How we’re advancing equity, diversity and inclusion in our Design, Data and Technology team
Career coaching and professional development for women and non-binary team members
At Citizens Advice we’re committed to increasing the representation of women and non-binary people in our design, data, and technology roles, and to creating a more inclusive working environment. We take an equitable approach in our work; recognising that not everyone has had the same opportunities and that some demographics are structurally disadvantaged in wider society.
Taking an equitable approach means that we need to work extra hard to proactively address these disadvantages, both for our clients (users) and within our teams. We recognise the risk of undiverse teams to the quality and effectiveness of the products and services we deliver, as well as to the culture we’re building and the values we hold.
One way we can do this is to tailor training and development opportunities to address the specific needs of women and those with minority gender identities in our team. To support us in this objective we reached out to Ada’s List, who specialise in this area, and we’re delighted to have worked with them to offer a bespoke programme of career progression and professional development support. This programme is trans inclusive and open to all women.
What we did
We ran a programme over 6 months from November 2020 to May 2021 and provided 18 team members a curated space for participants to share resources, ask questions, and connect with women who could help address the career development challenges they may be facing. The Ada’s List team served as moderators: sharing news, links, and resources, encouraging discussion, and identifying opportunities to learn.
We focused on 3 key areas:
- Leadership
- Equity and social justice
- Digital, data, and technology
The coaching cohort programme was designed as a blend of executive coaching and peer-based support through 1:1 coaching sessions and cohort group sessions, delivered by the brilliant Ada’s List team: Ronda Železný-Green, PhD (Executive Coach), Merici Vinton (former CEO Ada’s List), and Lilias Adair (Programme Manager).
How it went
We’re delighted with the feedback we’ve received from participants.
The feedback from participants also underlined the benefit of the programme’s focus on leadership skills, and of creating peer to peer networks for development and support:
“I am speaking up more and challenging constructively…influenced by the discussion in the first cohort meeting where several people said they didn’t feel confident to share ideas — this was a surprise to me as they are people I look up to! It made me realise that holding back on sharing ideas is likely to be more detrimental than helpful, and a supportive group will not make you feel like your efforts to do so are wrong”
2 of our cohort members, Dina Bhadreshwara and Zarlashta Behzadi, are speaking at the upcoming Ada’s List conference which is a fantastic testament to their leadership.
“The quizzes on leadership styles were really important as a way to challenge my preconceptions about leadership. The focus in the cohort around inclusion has really helped me to channel my thinking into Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion more. These are positive changes, both internally and externally looking.”
What’s next
We’re delighted to be launching the programme again this autumn, continuing our partnership with Ada’s List under the leadership of new co-CEOs Khaleelah Jones and Mara Larson-Richard. We’ve taken account of the feedback and suggestions from the first cohort, and have made tweaks to the programme to reflect this.
If you’re investing in similar equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts in your organisation — we’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment on this blogpost or direct message @kyliehavelock on Twitter.
