diversity and Confusion’ report found that 35 per cent of the LGBTQ+ community are frustrated with ED&I conversations at work and only 59 per cent feel comfortable around their colleagues.

When it comes to having conversations around the topics of sexual and gender identity and other issues often considered ‘taboo,’ the report shows that people are more comfortable talking to their friends and families rather than their colleagues or HR teams. 

Dhunna believes that ED&I leaders need to understand why those conversations are happening in employees’ home life, and how that can translate into having those conversations at work. “There’s a potential that we’re not having the real conversation about how people are feeling.” he said, “which is that they might feel like they’re not being included anymore.”

“We’ve always got to acknowledge that work is work, and people go for a different reason,” he continues. “There’s a different psychological contract that exists in a workplace rather than in the home.

“How do you make that ED&I conversation in the workplace about furthering the business or furthering the organisation that you’re in, and not make it an ED&I conversation that happens on the side. It’s “What does this mean, in my day-to-day world?””

In perhaps the most fascinating insight shared by Dhunna and Ngugi, the report suggests that the current ‘war on woke’ narrative plaguing the headlines in the mainstream media is inhibiting ED&I conversations in the workplace.

With nearly 29,000 articles published in UK media in 2022 using the word ‘woke,’ there were more than 300,000 mentions on social media, with a net sentiment of -38 per cent. It’s clear that this battle against the so-called ‘woke-agenda’ is causing further divisions. 

Dhunna thinks that ED&I leaders can stay ahead of this battle by having ‘guardrails’ in place and being prepared for this ‘anti-woke’ backlash when new ED&I initiatives are announced. 

“Know what your right to play is in the world of ED&I,” he concluded. “We hear lots of people saying, “We need to be more diverse. We need to be more inclusive.” But they don’t really want to change any of the systems that live behind it. So actually doing that work is eventually what will help to dial down that bigger woke debate.”

The PinkNews Business Community event attendees broke off into smaller groups to discuss their own strategies around ED&I in their individual organisations, and learn how their peers are confronting intersectionality in their own initiatives.

Speaking to PinkNews, Matt Brown, a Partner at Milbank and Partner Champion for the firm’s Milbank Pride chapter in London, said that the firm were delighted to have the opportunity to host the event. 

“Intersectionality has been a central topic in the expansion of our Diversity, Equity & Inclusion strategy in London,” he said. “It is also a major consideration in thinking about how our different affinity groups can collaborate to more effectively to influence Milbank’s culture, increase our performance, and add even more value to our clients.”

“We wanted to learn from others and share our experiences as allies and members of the LGBTQ+ community. Everyone experiences the world differently, but we want to make sure we harness that in a coordinated way to benefit all. An intersectional approach is therefore crucial to our continued success.”

Launched last year, the PinkNews Business Community has quickly established itself as a key hub for ED&I and LGBTQ+ network leads across the UK, serving as a forum to connect with peers, build skills and share insights and best practices across a variety of sectors.

The PinkNews Business Community offers quarterly London-based and virtual events that allow members to link up with other professionals from businesses committed to diversity and inclusion.

Finally, the PinkNews Business community offers monthly emails that deliver the latest on ED&I best practices, key topics and links to the latest business and career-related news.

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