The Mix’s Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging (EDIB) plan
Our Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (EDIB) plan lays out our goals in relation to EDIB, and explains how we will achieve these and how we will track our progress.
To diversify our staff
We know that the lack of racial diversity in our core staff team and our Senior Management Team shows we are not currently doing enough to create the inclusive space that we want within our organisation. We need to diversify our staff as a priority; our goal is to recruit four times as many diverse candidates for roles at The Mix by the end of 2024.
- We will collect and track our diversity monitoring data, reviewing this quarterly to identify where we can improve.
- We will review where we are currently advertising our roles to identify spaces which target diverse candidates, reviewing our progress annually.
- We will improve our blind recruitment policy and work with external partners to move beyond the national diversity standards for under 25s within our team, to offer genuine representation for young people.
- We will use best practice to write new job descriptions to attract diverse candidates, reviewing progress annually.
To create safe and inclusive spaces
Our goal is to make The Mix a safe and inclusive space for everyone we interview and currently work with and to collect feedback about this annually in our staff survey. To achieve this, we will reduce barriers and offer safety for protected characteristics (areas where people experience significant discrimination). We will value the differences in people’s gender, sexuality, ethnicity, physical and mental health, additional needs, geographic location, socio-economic background, cultural heritage, skills, knowledge, beliefs and life experiences.
- We will embed EDIB goals into our inductions and appraisals to ensure that our entire organisation commits to them in an authentic way; this will be reviewed annually.
- We include pronouns on our staff page, our email signatures and encourage their use in meetings, especially those with young people.
- We will work to ensure that all training is fully and equally accessible to those with disabilities and other needs; this will be reviewed annually.
- We will communicate with young people in a developmentally appropriate way and use a person-centred approach to the support we offer.
To create a supportive & open community
The Mix should be a supportive community, which acknowledges and meets everyone’s needs and respects and values their thoughts and ideas; our goal is for all staff to have completed EDIB training by the end of 2024 and for this training to be used as guidance for cultural change, both internally and externally.
- We will create a training plan to identify EDIB training gaps and implement this plan charity-wide; this will be reviewed annually.
- We will invite our staff and volunteers to share their stories and experiences through weekly online skill shares.
- We will update the language we use in the webforms young people fill out to access our services, consulting young people to ensure they are inclusive; this will be reviewed annually.
To be proactive, have clear goals, & stick to them
We will be clear and systematic about how we will reach our diversity goals, with tangible actions and outcomes; our goal is to maintain the work of our dedicated EDIB team with monthly meetings, ongoing actions and an annual impact review. This team are responsible for keeping track of our goals and ensuring that we stick to them, as well as collaborating with our Senior Management Team.
- The EDIB team has been recruited from across the organsiation, with encouragement for candidates with diverse backgrounds and lived experience to apply.
- The EDIB team meets monthly to carry out our EDIB work and discuss progress.
- The EDIB team reviews our work quarterly and annually and will update this statement to reflect our progress.
To always collaborate with diverse groups of young people & sector partners
Our approach will always be informed by the ideas and experiences of the young people we work with, making sure that we are led by their wisdom and insights; our goal is to ensure that we have a diverse group of young people shaping our services and contributing to our work. We will also consult our team members and sector partners to ensure we are following best practice for different communities and diverse life experiences.
- We collaborate with sector partners such as Galop, Black Minds Matter and Ambitious about Autism to ensure the support we are offering for young people from diverse communities is following best practice.
- Our Youth Advisory Board has agency at the highest level of governance at The Mix, feeding into our strategy and consulting on all organisational matters.
- Our Service Innovation Committee is made up of young volunteers who feedback on how we can make our services more inclusive.
- Our Safeguarding Steering Group includes young volunteers who feed into our safeguarding goals, strategy and approach.
- We will collaborate with other charities to deliver two activities aimed at engaging groups which The Mix struggles to engage.
To be brave & have difficult conversations
The Mix will work in an ethical and compassionate way to make our practices fair and representative; our goal is to collaborate with an EDIB specialist by the end of 2024 to create an ethical and trauma-informed structure for having tough conversations about the change that is needed. We acknowledge that practicing equity also means learning from our mistakes, confronting our shortcomings, and recognising the impact of privilege.
- We will work with EDIB specialists to put the frameworks in place that are needed to have tough conversations about issues such as prejudice, discrimination and oppression and will involve young people in that dialogue; we will review this annually.
To align our work with those who support our values
The Mix will be strategic about the partners and funders we choose to work with, making sure that they align with our EDIB values and do not engage in harmful industries or activities. Our goal is to actively pursue partnerships with brands and organisations who will help us reach our EDIB goals. We will also review our ethical partnerships policy and implement the processes and training to support this.
- We will partner and collaborate with other organisations who have a commitment to similar EDIB values.
- As an organisation we decline to sit on any panels which are not diverse, as this conflicts with our values.
- We will undertake due diligence before entering partnerships or accepting donations from funders. Where our values don’t align, we will be open to opportunities that transform their values and support positive change.
- We will decline to partner with or accept donations from organisations that engage in gambling, arms dealing and arms manufacturing as well as tobacco and vaping brands. We will review this annually.