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?

• Vicky Browning, CEO, ACEVO
• Peter Lewis, CEO, Institute of Fundraising
• Thomas Lawson, CEO, Turn2Us
• Baillie Aaron, CEO, Spark Inside
• Tesse Akpeki, governance consultant, facilitator and trainer
• Sir Stuart Etherington, CEO, NCVO
• Sharon Allen, CEO, Skills for Care
• Javed Khan, CEO, Barnados
• Sarah Hughes, CEO, Centre for Mental Health
• Carol Akiwumi, chair and founder, Money4Youth
• Jane Dodson, chair, seAp Advocacy
• Robin Osterley, CEO, Charity Retail Association
• Mark Simms, CEO, P3 the social inclusion charity
• Amelia Foster, CEO, SAPHERE
• Jonathan Freeman, CEO, CareTech Foundation
• Jane Ide, CEO, NAVCA
• David Fielding, Managing Partner, Attenti
• Richard Boland, CEO, retailTRUST
• Shaun Horan, Joint CEO, Halpin Partnership
• Beth Upton, CEO, Money Tree Fundraising
• Lauren Seager-Smith, CEO, Kidscape
• Michael Adamson, chief executive, British Red Cross
• Heather Osborne, chief executive, Age UK Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin
• Jane Collins, chief executive, Marie Curie
• Girish Menon, CEO, ActionAid UK
• Liam Fassam, executive director, Ignite
• John Sauven, executive director, Greenpeace UK
• Howard Sinclair, chief executive, St. Mungo’s
• Ghazala Baig, chief executive, MedEquip4Kids
• Ruth Kettle, chief executive, Community Links
• Dom Wood, CEO, 1625 Independent People
• Darren York, chief executive, TCV
• Sally Young, chief executive, Newcastle CVS
• Jane Hartley, chief executive, VONNE
• Sherrylyn Peck, chief executive, Safer London
• Ruth Spellman, chief executive and general secretary, WEA
• Rick Henderson, chief executive, Homeless Link
• Helena Holt, chief executive, Devon Air Ambulance
• Graeme Hodge, chief executive, All We Can
• Alison Lowe, chief executive, Touchstone
• Craig Bennett, CEO, Friends of the Earth
• Oonagh Aitken, chief executive, Volunteering Matters
• Sara Llewellin, chief executive, Barrow Cadbury Trust
• Nik Peasgood, chief executive, Leeds Women’s Aid
• Judith Mudd, chief executive, The British Sociological Association
• Kate Lee, CEO, Clic Sargent
• Menai Owen-Jones, CEO, The Pituitary Foundation
• Jess Mullen, head of policy and communications, Clinks
• Jo Hobbs, chief executive, British Youth Council
• Anna Smee, CEO, UK Youth
• Derri Burdon, CEO, Curious Minds
• Matt Lent, CEO, Future First
• Anne Fox, CEO, Clinks
• Lynne Morris, CEO, Toybox
• Teri Stephenson, CEO, Age UK Lancashire
• Jane van Zyl, CEO, Working Families
• Paul Parker, recording clerk, Quakers
• Ruth Potter, charity manager, OCAY
• Eliot Lyne, interim chief executive, RNIB
• Tom Clarke-Forrest, founder & chief executive, Sport 4 Life UK
• Olivia Southey, head of policy, Doula UK
• Debbie Geraghty, chief executive, Plymouth Music Zone
• Penny Wilson, chief executive, Gettting on Board
• Annie Warburton, chief executive, Cockpit Arts
• Julie Bentley, chief executive, Action for Children
• Russell Hobby, chief executive, Teach First
• Jaine Stannard, chief executive, School-Home Support
• Catherine Mahony, director, Westminster Befriend a Family
• Anita Grover, chief executive, Auditory Verbal UK
• Lisa Ward, chief executive, Oxfordshire Sexual Abuse and Rape Crisis Centre
•  Louise Macdonald OBE, chief executive, Young Scot
• Sarah Cook, chief executive, Home-Start Oldham, Stockport & Tameside (HOST)
• Patricia Armstrong OBE, chief executive, ACOSVO
• Maureen Watson, chief executive, Scottish Mentoring Network
• Ian Bruce, Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector
• John Schless, chief executive, Greenwich Students’ Union
• Kim Shutler, chief executive, The Cellar Trust
• Jo Gough,  chief executive, RISE