Our Power, Culture and Inclusion action plan

Our action plan is live and evolving, reflecting that this work is an ongoing journey, rather than a tick box exercise. Our key actions are outlined below: 

Proactively reaching out to race equity ​‘by and for’ organisations leading to several racial justice policy grants in 2024. We continue to build on this under our new strategy.

Working on our approach to diversity and equality data in our grantmaking by:

• Joining the Funders for Race Equality Alliance and using their racial justice audit to analyse our grants
• Updating internal categories for grants and grant partners that are led by and for communities
• Carefully considering how to categorise grants without relying solely on numerical diversity data.

£10,000 contribution to Lloyds Bank Foundation 2024 research on understanding the distinctiveness of ​‘by-and-for’ led organisations. Findings and recommendations fed into the design of our 2025–30 grant programmes.

Membership of Ten Years’ Time racial justice community of practice, which includes assessing accountability of LEF and Justice Collaborations, learning from other trusts and foundations, and creating a roadmap to racial justice in our grantmaking, leadership and governance, and investments.

Making our grants application process more inclusive and accessible, using learning from Disability Justice Fund.

Tailored wellbeing support for black and racialised staff working for our grant partners. 

• Governance reviews by an external consultant analysed Justice Collaborations’ anti-racism work, power dynamics, and lived and learned experience of social justice issues in LEF’s board. The findings are feeding into culture change, recruitment and initiatives to improve how our board works.
• Introduction of paid grants committee members with lived and learned experience of the issues we work on for our 2025–30 strategy.
• Work on making our investments more equitable, with more involvement of staff outside of senior leadership.
• Power, Culture and Inclusion lead and staff working group to hold senior leadership and board to account. 

• Annual diversity survey of LEF and Justice Collaborations staff and board; covering protected characteristics, lived experience of poverty and social welfare legal issues. 
• Overhauled recruitment language and practices with support from consultant specialists on disability and neurodiversity inclusion, to address inclusion issues. Recent recruitment has resulted in increased representation of racialised people and those with lived experience of social justice issues on our staff team and board.
• Adapting and introducing progressive HR policies: recruitment, reasonable adjustments and leave.
• Ongoing efforts towards and review of our commitments to Disability Confident Employer scheme. Objective to move from level 1 to level 2.
• Tailored wellbeing support for Black and racialised colleagues. 

• Ongoing quarterly staff training. Topics have included: anti-oppression, neurodiversity in the workplace, disability awareness, LGBTQ+ justice, trans awareness, misogyny and sexism. 
• Skills training to increase our confidence in addressing oppression and discrimination e.g. Being an Active Bystander.
• Programme for Justice First Fellows and alumni that mirrors staff training.
• Ten Years’ Time racial justice training and development including radical honesty, bias and microaggressions in philanthropy, checking our privileges. 

• Making our support and communication with Justice First Fellows more inclusive and understanding of those who are disabled and neurodiverse.
• Ongoing efforts to enhance accessibility of our workplace and work practices for staff.
• Improved website accessibility.
• Ongoing efforts to make our meetings and convened events for grant partners and funders more accessible and inclusive, using surveys and checklists.