Third week of Chamber campaign focuses on diversity

Leaders in engineering and academia will be discussing diversity and inclusion during the third week of a major leadership and people management campaign, delivered by the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce (GBCC).

The third week of the Chamber 's month-long, annual Growth Through People campaign kicks off today, focusing on unlocking potential.

Leaders will discuss key topics around diversity and inclusivity during three webinars taking place this week, as part of the campaign.

The first, taking place tomorrow, will be led by Mark Lomas (pictured), head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at HS2 (High Speed Rail 2).

The webinar will share expert guidance on measuring, tracking and accomplishing progress in diversity and inclusivity in businesses of all sizes.

Mark has delivered numerous diversity and inclusion projects in the UK and internationally for organisations across a wide variety of sectors, including The Financial Reporting Council, Lloyds Market Association, Bermuda Hospital Board, Groupama Insurance, The BBC, Sheffield University, NHS Clinical Commissioning Group Boards, Highways England, ITV, DR TV Denmark, The Bermuda Human Rights Commission and The Law Society.

In January 2016 Mark took up his role at HS2.

The organisation delivering the high-speed rail line have won a number of awards for its diversity and inclusion practices, including the 2017 ENEI Awards for Inclusive Procurement, Innovation with impact and Overall Public Sector Winner categories, four REACH Society awards for its work Inspiring Young BAME Individuals, and the Women in Rail “Top Employer ” 2018 award.

The second Growth Through People webinar will take place on 17 March.

This session, focussed on Supporting Your Pipeline of Female talent will be led by Louise Teboul, operations director at Common Purpose UK and feature a case study from Pam Sheemar, regional ecosystem manager at the NatWest Group.

This interactive workshop will dive into the impact of the pandemic on pipelines of female talent, and how organisations can most effectively support their female talent during and beyond Covid-19.

The week will conclude with a panel discussion on Building Back Better Workplaces on 18 March.

Professor Joanne Duberley, deputy pro vice-chancellor (ED&I) and co-director of the University of Birmingham 's Work Inclusivity Research Centre will chair a panel discussion focused on Inclusivity in the Workplace with a look at how policies can work successfully in practice whilst shining a light on what more there is to be done.

Panellists include the Chamber 's current chief strategy officer and incoming chief executive, Henrietta Brealey.

Growth Through People workshops will continue throughout the month, ending with a virtual conference on 30 March.

Both the conference and virtual events are free for both members and non-members of the chamber to attend.

Aston University, BMet College and the University of Birmingham 's Work Inclusivity Research Centre (WIRC) are headline sponsors of Growth Through People 2021.

Click here to register to virtually attend upcoming Growth Through People workshops.

Click here to register to virtually attend the Growth Through People Conference on 30 March.

There are a limited number of sponsorship opportunities remaining for the Growth Through People conference.

To find out more, contact Emily at [email protected]