How we’ve celebrated Black History Month

We’ve just completed a month packed full of events, activities and resources to mark Black History Month with our colleagues.

From a number of online events and face-to-face panels, to access to engaging content from Black personalities, authors and music and film makers, alongside our own colleagues - there's been something for everyone to get involved in. The activities wouldn’t have been made possible without the dedication and commitment of our EmbRace network – one of the Growth Company’s eight Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) networks.

We want all colleagues who work for our organisation to feel included and that they belong. We know that we achieve more by working together – and that also means celebrating together. Over the past four weeks we’ve invited all of our colleagues to celebrate and have encouraged conversation around the contributions of Black people from all around the world.

Of course, while it’s a time for celebration, it’s also an opportunity for reflection and learning. We’ve encouraged and empowered all colleagues to take the time to really listen and learn about the issues and experiences that affect Black people, to broaden their understanding and commitment.

Reflecting on our celebrations for Black History Month, Fiona Miller, chair of EmbRace (race) EDI network told us:

“Being different is okay and respecting difference is a responsibility for us all. There’s beauty in the Growth Company’s diverse community and each person’s diversity brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and added value. Black History Month reminds us all of this value and what all colleagues bring to the company.”  – Fiona Miller

Thank you to our Guest Speaker

We were extremely lucky to have Dr Delroy Hall join us during October. As a trained psychodynamic psychotherapist, freelance counsellor, wellbeing practitioner, trainer and independent scholar – he’s committed to dealing with human pain while developing trust, so people can recover and thrive.

Delroy delivered a virtual presentation, accessible to all colleagues across the organisation. It was followed-up by a series of local face-to-face panel sessions where colleagues had the opportunity to talk with Delroy and each other about how to approach difficult discussions about race relations. We made sure that the sessions were built around discussion points that mattered to our colleagues.

We’ve had some fantastic feedback from the sessions:

“Our session gave me lots to think about which I plan to weave into my conversations, but key take always included; approaching difficult conversations really starts with us; our self-reflection includes setting time aside to reflect and evaluate our own behaviours; we need to start getting comfortable with being uncomfortable - when starting to feel uncomfortable we could use the ‘box breathing technique’ to help remain calm; Acceptance + Belonging = Community. The main question we should all ask ourselves…what can I do to be a better human being?” 
- Cheryl Madden – Organisational Development and Learning Consultant

Left to right: Sheona Southern, Mandira Hughes, Dr Delroy Hall, Cheryl Madden, Virginie Ghaznavi

Black Culture Edit

Each week in our ‘Black Culture Edit’ we chose two Black authors to profile and share with our colleagues - one classic and one contemporary. We covered authors such as Abi Dare and 'The Girl with the Louding Voice' - a coming of age novel and tells the story about a teenage Nigerian girl called Adunni who becomes a maid and struggles with many things growing up - including her limited education, poverty and her ability to speak up for herself.

We also reviewed films from Black directors and with performers such as Jordan Peele’s ‘Us’ (2019) - a ground-breaking director of the horror genre in that his cast are entirely Black.

And not forgetting music – we showcased the contribution of Salaam Remi - the iconic hip hop, reggae, R&B, soul producer who’s frequently worked with Nas, Amy Winehouse and many others, and Goldie – the British electronic musician, Birmingham born, who’s universally regarded as a ground-breaking release in the history of drum and bass music.

Local Celebrations

We also encouraged our offices across the Growth Company to celebrate. On Wednesday 26th October, colleagues at our Sheffield Hub really EmbRace’d the challenge to party with an all-day celebration which included food from around the world, drums, music - and most importantly, lots of our colleagues. 

Take a look at some of the photos from the event:

Continuing our journey

For the Growth Company, our commitment and celebrations for Black History are not tied down to a single month. Through our EDI Pledge, we’re encouraging our leaders and our colleagues to continue to have conversations and think about what they’re going to do differently.

For some, this might mean moving out of their comfort zones and taking ownership, for others it might mean embodying change or being a source of inspiration. For all of us, it’s about becoming better human beings and doing the right thing – at work and in our lives.

You can read more about or Equality, Diversity and Inclusion journey here.