Author: Renee Jacobs
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Your Diversity Initiatives are Failing. Here’s Why
Spurred on by the increased visibility of the Black Lives Matter movement, following the murder of George Floyd in 2020, organisations rushed to show that they were “on the right side of history” and supporting their minoritised employees, particularly those of Black heritage. This could be seen in a massive increase in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I) initiatives, and an increase in those people talking about ED&I. But, two years have passed and many organisations (and their employees) are not seeing any improvement either in the number of candidates from different backgrounds that make it into their business or in the number that stay for the long-run. Here, we break-down five reasons why these diversity initiatives are failing
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B in Bath Founder earns place on Social Entrepreneurship Programme
We are very excited and proud that our Founder, Renée Jacobs, has been awarded a place on the The Bath and North East Somerset Social Entrepreneurs Programme, led by the School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) in partnership with 3SG. It is funded by the UK Government through the UK Community Renewal Fund, which is managed by the West of England Combined Authority within the Bath and North East Somerset region.
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Trans Day of Visibility
The 31st March is Trans Day of Visibility. It is an important day to remind us all to take action and fight for Transgender people. It’s a day to raise awareness of the discrimination they face everyday. It’s a day for transgender and non-binary people to have the opportunity to be seen positively and have their voices amplified (although we should be striving for this to be possible every day).
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Creating Inclusive Spaces
In November 2021, I was fortunate to be able to do a TEDxBath talk and you can watch it here.
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Belonging Book Club
In May, we launch our Belonging Book Club. This new offering, for non-members of B in Bath, exists to support our learning and growth as a community. Particularly over the past 12 months, a large number of books and resources have been published that discuss and address issues around race and racism. We welcome this. In order for us to create an environment and community where everyone belongs, we need to be able to discuss race and combat racism. However, we understand that conversations around race, racism, language and sensitivities, can be difficult to dive into. We believe that belonging is created with everyone in mind, so we want to support everyone to learn, grow and understand these issues.
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On the Radio
In October, I chatted to Yvonne on Somer Valley FM about B in Bath and the work we were doing for Black History Month and beyond. You can listen again
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Why B in Bath
When I launched B in Bath (Black in Bath) a few months ago, it was not as I had planned. Anyone who spoke to me about it at the time would know that it was the early launch of something I had long been planning.
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Black Lives in Bath: Time for Action
I took part in a roundtable discussion with the MP for Bath, Wera Hobhouse. The discussion was around the lived-experience of being a Black person in Bath. The stories were both shocking and unsurprising. I have never been under the illusion that racism doesn’t exist in every facet of life, as I too experience it regularly. The question now remains, “what do we do now?”
B in Bath 