(8 minute read)
Published: 4 July 2024
Written by: Sufina Ahmad, Director
In this update, I wanted to share some of the things we have been working on at John Ellerman Foundation in the last 12 to 18 months in relation to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) – including some exciting new data we have collated as part of our first year pilot of implementing the DEI Data Standard in our grantmaking.
Our current strategy for 2022-25 strives for us to be a values-led organisation that achieves our aim to advance wellbeing for people, society and the natural world with 100% of our assets. We are committed to operating with transparency, accountability and effectiveness, and our work on DEI, including the annual DEI Accountability Plans we design and agree as a team and a Board, are an essential way in which we do this.
Since 2020, the Foundation has been working on a range of different activities in order to develop a shared organisation understanding of DEI, in terms of protected characteristics and more recently socio-economic diversity too. Our work on DEI is applied to all that we do, which can be summarised as: the management of our underlying endowment; our grantmaking; our recruitment, retention and progression of staff and Trustees; our internal and external communications; and our analysis of the derivation of our wealth through our History Project which researched this.
Our DEI work over the last 12 to 18 months
In the last 12 to 18 months we have been able to make progress in a range of different areas.
Our history: In May 2023, we published John Ellerman Foundation: A Historical Review, which provides the most comprehensive historical overview of the history of the Foundation and its antecedent charitable trusts, and it presents clear insights into the philanthropic, business and personal inclinations of John Reeves Ellerman, 1st Baronet (Bt.), Order of the Companion of Honour (C. H.) (1862–1933), Annie Winifred (Bryher) Ellerman (1894–1983), and John Reeves Ellerman, 2nd Bt. (1909–1973). The latter was our founder. The research has demonstrated aspects of our history that would not be acceptable by modern day standards and we have shared our views on this clearly. You can read more about our history, including accessing the publication, on our website by clicking here.
Since publishing John Ellerman Foundation: A Historical Review, Trustees and staff have considered the findings in various ways. In May and November 2023, we met with Dr Felix Waldmann, one of the co-authors of the Review and Dr Kojo Koram author of Uncommon Wealth: Britain and the Aftermath of Empire respectively. Both speakers provided us with important opportunities to consider the continuing legacy of the British Empire within modern economic, environmental and societal practices. We also joined the reference group for the Association of Charitable Foundation’s Origins of Wealth Group, which in April 2024 released guidance to its members on how and why its members research their own histories. Finally, in March 2024, we agreed to release funding that will result in the transfer of our organisational archival material to the UK Philanthropy Archives, based at Kent University – further demonstrating our commitment to operating with transparency and our openness to investigation and scrutiny in relation to our past.
Our investing: Every year since 2020, we have been reviewing, updating and publishing our Investment Policy. Through our Investment Policy, we seek to invest and manage our funds in such a way that maintains grantmaking capacity over the long-term, actively challenges the practices of companies that damage our mission and promotes investment in companies whose activities are supportive of our mission. We engage through our fund managers with our underlying investee companies where specific issues are identified that we feel are misaligned with our organisational aim, values and approach. Currently the focus with our fund managers is to consider the ways in which we can effectively challenge investments that are exacerbating the climate and nature crises and therefore limit our ability to reach global net zero targets. These crises are systemic threats which are disproportionately impacting people and communities experiencing the most disadvantage and marginalisation.
Our Policies: In July 2023, we developed our first Recruitment Policy and shared this on our website. In March 2024, we updated our DEI Policy which we first shared on our website back in 2022. The updated DEI Policy now better represents how things currently stand in the organisation, as well as sharing our agreed approach to benchmarks and targets in terms of staff and Trustee diversity, which we report on through our Annual Report and Accounts. On targets, we have agreed that we will not be setting any targets, as we feel that the small size of our team and Board places us at risk of being unable to appoint someone from a diverse background because we are exceeding targets that we set. However, as a UK-wide funder, we recognise the importance of seeking to reflect minoritised UK demographics in our organisation and our work. You can read both our Recruitment Policy and our DEI Policy on our website by clicking here.
Our governance: In February 2024, we launched our Board Shadowing Scheme, which has resulted in three Board Shadowing Trustees joining our Board for six months in May 2024. Our three Shadowing Trustees are from diverse background and have lived experience of poverty. During the Board Shadowing Scheme they have the option of attending four Board meetings, sub-Committee meetings, and other Trustee-related meetings happening outside of the usual governance cycle, e.g. training for Trustees. They can also observe and be involved in in the assessment of first and second stage grant applications. The Scheme also offers ongoing support from Annika Small, Trustee, and me, alongside a training budget for each participant of up to £500. We’re hopeful that our Shadowing Trustees will gain much from this experience and are working with them to determine their personal goals during this time. We are also using this opportunity to think about the ways we can make our Board more inclusive over the longer term.
