PIRC is delighted to have won the Board Diversity and Inclusion 2020 Charity Governance Award.
We were honoured to have been considered alongside two such amazing organisations as Happy Baby Community and Irise International.
PIRC works alongside civil society organisations for social justice. We have recognised for some years that in order to live our values, we must also look squarely at our own working practices, and particularly at power, diversity and liberation. Since 2015, we have built a non-hierarchical management structure to start to address power imbalances in the organisation. We have prioritised anti-oppression, not just in the recruitment, but also the subsequent training and induction, of new staff and Trustees. This means both seeking diverse voices and stretching the organisational understanding of accessibility beyond inclusion and into liberation and justice. Diversity and inclusion are not just check-boxes, and we recognise that to truly embed the value of equality is the work of a lifetime.
We bring people into the organisation whose life experiences enhance our mission to support civil society in strengthening the stories that unite us: by representing those most affected by issues of injustice. We’re therefore proud to accept this award on behalf of all the people—trustees, staff, partners and others we work alongside—whose myriad voices shape and continue to challenge this organisation to grow. This recognition deepens our resolve to build diversity, inclusion and liberation into the foundations of our work.
Emmanuelle Andrews, of Kaleidoscope Trust, joined PIRC’s Board in May 2019. She says, “I first came across PIRC through their Framing Equality report and realised their work took diversity and inclusion seriously. I see PIRC striving, not for mere inclusion into unworkable systems, but for genuine radical change. I’m delighted all their hard work and learning in this area has been recognised.”
