It is National Inclusion Week in the UK (27 September to 3 October).
Inclusion Week celebrates everyday inclusion in all its forms. This is the ninth year that organisations from across the globe have come together to celebrate, share and inspire inclusion practices.
Every year National Inclusion Week has a theme and in 2021 it is about unity. That feels like the perfect theme for an organisation such as STEP.
We have had a number of valuable discussions at our global Board and Council meetings about what STEP should do in relation to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI). As a global professional body, comprising lawyers, accountants, financial advisors, trust officers and other practitioners that help families plan for their futures, we are, by our very nature, diverse. Our 22,000 members practise in around 100 countries and we have branches spread across more than 50 countries/territories. Our members advise in a broad range of practice areas.
Our work was prompted by some reflection among the Board that we had nothing to say in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd because we had no demonstrable actions in place that could make a difference. We didn’t want to be ‘virtue signalling’. It was also clear from those discussions that there is a sense that taking action towards greater equality and inclusion is simply the right thing to do morally.
We noted our ‘Community’ value – ‘we respect each other and value diversity’. For those who prefer measurable drivers, the business case is strong. Organisations who actively engage and take action around EDI take better decisions and get better results.
Board and Council agreed that we should focus initial EDI work on making sure that STEP has the right mix of people to support good governance and performance through having a broad range of perspectives contributing to the decisions that we make.
As a global professional membership organisation, diversity is less the issue – we have members all over the globe. Nevertheless, as we think about inclusion do we have sufficient diversity actively engaged? An action plan is being developed by a Council working group to consider that question and how we might answer it.
As we head into STEP’s Council elections, there is the opportunity for all of our members to play their part in driving inclusion. Whether that is standing for election, exercising your vote or championing another to do the same – all these actions can help us to ensure we have great governance through a diverse set of views and opinions in our decision-making bodies.
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