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We must create leadership that is representative of the diverse communities we serve

Our latest report shows progress within the G15 on diversity at senior levels, but there remains work to do within our organisations and across the sector, writes Geeta Nanda

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Picture: Getty
Picture: Getty
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Our latest report shows progress within the G15 on diversity at senior levels, but there remains work to do within our organisations and across the sector, writes Geeta Nanda #UKhousing

It’s been one year since we came together to sign the G15 Diversity Pledge, committing our members to make meaningful progress to better reflect the ethnic diversity of the communities they represent – particularly at senior, managerial, leadership and board levels.

The past year has been one of change and uncertainty. As a sector, we have faced major new challenges as we’ve steered our organisations through remote working and adapted our services to support London’s communities.

We have all witnessed the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on ethnic minority communities and the need for continued and strengthened work to address structural inequalities in the UK.


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We also felt the impact of the tragic murder of George Floyd in May 2020 and the subsequent reinvigoration of the global Black Lives Matter movement. This provided a stark reminder of the systemic racism that persists across the world, including in the UK, and the need for organisations to seriously reflect upon how we can play our part in making real lasting change.

“We play a key role in supporting diverse and inclusive communities, from the homes we build and maintain to the work we do across our communities”

The work of our members during the pandemic has shown just how deep our connection with communities run and, as we look towards recovery, we want our organisations to better reflect the communities we work in, so that the decisions we make are the right ones for the needs of all Londoners.

This ambition extends to taking an active role in tackling the structural inequalities that affect many of our residents and colleagues – from race and ethnicity to gender, disability and deprivation.

As a provider of one in 10 London homes, we strongly believe that Londoners’ diversity sits at the heart of what makes our city such a thriving place to call home. We play a key role in supporting diverse and inclusive communities, from the homes we build and maintain to the work we do across our communities.

Since the G15 Diversity Pledge was signed, we have set in motion a number of initiatives aimed at improving ethnic diversity at senior level, including:

  • A review of approaches to recruitment
  • The launch of the Accelerate leadership development programme, which aims to nurture existing Black, Asian and minority ethnic talent within the sector
  • Collectively, the proportion of ethnic minorities represented on our boards has increased from 14% in 2019 to 20% in 2021

Today we have published a compilation of case studies that summarise the progress that has been made since last year, but we are by no means finished. We remain committed to our ambitions of becoming more visibly diverse at all levels of our organisations, collaborating to invest and support ethnic minority talent, and to celebrate the achievements of our ethnic minority colleagues.

If there’s one thing the events of this year have taught us, however, is that there is far more work that needs to be done.

Through collating these case studies, we want to celebrate the collective progress G15 members have made against these pledges and renew our commitment to driving further change in embedding inclusivity into the sector’s culture at every level.

If we want to see a stronger and fairer London emerge from the pandemic, we must first look within our organisations to create representative leadership that can effectively support the diverse communities we serve.

Geeta Nanda OBE, chief executive, Metropolitan Thames Valley; and vice-chair, G15

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Racism and Housing series

Racism and Housing series

Inside Housing’s Racism and Housing series aims to investigate how race inequality and racism interact with and impact on housing – for tenants, for staff working in housing, and for organisations. It has been launched a year since George Floyd’s murder prompted a huge global wave of Black Lives Matter activism.

We will be publishing monthly investigations that look at racism, race and housing, both in terms of what is going wrong, and what actions that sector is taking to address this.

If you have an idea for a story relating to this campaign, please contact deputy editor (features) Jess McCabe, at jess.mccabe@insidehousing.co.uk

The stories published so far include:

‘We had to abandon everything’: the story of Chan Kataria and the flight of the Ugandan Asians

Race and the cost of living crisis: the impact on social housing tenants

How to create an inclusive housing association: a conversation with Bal Kang

How Cardiff landlords are tackling under-representation

Why has diversity progress stalled?

How racism impacts homeless people

How planning is failing to address race inequality in housing

Race and allocation: who are the new tenants getting social housing, and is it equitable?

How to increase representation of ethnic minorities in senior roles

How race impacts on people’s likelihood of living in a damp home or experiencing fuel poverty

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