We are delighted to announce the appointment of a new Good + Fair Employers Club advisory board member: Dr Iwi Ugiagbe-Green, researcher and lecturer on race, education and employability at Manchester Metropolitan University.
Iwi is already familiar to our Good + Fair Employers Club members, having taken part in our July Training Breakfast, entitled ‘Being Black in white spaces: What every employer needs to know.’ The session was one of our most popular ever, and it was clear that Iwi’s expertise and perspective will further enhance the depth of conversations that our members have around race and employment.
Iwi has over 20 years’ experience of working in higher education and nearly 15 years’ experience of supporting students’ transition to the graduate labour market. In the last five years her work has focused on race and its intersection with other characteristics within the context of student education, experience, transition and progression to graduate labour market and postgraduate study. Iwi is an expert on the complex dynamics of the everyday lived experience of Black heritage people in the UK today, and how race – and specifically being Black – impacts educational and employment outcomes.
WELCOME TO THE CLUB! Many of our Good + Fair members already know Iwi, who shared her expertise at our July Training Breakfast
Tanya de Grunwald, founder and CEO of the Good + Fair Employers Club (and the campaigning careers blog Graduate Fog), said:
“In turn, these can be transformed into actions which enable employers to improve their ability to recognise and harness the talent and potential of young people from minority ethnic backgrounds in the UK. Good + Fair members who attended Iwi’s powerful Training Breakfast earlier this year (‘Being Black in white spaces: What every employer needs to know’) saw this for themselves, and it was clear that such conversations must continue regularly.
“At every G+F session we run, our members remind us that they are committed to leading the way on best practice when it comes to racial diversity in the workplace. However, they are also aware that this is a highly complex challenge. They know that discussions require expertise, empathy and sensitivity, and lived experience must be properly heard and valued.
“Iwi brings to our advisory board a missing piece of today’s early careers puzzle and I know her expertise will enrich and deepen the discussions that we have around race – a subject our members are keen to lead on within the business world. I am looking forward to working with her to create opportunities to deepen our members’ understanding of the issues so that we can surface the solutions that will allow the UK’s best employers of young people to move forward on race with confidence, knowing their plans are built on expertise and lived experience, not stereotypes. In addition, Iwi’s opinions and insights will be invaluable to me personally, when planning for the future of the Good + Fair Employers Club. In a fast-changing industry, in a fast-changing world, it is vital to keep learning and stay relevant.”
Upon joining our advisory board, Iwi said:
“I am truly honoured to be joining the advisory board for the Good + Fair Employers Club. Tanya is an amazing social justice activist and has achieved incredible wins for young people through her fantastic, impactful work. She is a force to be reckoned with and I could not be more delighted to be on her team! It is a testament to her that she recognises the need for companies to engage purposefully and intentionally in meaningful discussions about race and racism. I hope to contribute to the ongoing success of the Good + Fair Employers Club by sharing with members my expertise on race and racism – in this case, in the context of the early talent space – to contribute to the collective responsibility that we all share in developing an inclusive, anti-racist culture within our workplaces.”
Iwi takes her place alongside fellow Good + Fair Advisory Board members Jolyon Maugham QC, Liz Bingham OBE and Dr Ger Graus, OBE. For more information about them and the rest of the Good + Fair Employers Club team, click here.
