Please click on any of the questions below for more information:
Because actions speak louder than words. As campaigners for diversity and inclusion, we often find ourselves being asked to comment in the media when yet another photo emerges in the local media of an all white, male delegation representing Jersey’s interests at global conferences, or about the lack of diversity in our States Assembly and at the top of our organisations.
Undoubtedly progress has and is being made in relation to equality and inclusion across government and industry, but the pace of change is too slow. There is much evidence to show that it is in all of our interests to see greater diversity in government and business strategy, policy and decision-making – not just because equality is fair and just, but because diversity is essential to the long-term health of our economy and the effectiveness of our democracy.
Rather than continue to comment and push from the sidelines we decided to do something positive and practical to try to help conference organisers and policy-makers connect with talented people from under-represented groups in our community – people who are keen to share their knowledge and experiences through speaking opportunities and participation in expert panels and/or contributing to policy formulation and scrutiny. And so – very much influenced by the success of the Brussels Binder – The Diversity Directory was born.
Yes. To ensure the Directory is truly inclusive and contains a range of diverse talent, we welcome the profiles of women, men and non-binary people. We will make special efforts to attract the profiles of people in under-represented groups in our business communities.
Women make up roughly 50% of our population but are still hugely under-represented at the top of our organisations, in government and in many government sponsored committees, boards and quangos.
A recent study in the UK suggested that in the largest 100 London-listed companies, the total number of female chief executives is the same as the number of bosses named Peter – six. The data is not currently available in Jersey to demonstrate just how big our ‘seniority gap’ is, but we know it exists and we know it is significant. It is also the case that only 29% of Jersey’s States Assembly members are women – 72 years after Ivy Forster became the first woman to be elected to the Assembly.
Supporting the largest under-represented group – women – seemed like a sensible place to start. But it is certainly not our intention to ignore the lack of inclusion of other minority groups, such as ethnic and racial minorities, people with disabilities, neurodiverse islanders and the LGBTQ+ community. Indeed, our intention is to actively broaden the scope of the Directory to include other under-represented groups too.
We also are delighted to invite our friends in Guernsey and the Isle of Man to make good use of the Directory and support a cross-island network.
Simply click here and follow the instructions. It shouldn’t take you long.
You will need to provide a short profile (no more than 250 words) outlining your experience, expertise and your interests and you can indicate via the drop-down boxes your subject matter/industry expertise and jurisdiction. You will also be asked to select the kind of opportunities you are interested in being involved in.
Finally you will be asked to provide a link to your LinkedIn profile and/or preferred social media platform.
Your profile will not be published on the Directory until it has been reviewed by our administrators which may take a day or two. We just want to make sure that all content remains appropriate and professional, and so we do reserve the right not to publish your profile if we have concerns. We also cannot take responsibility for the accuracy of your profile once it has been published.
Each and every one of us has our own unconscious biases and it is a very human instinct to make assumptions and quick decisions about people based largely on what we can see. By not having photos in your Directory profile we hope to reduce one of the first potential opportunities for bias to creep in. We want people seeking specific talent for their conference line up or working group to take time to read and digest your profile based on your interests, experience and capabilities, before making a decision to check your LinkedIn profile and reach out to you or not.
Easy! You can use the drop down boxes on the right hand-side to narrow down your search. If you prefer to look through all of the profiles you can simply scroll through them.
If you see a profile that is of interest, you can click on the link to view their LinkedIn page and any other social media pages and personal websites they may have included.
You can contact an individual directly either via the ‘message this person’ button under their profile or via their social media pages/website.
You can find links to useful tools and articles here to help you build an effective network and, if you subscribe to TDN’s newsletter, you can keep abreast of and sign up to our latest events and workshops, many of which are free. We are always happy to act as a sounding board to anyone needing some help with regards to securing a diverse line up of speakers for their event or putting together a diverse working/consultation group.
Please email [email protected], clearly stating what it is that you would like to amend/delete and we will do so within 48 hours.
We often have opportunities for people to get involved in, support or sponsor our events, activities and special projects. We love to hear your ideas too for research, tools and support that you think might be helpful in improving diversity and inclusion in your workplace. Please do get in touch.
If you’re worried, we’re pleased you asked! Sometimes we might have a tendency to hide our light under a bushel or struggle to find the right words to describe our professional self as we would like to. We can recommend a number of experts and coaches in this field who would be pleased to provide help. Please contact us [email protected] and we will share their details with you.
The information that you share on the Directory is public and we will be encouraging event and working group organisers and such like to use this data to help them build diverse panels, delegations and working/consultation groups. We will not be using your information in any other way and you will be responsible for the accuracy of your own information. Please see TDN’s full GDPR policy here for information.