Bristol24/7 Presents: How can we make Bristol's boardrooms more diverse? / diversity
Is Bristol a divided city?
Last week, an annual list of the UK’s most influential Black people included two Bristol names.
Bristol mayor Marvin Rees and historian David Olusoga were both included on this year’s Powerlist, which is published to provide professional role models for young people of African and African Caribbean heritage.
It’s great to see two local names on a list with other inspirational people including Marcus Rashford and Michaela Coel, however, it also begged the question of how well Bristol is doing as a whole.
is needed now More than ever
As a city, is there equal representation and diversity at top levels? Are people from ethnic minorities getting the same access to employment and education opportunities as their white counterparts?
David Olusoga and Marvin Rees were on this year’s Powerlist. Photo: Edinburgh TV Festival / BBC
Earlier this year, Marvin Rees highlighted the need for a more diverse council. Whilst he was the first mayor of black African heritage in a major European city when elected back in 2016, little has since changed.
“What we have to make sure is that we protect that diversity of thought within the council chamber that we’ve worked so hard to bring through,” Rees told BBC Radio Bristol when he was re-elected in May.
“That has been somewhat undermined by the election results, we’ve lost some good councillors. We don’t want a uniform council, we want that diversity of thought. These issues are concerns to me.”
In the most recent consensus data, it found that people from ethnic minorities in Bristol experience greater disadvantage than the national average in education and employment – with Black African people the most disadvantaged.
Cabinet – top row – Helen Holland, Tom Renhard, Helen Godwin, Nicola Beech. Bottom row – Deputy Mayor Craig Cheney, Mayor Marvin Rees, Deputy Mayor Asher Craig – photo from Bristol City Council
Specifically for employment, Bristol was ranked 55th highest out of the UK’s 248 districts for employment inequality between White British and Black and Minority Ethnic people.
The stark inequalities for Black and Minority Ethnic people in Bristol’s education and employment mean that we are not seeing diverse leadership across Bristol’s council, businesses or boardrooms.
To explore the issue and focus particularly on Bristol’s boardrooms, Bristol24/7 will be hosting a panel event with experts across the city on what they are doing to ensure more diversity in our boardrooms and why it’s so important.
To hear more about diverse leadership in Bristol, you can sign up and join the Bristol24/7 Presents: How can we make Bristol’s boardrooms more diverse?
Sponsored by TLT, the free panel event featuring experts from across Bristol will take place on Thursday November 18 at 2pm.
Main photo: Marvin Rees
Read more: How diverse are Bristol’s boardrooms?
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