We are proud to announce that MM Creative Solutions is now a Member Organisation of the Black United Representation Network (BURN).
BURN aims to make the North of England the best place in the UK for Black people to work, for Black-owned businesses to thrive, and for enterprise, charities and the public sector to drive meaningful change on race. To achieve this, they want to make procurement contracts and tenders open to Black-owned businesses, grow the pipeline of board-ready Black leaders in senior decision-making positions, and to empower organisations to drive the societal change that they want to see, as part of their ambitions on diversity, inclusion and social responsibility.
BURN provides support and a wealth of resources to help grow its member businesses and contribute to driving business growth in the region.
We’re so proud to announce that our MD Monica Mwanje has been shortlisted in the “Outstanding Entrepreneur” category at the Northern Power Women Awards!
Northern Power Women was founded to make change for good through their community of 70,000 inspirational individuals. Over the last 6 years they have advanced gender equality and transformed organisational culture, propelled business growth and productivity in the UK from the North. They have worked alongside agents of change of all genders to showcase role models and encouraged everyone to champion gender balance throughout their communities.
In 2016, they launched the very first Northern Power Women Awards, to highlight the individuals who work tirelessly to create a fairer and more equal community.
The “Outstanding Entrepreneur” award is given to a business owner who is driven by their desire to grow and develop their organisation, whilst making a positive impact in their sector or community. Monica has been recognised for her work within MMCS – growing and transforming businesses, in particular with the provision of inclusion training and consultancy – as well as co-founder of both Inclusion and Diversity in Nuclear and Grassroots Graduates.
The winners are announced on 21 March in Manchester.
MMCS MD Monica Mwanje featured on the latest episode of the Think Beyond podcast, hosted by Steven Cozens.
Monica and Steven talk about Meaningful Diversity & Inclusion in Business, and they cover what is needed to make that happen, how hybrid and home working affects Inclusion efforts, and the importance of enhancing diversity at company board level.
Monica is unambiguous in her view that organisations and leaders who say that they will take action on DEI need to take action. In her words, “it’s not rocket science”. She also elaborates that if a workplace has had racial prejudice, “is that really on the Black employees or the Asian employees to fix and solve when it may be that they are not in the majority group within that work environment”. This is down to the leaders to live to the values they espouse and follow through on inappropriate behaviour. Effectively, this means taking action on discriminatory, homophobic or bigoted behaviour if you say that you have a zero-tolerance approach.
Monica and Steven also cover the Nuclear Sector Deal, which includes the pledge to increase the inclusion of women to 40% of the nuclear workforce.
Listen to the episode of the Think Beyond podcast here.
Inclusion & Diversity in Nuclear Annual Conference 2021
Inclusion & Diversity in Nuclear, the initiative MMCS MD Monica Mwanje co-founded with Thomas Thor CEO Callum Thomas, is holding its third Annual Conference next month.
The IDN 2021 Conference will take place online (via virtual platform Balloon) on Thursday 15 July 2021. Registration for this conference is free of charge, thanks to IDN’s Industry Partners: Urenco, EDF Energy, Sellafield Ltd, and Bechtel Cavendish Nuclear Solutions.
The conference talks and Q&A will be live from 10:00 – 13:00 BST (UK Time). This includes a panel session, “Inclusion in Practice” featuring Mark Fletcher, CEO of Manchester Prideand Gemma McCall, CEO of Culture Shift as special guest panellists. Luke Richardson, Head of Social Impact at Programme and Project Partners (PPP), will be delivering the Nuclear Case Study session; “Investing in the future workforce; tackling unemployment and diversity”.
Optional afternoon workshops will take place from 14:00 BST (UK time) on the same day. These workshops provide the knowledge and tools to equip you in building more inclusive and equitable environments within your organisation. The workshops will cover the following:
LGBTQ+ Awareness (note this will be a virtual self-paced session)
MMCS MD Monica Mwanje will feature as a guest panellist on a webinar hosted by Culture Consultancy, as part of their Culture Conversations webinar series.
