A project to increase diversity among the region鈥檚 business leaders has been awarded 拢230,000.
The programme will see De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) work with Freeths LLP, Eileen Richards Recruitment and Brewin Dolphin on the three-year programme, called Leicester鈥檚 Future Leaders. It will aim to increase the numbers of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) staff winning internships and jobs and create more opportunities for high-skilled work in the local economy.
Organisations including The Prince鈥檚 Trust, Access Generation CIC and Elevation Networks are backing the project, which is being funded by The Office for Students, contributing their knowledge and expertise to the programme development.
DMU will work with businesses and organisations to design a toolkit for companies that helps them improve upon their processes for recruiting BAME graduates and filling senior roles with people from diverse backgrounds.
Emma Anderson, director at Freeths LLP, said: 鈥淒iversity and equality is at the heart of our business and we look forward to working with DMU to boost the employment opportunities on offer to BAME graduates and unlock their potential for the benefit of the students, employers and the local economy.鈥
Register now for the Make Diversity Your Business event on Monday October 28
The event aims to highlight that diversity is not just 鈥the right thing to do' but is a business imperative you need to constructively integrate and grow in your business effectively and inclusively.
Aimed at business owners and decision makers, the launch of the 鈥楲eicester Future Leaders Programme鈥 offers an opportunity to discuss this critical, highly relevant and topical subject which is dedicated to increasing diversity within the workforce of local businesses.
You will discover the issues being tackled to build a more diverse workforce, explore why diversity holds value for businesses and understand the positive implications on diversity for you and your business.
Agenda:
10.30am Welcome, refreshments, introduction and background on the project
10:45am聽Diversity and Inclusion key note and panel discussion
11:30am Workshops
To join this exciting initiative
Eileen Richards MBE, director of Eileen Richards Recruitment, said: 鈥淲e know lots of us struggle in silence on this subject and we wanted to bring it into our everyday conversations to highlight that it鈥檚 a problem and work towards a solution."
The project developed following a panel session at last year鈥檚 Leicester Business Festival chaired by DMU and organised by Freeths, Brewin Dolphin and Eileen Richards called Let鈥檚 Be Brave About Equality.
Adele Browne, head of careers and employability, said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 fantastic that DMU has this opportunity to run this project for our students, graduates and the city of Leicester, spearheading change and creating BAME role models for future generations.鈥
The funding has come from the OFS new Challenge Competition fund, which supports innovative solutions to key challenges around students鈥 access to and progression through university.
Would you like your business to get involved? E-mail: businessservices@dmu.ac.uk
