The Diversity & Inclusion Award
The British Embassy in Santiago is recognised among the 20 best employers in Chile for LGBTI+ talent, becoming the first diplomatic mission and public sector organisation in Chile, and the only British embassy in the region, to receive accreditation from one of Latin America’s leading LGBTI+ civil society networks. Attaining accreditation brought together the embassy’s public diplomacy, corporate policies, learning and development, and local outreach into a strategic effort, working towards eradicating discrimination and setting a standard for LGBTI+ inclusion in Chile, for the public and private sector alike.
The co-chairs of the All Belief Network at the Office for National Statistics (ONS), Jaspreet Gakhal and Paul Thomas, are dedicated to tackling misconceptions and raising awareness of religious and nonreligious faiths and beliefs. For Interfaith Week in November 2019, they chose the theme ‘Building Bridges’.The theme and its aims were agreed with the ONS Faith and Belief champion, Peter Benton, who was so supportive that he highlighted the ‘Building Bridges’ theme to the Civil Service’s
Faith and Belief Champion, who in turn adopted this across the entire Civil Service. Working with other diversity networks, Jaspreet and Paul’s passionate call to increase inclusivity resonated and all were keen to work together to make Interfaith Week a success.The calendar of events was an outstanding achievement where personal stories were shared, understanding raised and connections made.
DWP’s purpose is to ensure social mobility opportunities for its customers; Preeta and Mark wanted to replicate the same development opportunities for their Work Coaches across the South East. Many colleagues join DWP straight from school, leading to a lack of confidence and selflimiting beliefs to progress to more senior roles. Participants in the Aspire programme have been encouraged to challenge selfimposed barriers to success and show confidence in their ability to communicate effectively.They have learned how to build a powerful personal brand and set challenging but achievable goals. Feedback has been extremely positive: participants say the programme has increased their confidence and sense of purpose, and many have a newfound confidence to seek progression opportunities.
A winner of winners from the Civil Service Diversity & Inclusion Awards; an award that recognises real achievement and success at all levels of the Civil Service.