The webinar, taking place on Thursday 10th June at 10.30am BST, is titled “Couch, Coffee Shop Or Co-Working? What Will A Post-Pandemic Workplace Look Like?”, talking about how we have restructured and reconsidered the ways we want to work – as a result of over a year of remote working – and how that will impact company culture on the whole.
Joining Monica on the panel is Derek Bishop, Co-founder of Culture Consultancy, and Syd Nadim, Co-founder of Clock digital agency.
Earlier this week marked the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of police, captured by video in broad daylight.
Immediately after this tragic event, there was a renewed interest from the public on the Black Lives Matter movement, and widespread conversations surrounding anti-racism, inclusion and diversity.
One year later, what has been learned and what has changed to allow Black communities to feel safer, more included and be treated fairly?
Some organisations, at the peak of media coverage surrounding Floyd’s death and the Black Lives Matter protests that followed, posted black squares on their Instagram page and made pledges to do better for Black employees and potential recruits. How have those changes manifested within these organisations? Or were these actions and pledges merely performative?
Our Inclusion resources this time focus on anti-racism and tackling racial inequality. We feel it is now more important than ever to challenge systems, processes and behaviours that perpetuate the racial inequality and injustice that do still exist in the UK and globally.
“Ava says that white members of staff at her workplace have frequently displayed discomfort when speaking about race in her presence, struggling to say ‘Black’, but also avoiding conversations altogether or shutting her down.
‘There was a team talk about the gender pay gap and I brought up the “BAME” pay gap, because for those of us who are both women and non-white, that is a huge issue,’ says Ava. ‘What I was saying was barely acknowledged and the subject was awkwardly changed.’
‘Other times I have noticed people really not wanting to say “Black”, or “racism” and stumbling over phrases like “POC” or “BAME”. Don’t refer to me as a “person of colour” when you have the option of saying “Black”, that isn’t better.”
“Speaking to The Independent for a special report, Black Lives Matter UK said it had been “motivated by the resistance and organising” over the past year as “protesters connected the killing of a black American man in broad daylight” with racism that characterised institutions in the UK. But much of what came was “corporate and establishment lip service” to solidarity.
A spokesperson added: “We do not believe that lip service, or ‘awareness’ equals liberation.”
“Black, Indigenous and other people of color are not your free diversity resources. There appears to be an unspoken consensus that we need to help educate others on tolerance, diversity, cultural practices, and much more simply because the spread of this knowledge will somehow help us and our quality of life in relation to others. We are, in effect, being asked to perform the labor to help ourselves, thereby absolving dominant groups from doing the work to unravel bias and prejudice, which, in many cases, they are responsible for perpetuating.
We are not your parents, teachers or Google. It is not fair to expect us to carry the responsibility for solving problems that are more significant systemic issues.
Because someone is a BIPOC employee does not automatically mean they have the authority to speak on behalf of their entire community, nor can it be assumed that they are interested in doing so.”
An everyday dimension of racism: Why we need to understand microaggressions, from Keele University
“The CEO has the power to change diversity and hold all leaders accountable to achieve it. They need to ensure leadership engagement is at the heart of the company’s ED&I strategy.
It’s vital that the demographics of your company reflects the demographics of the community and customers it serves.
From laying out the levelling up agenda and setting clear diversity targets across every underrepresented group from entry roles right through to leadership. Linking top leadership objectives, performance management and reward incentives will make the agenda crystal clear.”
“On 6th May 2021 we held a special online event for people interested in understanding the difference between being ‘not racist’ and ‘anti-racist’. Welcoming a panel rich in experience and understanding and reflective of the ongoing work that anti-racism requires we covered a broad spectrum; from the seemingly simple, what is anti-racism through to issues such as allyship and microaggressions. The topic is a BIG one, and more questions were asked than could ever been answered in the time allowed, but fear not, we will be picking up these unanswered questions in future sessions and when we cover specific topics such as the workplace, language, and white privilege.”
