Eight principles to address the diversity deficit in charity leadership

As a leader I will:

1. Acknowledge that there is a problem with racial diversity in the charity sector and commit to working to change that.
2. Recognise the important role leaders have in creating change by modelling positive behaviour and taking action.
3. Learn about racial bias and how it impacts leadership decisions.
4. Commit to setting permanent and minimum targets for diversity that reflects the participants, donors, beneficiaries and the population of the area that my charity operates in.
5. Commit to action and invest resources, where necessary, in order to improve racial diversity in my charity.
6. View staff as the sum of many parts rather than a single entity and recruit to build a diverse group of talented people collectively working towards a shared vision.
7. Recruit for potential, not perfection.
8. Value lived experience, the ability to draw from one’s lived experience and to bring insights to an organisation that can develop its work.

Who has made the commitments?

1. Vicky Browning, CEO, ACEVO
2. Peter Lewis, CEO, Institute of Fundraising
3. Thomas Lawson, CEO, Turn2Us
4. Baillie Aaron, CEO, Spark Inside
5. Tesse Akpeki, governance consultant, facilitator and trainer
6. Karl Wilding, CEO, NCVO
7. Andy Tilden, Interim CEO, Skills for Care
8. Javed Khan, CEO, Barnados
9. Sarah Hughes, CEO, Centre for Mental Health
10. Carol Akiwumi, chair and founder, Money4Youth
11. Jane Dodson, chair, seAp Advocacy
12. Robin Osterley, CEO, Charity Retail Association
13. Mark Simms, CEO, P3 the social inclusion charity
14. Amelia Foster, CEO, Sapere
15. Jonathan Freeman, CEO, CareTech Foundation
16. Jane Ide, CEO, NAVCA
17. David Fielding, Managing Partner, Attenti
18. Richard Boland, CEO, retailTRUST
19. Shaun Horan, Joint CEO, Halpin Partnership
20. Beth Upton, CEO, Money Tree Fundraising
21. Lauren Seager-Smith, CEO, Kidscape
22. Michael Adamson, chief executive, British Red Cross
23. Heather Osborne, chief executive, Age UK Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin
24. Jane Collins, chief executive, Marie Curie
25. Girish Menon, CEO, ActionAid UK
26. Liam Fassam, executive director, Ignite
27. John Sauven, executive director, Greenpeace UK
28. Howard Sinclair, chief executive, St. Mungo’s
29. Ghazala Baig, chief executive, MedEquip4Kids
30. Dom Wood, CEO, 1625 Independent People
31. Darren York, chief executive, TCV
32. Sally Young, chief executive, Newcastle CVS
33. Carol Botten, CEO, VONNE
34. Sherrylyn Peck, chief executive, Safer London
35. Simon Parkinson, chief executive, WEA
36. Rick Henderson, chief executive, Homeless Link
37. Helena Holt, chief executive, Devon Air Ambulance
38. Graeme Hodge, chief executive, All We Can
39. Alison Lowe, chief executive, Touchstone
40. Craig Bennett, CEO, Friends of the Earth
41. Paul Reddish, chief executive, Volunteering Matters
42. Sara Llewellin, chief executive, Barrow Cadbury Trust
43. Nik Peasgood, chief executive, Leeds Women’s Aid
44. Judith Mudd, chief executive, The British Sociological Association
45. Kate Lee, CEO, Clic Sargent
46. Menai Owen-Jones, CEO, The Pituitary Foundation
47. Anne Fox, CEO, and Jess Mullen, head of policy and communications, Clinks
48. Jo Hobbs, chief executive, British Youth Council
49. Anna Smee, CEO, UK Youth
50. Derri Burdon, CEO, Curious Minds
51. Matt Lent, CEO, Future First
52. Lynne Morris, CEO, Toybox
53. Teri Stephenson, CEO, Age UK Lancashire
54. Jane van Zyl, CEO, Working Families
55. Paul Parker, recording clerk, Quakers
56. Ruth Potter, charity manager, OCAY
57. Matt Stringer, CEO, RNIB
58. Tom Clarke-Forrest, founder & chief executive, Sport 4 Life UK
59. Olivia Southey, head of policy, Doula UK
60. Debbie Geraghty, chief executive, Plymouth Music Zone
61. Penny Wilson, chief executive, Gettting on Board
62. Annie Warburton, chief executive, Cockpit Arts
63. Julie Bentley, chief executive, Action for Children
64. Russell Hobby, chief executive, Teach First
65. Jaine Stannard, chief executive, School-Home Support
66. Catherine Mahony, director, Westminster Befriend a Family
67. Anita Grover, chief executive, Auditory Verbal UK
68. Lisa Ward, chief executive, Oxfordshire Sexual Abuse and Rape Crisis Centre
69.  Louise Macdonald OBE, chief executive, Young Scot
70. Sarah Cook, chief executive, Home-Start Oldham, Stockport & Tameside (HOST)
71. Patricia Armstrong OBE, chief executive, ACOSVO
72. Maureen Watson, chief executive, Scottish Mentoring Network
73. Ian Bruce, Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector
74. John Schless, chief executive, Greenwich Students’ Union
75. Kim Shutler, chief executive, The Cellar Trust
76. Jo Gough,  chief executive, RISE UK
77. Ben Kernighan, CEO, Leap Confronting Conflict
78. Gillian Guy, CEO, Citizens Advice