You are invited to join Sir Trevor Phillips and your fellow Chairs and CEOs from Change the Race Ratio signatories and the If Not Now, When? campaign for an invitation-only peer-to peer breakfast roundtable in central London on 20 November 2024 at 9am to 11am under Chatham House Rule.
The recent UK race riots and social unrest in various jurisdictions have highlighted the urgent need for CEOs to re-examine their efforts and commitments to racial equity in the workplace and address the communications challenges that this can present.
This session will provide a unique opportunity to reflect on the CEO’s journey towards greater racial inclusion in the workplace since the unrest of 2020. The convening will explore the following:
- Principles that CEOs have adopted regarding when to personally “weigh in”.
- Process by which CEOs decide whether or not to commit to a position on pressing issues across the ESG agenda.
- Case studies from CEOs that have deployed strategies that have yielded transformational, and measurable outcomes for retention and advancement of racial minority leaders into senior executive, executive committee and board roles.
- Challenges that persist in addressing racial equity in corporations and possible solutions.
Of specific interest at the forum is the need to focus on the challenges that organisations have encountered with respect to retention and advancement of Black talent. As you are aware, despite some progress in broader racial minority representation at the executive level, Black representation in senior ranks remains very low, despite the often-stellar backgrounds of individuals onboarded as graduates and lateral hires. At the CEO level within the FTSE 100, Black representation has disappointingly fluctuated between one and zero for over a decade.
In addition to learning from your insights and recommendation of interventions that could improve the approach to communications and accelerate the pace of change, the discussion will feature insights from senior business leaders from racial and ethnic minority communities who have successfully navigated the barriers to leadership in large corporate organisations. They will share their experiences and offer their thoughts on how we can address the persistent lack of progress as a strategic priority for the development of cultures that produce high performing teams.
Please join us at this critical juncture, where your leadership, contribution and commitment could make a meaningful difference.