“I want to use the power of film to tell stories that are more representative of the world we live in,” 29-year-old Williams told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a phone interview from his London home.
“Our stories are almost always told by white people … I want to make sure that these stories are amplified all throughout the year and not just for Black History Month, and not just (stories of) racial trauma.”
At the time of this update going live, it is Stephen Lawrence Day in the UK.
Stephen was just 18 when he was murdered in an unprovoked racist attack on 22nd April 1993, and it took 19 years to convict two of his attackers. The inquiry of Stephen’s case, followed by the Macpherson report, brought about key changes to the Criminal Justice Act in the UK.
Part of Stephen’s legacy is the Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation, that provides educational resources and supports community projects in the UK to “inspire a more equal, inclusive society”. Every 22nd April since 2019 has been marked to remember Stephen and honour this legacy.
In 2021 we are still seeing racist attacks and unwarranted brutality against Black communities in news headlines on a regular basis. There are moments of progress and justice being served but ultimately, these moments come at the expense of Black peoples’ lives, which is horrific and unacceptable.
After a flurry of promises of meaningful change from many organisations after George Floyd’s death last year, it is more important than ever for them to uphold those promises and to stay accountable for their actions towards inclusion.
We continue to use our platform to provide helpful resources about inclusion. Leading with real inclusion provides a safe space for everybody to bring their best selves into an environment, a vital move for employers if they want to increase diversity in their workplace.
“But what is meaningful inclusion? It’s when people of different nationalities, races, genders, sexual orientations and more feel accepted in a company and that they belong. It’s when they feel safe and supported to be their authentic selves at work. It’s when everyone is treated fairly and has equal access to opportunities to move ahead in the company. Inclusion also means when underrepresented groups, as well as workers of lesser rank in the organization, are confident their perspectives will be considered when they serve on project teams or make recommendations to management. In other words, everyone is a recognized and valued part of the team no matter their background or role.”
“Merely paying lip service through token appointments or initiatives will not cut it anymore. To deliver, companies will need to look hard at their culture and management systems – and they should want to, because improving diversity and inclusion will also deliver improved performance.”
“If diversity is subsidiary to profitability, then it must be shown that diversity does indeed generate higher returns. The data here is, in fact, quite mixed. Indeed, some studies suggest that forced diversity results in a reduction in social solidarity, trust, and shared purpose. This may be expected to have a negative impact on firm performance and, therefore, would stand as a strong argument against increased diversity…This highlights the critical importance of inclusion over merely statistical diversity.”
“Authentic D&I needs to be about empathy and human experience, not ticking boxes at the minimum possible level. I’m not suggesting we shouldn’t have those boxes. Quotas of all kinds can be useful as training wheels until people understand that the bare minimum is not enough. But ultimately, D&I has to be an authentic effort to understand and represent a wide range of people. It’s so much deeper than just slapping a picture of Black people on an e-mail campaign.”
“This is a continuous practice. When exclusionary or discriminatory behaviors happen, leaders need to address these instances directly with employees, in the moment. This includes giving employees one-on-one feedback outlining how their behavior marginalizes other employees — whether they intended to or not — and the impacts. This is also an opportunity for employees to identify how they will commit to change. Managers can support their employees in practicing equality by providing continuous one-on-one coaching, mentoring, development and feedback. This includes holding employees accountable for changing their behavior. Making inclusion a practice starts with creating a learning culture.”
MMCS MD Monica Mwanje features as a guest in the first episode of the Franklyy Podcast.
Franklyy dives into the lives of people, exploring their journeys towards success and the paths and milestones that built them.
Monica talks about how she started her Chemical Engineering career, from choosing the subject at University to joining Sellafield Limited as a graduate engineer. She then talks about how and why she started MM Creative Solutions and offers advice to others thinking about starting a business of their own.