Our operations: In September 2023, we commissioned an independent accessibility audit of our website, which found a range of changes we needed to make to the website. We have been working on implementing the findings since November 2023, and still have some outstanding issues that we are working on. You can find out more about our approach to making our website accessible by reading our Accessibility Statement on our website here.
Our grantmaking: We have made a range of changes and updates to our grantmaking over the last few years in pursuit of making our processes more inclusive. In June 2024, we updated our funding guidelines to share how an applicant can discuss their access needs with us and that we want to support with any barriers they may be facing in making an application to us.
In April 2023, we implemented the DEI Data Standard in our grantmaking too. The Standard offers a taxonomy comprised of different demographic categories that enable funders to collect data in a systematic manner. It was developed by an independent working group of funders, including John Ellerman Foundation, who committed to adopting the same framework for capturing DEI data from applicants and grant-holders.
DEI Data Standard – Results from the pilot year of implementation
The aim of this work is to understand more about the organisations applying to us, and the decisions that we are making, so that we can discern more clearly if our funding approach is equitable and accessible. It is too early to draw conclusions based on 12 months of data, especially in terms of our successful application data, where only 9.7% of respondents were awarded a grant. However, we will repeat this analysis on an annual basis, and in future iterations (when we have a more robust dataset) we will compare it to data from elsewhere in the sector. Over time, as we collect more evidence and refine our approach, we expect that the data and learning that this generates will help us to develop and improve upon our processes and the support we can offer to applicants and grant-holders. As the dataset grows, we should also be able to delve into the results more deeply – for example, by looking at differences across or various funding streams, or the size of grants being awarded.
As of September 2023, based on a snapshot survey of our live grants portfolio at the time:
- 38.5% (52) out of the 135 active grant-holders who were counted in the survey were supporting specific groups or communities as the primary focus of their work. Of these, the three most common groups supported were communities experiencing racial inequity, people who are educationally or economically disadvantaged and children and young people. However, all of the demographics tracked by the Standard were represented in our portfolio.
- 43.7% (59) out of the 135 active grant-holders who were counted in the survey were led by people from a specific group or community. Of these, by far the most common leadership groups were women and girls, and communities experiencing racial inequity. The only category that was not represented was children and young people.
In 2023/24, based on data from applicants who completed the DEI Data Standard Form after it was added to the first stage application form in April 2023:
- 39% (138) out of the 352 first stage applicants that were counted in the dataset were supporting specific groups or communities as the primary focus of their work. Of these, the three most common groups supported were people who are educationally or economically disadvantaged, children and young people, and Disabled People. All of the demographics tracked by the Standard were represented.
- 17.1% (six) of the 38 successful applicants were supporting specific groups or communities as the primary focus of their work. Of these, the three most common groups supported were people who are educationally or economically disadvantaged, children and young people, and Disabled People. Again, all the groups tracked by the Standard were represented.
- 27% (98) out of the 361 first stage applicants that were counted in the dataset were led by people from a specific group or community. Of these, the three most common groups were women and girls, communities experiencing racial inequity and LGBT+ people. However, there were no applications from organisations that were counted as being led by older people, children and young people, migrants or Disabled People.
- 18.4% (seven) of the 38 successful applications that were counted in the dataset were led by people from a specific group or community. Of these, the most common group by a significant margin was women and girls. Communities experiencing racial inequality and people who are educationally or economically disadvantaged, were also represented. However, there were no successful applications from organisations that were led by LGBT+ people, older people, young people, Disabled People, migrants, or faith communities.
This first set of data provides us with a baseline from which to begin, but we know there’s more to do still.
Some final thoughts
In the next year, we will carry on delivering on our DEI related work. Much of what we are already doing will continue, and there will be new things for us to work on - especially as our shared understanding of DEI in relation to our work and our organisation continues to evolve.
It feels important for us to share what we are doing on DEI as openly as we can, which is why some of what is written in this update is also shared in other parts of our website, in our Annual Report and Accounts, and at events that we attend. The more open we are, the more opportunity we have to learn from others and gain feedback. We know that the progress we have been able to make over the last few years is because we have worked collaboratively with others who have been so generous with their insights, experience and expertise.