If we want change, we need to prioritise action over sensitivity
Tonight a contingent of our staff will make the journey from CityAM Towers to Canary Wharf, for KPMG’s Black Entrepreneurs Awards. It will be a heart-warming evening: 12 finalists, from startups to much bigger businesses, pitching their ideas in just three minutes to an array of judges.
The winners walk home with some cash, the other finalists get access to the sort of business support that a large, global business can provide. So far, so good, you might think, but are we really talking about something transformative?
Some may even be asking whether in today’s age such events, singling out on race or sexuality or whatever it might be, are best left behind.
On the latter, the numbers suggest not.
As the event’s founder, Olu Odubajo put it, there remain very specific challenges as an entrepreneur from a non-white background.
Outcomes too are worse for young black Brits than many other groups often grouped together in the polyglot but not particularly specific ‘BAME’ category.
Less than one per cent of venture capital funding in the UK goes to people from black heritage; it’s not a perfect comparison, but with nearly 14 per cent of the capital’s population in that category, something is awry. So, yes, events like this do matter.
But something else is worth noting: the event sprung out of reverse mentoring sessions that Odubajo was having with the UK firm’s managing partner.
There is no question that corporate bosses are increasingly scared of touching issues around race and gender; privately, CEOs complain they’ll always get it wrong.
But speak to young City workers like Odubajo and it becomes apparent that sensitivity needs to be cast aside for action if we are to genuinely create functioning, working diversity and inclusion strategies that are more than just lip service and a twice-annual presentation.
Good luck to all involved.