Monica and host Frankie talk in depth about the challenges regarding Diversity and Inclusion in the Nuclear Industry in the UK, and how the slow progress around greater Inclusion in the Industry prompted Monica to co-found Inclusion and Diversity in Nuclear.
Diversity and Inclusion in UK Nuclear, the initiative co-founded by MMCS MD Monica Mwanje (alongside Thomas Thor CEO Callum Thomas) has changed its name to Inclusion And Diversity in Nuclear (IDN), effective immediately.
As its press release detailed this week, the reasons for the name change are as follows:
Moving the word ‘’inclusion’’ to come before ‘’diversity’’ emphasises the importance of creating and maintaining an inclusive environment before focusing on increasing diversity
Removing the reference to ‘’UK’’ in the name does not mean a reduction in UK focus. The drive for more inclusive working environments and more diverse teams is a global effort, spanning all countries and all industries. IDN will remain primarily UK focused but are actively engaging with other countries for examples of best practice and lessons learned
The name change is shorter and easier for stakeholders to refer to, alongside the simple acronym of IDN
The logo design has been amended alongside the website URL: www.idnuclear.com
A happy International Women’s Day from MM Creative Solutions!
This year’s theme is “Choose to Challenge” and to ask the question “How will you help forge a gender equal world?”. There is still progress that must be made to reach real gender equality; this has been made harder, and in many cases, reversed by the effects of Covid-19.
Importantly, we also need to ensure we provide opportunities and to amplify the voices of women in typically underrepresented groups; in particular Black women, LGBTQ+ women and women with disabilities.
We hope these resources below are useful, help to stimulate conversation and action, and inspire you to play your part in forging a fairer, more equal world.
International Women’s Day 2021: History, marches and celebrations, by BBC News: “The idea to make the day international came from a woman called Clara Zetkin. She suggested the idea in 1910 at an International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen. There were 100 women there, from 17 countries, and they agreed on her suggestion unanimously. It was first celebrated in 1911, in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. The centenary was celebrated in 2011, so this year we’re technically celebrating the 110th International Women’s Day.”
The pandemic is reversing gender equality progress in the workplace, PwC says, by CNBC: “PwC applied OECD forecasts of the unemployment rate and labor force size for 2019, which was latest data available, to its Women in Work index results in order to gauge the potential impact on these countries in 2020-22. It found that the gender equality index is expected to fall 2 points between 2019 and 2021, below the overall average score of 62 points in 2017.”
Timeline: milestones in the EU’s fight for women’s rights (video), by The European Parliament: “The Covid pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on women, who account for the majority of workers in essential services, including healthcare, personal care and sales… Gender equality is a fundamental EU value but there are still many challenges and the European Parliament has called for action to address them, particularly as inequalities have been exacerbated by the pandemic.”
Gender equality: Why pay equity isn’t enough, by the World Economic Forum:“According to a World Economic Forum Report on the Future of Jobs, the top 20 job roles in increasing and decreasing demand across industries are very gendered. The report does not have anything unexpected in terms of growing occupations: cyber, data science, robotics engineering. The job roles in decreasing demand include clerks, accounting, customer service and human resources specialists. Largely due to digital advancements and COVID, these jobs are likely to change significantly by 2025.”
Solving The Workplace Gender Equality Problem Post-Pandemic, by Forbes: “Making flexibility a key benefit of the organization for all, not just parents, will also make this change last. Plenty of nonparents want flexible working arrangements and are frustrated at being expected to work harder just because they don’t have children.”
Biden’s Cabinet of many women shows other world leaders that US takes gender equality seriously, by The Conversation: “Getting more women into government leadership has merits beyond the obvious value of gender equality. Countries with more women’s political representation tend to experience less civil conflict, international war and gender-based violence. It’s not yet clear whether women’s representation causes these phenomena or is merely correlated with them; political scientists continue to study this question.”
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