Race for inclusion at work: Accelerating cultural diversity together

Join us for Careers in Colour’s (CiC) event focused on exploring the opportunities enabled by cross-sector collaboration to accelerate cultural diversity.

While there has been significant growth in the number of Employee Advocacy Groups (EAGs) focused on increasing racial and cultural diversity in Australia, there is still significant potential to improve coordination across organisations to drive change at a national level.

While EAGs focused on other underrepresented groups benefit from a range of national coordinating initiatives and organisation's (i.e. InterFirm, Pride in Diversity's Australian Workplace Equality Index, Workplace Gender Equality Agency), cross-sector coordination to improve cultural diversity is still in its fairly early stages.

This panel will feature expert advisors on race and cultural inclusion, as well as a range of senior leaders in Australia who have championed efforts to improve cross-organisation collaboration to improve cultural diversity in Australian workplaces. They will talk to their success, challenges and will explore a range of strategies that employee advocates can use in their organisation, as well as the benefits from cross-organisation collaboration.

Along with the panel discussion, there will opportunities to connect and network with others involved in EAGs in their workplaces, work in this space, or have a passion for the topic.

You'll also get to hear about the 'CiC Alliance', our new flagship initiative to promote greater collaboration between race and culture EAG's, as well as opportunities to be part of the first cohort to be involved - see below for details.

This is an in-person event hosted by Allens Cultural Awareness Network (CAN) held on Tuesday 7 May, 5:30pm - 7:30pm (AEST) at Allens offices in Sydney.

Nibbles and drinks will be provided.

What the event will be covering

Ways to energise and equip Racial and Cultural EAG leaders and members to lead effectively
Successful case studies for those involved in EAGs and racial cultural inclusion work in their workplaces
The potential that can be harnessed from more cross-organisation collaboration

What is the CIC Alliance?

CiC will be launching an Alliance for Racial and Cultural EAGs to drive collective impact across Australian workplaces. The alliance will run three core activities:

Bi-Annual Roundtables: A regular forum and advisory group of Racial and Ethnic Diversity EAG Leaders and ecosystem builders which provide an opportunity to share resources, learnings, and opportunities across sectors
Skill Development Programs & Resources: Structured workshops which cover foundational elements to drive change in organisations
Recognition and Accountability Platform: Providing opportunities to recognise EAG leaders, share best practices, and serve as an independent advocacy platform

Everyone is welcome

While this event will be particularly of benefit to those involved in Employee Advocacy Groups (EAGs) and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion professionals focused on racial and cultural equity, we welcome everyone interested in supporting racial and cultural inclusion. Moderated by Afeeya Akhand (She/Her), Researcher at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and recognised as a Young Woman to Watch in International Affairs, we will be joined by some fantastic panellists on the night, and we will be releasing more information about them on our socials:

Div Pillay (She/Her) - CEO and Co-Founder of MindTribes
Michelle Lim (She/Her) - Organisational Culture and Change Lead at Reserve Bank of Australia
Tharani Jegatheeswaran (She/Her) - Partner, Sydney Consulting Leader at Deloitte Australia

To ensure this event is financially accessible, a set number of tickets will be available at a discount. Please contact us at careersincolour@gmail.com if this is this may be relevant to you.

While this event will not be recorded or live-streamed, we are committed to running a range of other events virtually throughout the year. If you have any accessibility requirements or any other suggestions, please reach us at our email above.

About Cultural Awareness Network (CAN)

Cultural Awareness Network (CAN) is the committee that aims to promote cultural diversity and inclusion at Allens that is representative and reflective of our people and clients and Australia's diverse society. Allens is an international commercial law firm with offices throughout Australia and Asia.

About MindTribes

MindTribes works to improve psychological safety, address inequity and embed inclusion. We do this by partnering with clients, institutions, policy makers, state and federal governments, and research bodies to make a positive change to structures and systems that exclude and harm people at work. We are experts on intersectionality and are specialists in race, ethnicity, gender and life stages. Our work is backed by organisation and clinical psychology, business evaluation, strategy and change management experience.

About Careers in Colour

Careers in Colour emerged as a grass roots response to the continued, and well-documented under-representation of people of colour and cultural diversity in Australia’s senior leadership. Our purpose is to support people of colour by running community initiatives that provide pathways to effect positive change in their careers, workplaces, and beyond - focusing on industries and sectors of influence in Australia. We aim to contribute to a future where Australian workplaces reflect the diversity of the broader Australian community, provide equitable opportunities, and maximise the potential of our multicultural workforce.

We acknowledge that we live and work on the unceded lands of the Gadigal, Dharug, Wurundjeri, and Ngunnawal and Ngambri people. We acknowledge Traditional Owners across the continent and their continuing connection to the land, sea and community.