In response to the Black Lives Matters words “Stand with us when words are not enough” – The Right Ethos has introduced a policy of affirmative action to increase the opportunities for BAME candidates and to support the charity sector to fulfil their desire to reflect society more accurately.
The Rooney Rule is a policy that was introduced in the USA which requires American Football league teams to interview BAME candidates for head coaching and senior football operation jobs.
The Right Ethos is now to applying it to all the candidate shortlists that we present our clients.
This is a commitment and a formalisation of what we have always strived to achieve. However, for The Right Ethos, it will at the very least act as a “safety check” to make sure that it consistently applies to all of our work. We intend it to ensure that organisationally we are more aware and we properly consider the issue of inequality. And this is only intended as a starting point. We are looking to learn best practice and work with others to improve our actions.
We are grateful for #CharitySoWhite for helping support our Free Career Coaching for Young Working Class people I started this scheme in January 2020 as I came from a working class background – initially living on the Bettws council estate in Newport and receiving free school dinners during the steelworkers strike in 1980. It is for any working-class people, not only those from a BAME background. However, disproportionally black and ethnic minority people are working class and this has been reflected in the young people who we have given free coaching to so far, the majority of them are black or from an ethnic minority.
The Right Ethos has also this month signed the pledge to Show The Salary – the campaign to address pay gaps and inequity in the charity sector. It is frustrating when clients want to say “competitive salary” instead of a figure or a range. It helps no-one and if it is a factor in inequality then it needs to stop.
In March, just before the lockdown, I took up my invitation from the Carnegie Trust to attend the launch of their report Race Inequality in the Workforce at the House of Commons.
It’s clear that 2020 will go down as a significant year in so many ways. The Right Ethos is committed to ensuring that we plays our part in making lives fairer and equal so that everybody benefits.