Lunar New Year – 10th. On the 10th of February, the Lunar New Year begins. Though generally associated with China in Western consciousness, in fact […]
It is now the start of the first full week of the year, which sees many people returning to work after the festive holidays. Some of you however, might have started last week. Whatever your situation, we hope that you have managed to relax, recoup and are re-energized for what we hope will be a fantastic year ahead.
Last year at PILAA we had seen much growth in the organisation, beyond monetary value. We welcomed new Membership clients, and we are pleased to see how those relationships have flourished, with Members such as Corps Security winning awards for their commitment to EDI excellence in their specific industry.
We had won tenders at organisations doing meaningful work for their communities of service users. Some of those tenders have now come to an end, but we are grateful to the lasting relationships that we have made with those organisations. Like many of our clients that we have worked with over the years, we will continue to be good friends and offer support when needed.
We welcomed new team members at PILAA, with strong backgrounds in their respective fields. Despite the challenges of recruiting new employees under this current climate, we are pleased to say that we were still able to get the best people to join us and grow our PILAA family.
At the end of last year, we were pleased to have participated at London’s ExCeL Retrain Expo, running alongside The Business Show 2023. We met lots of interesting people from various industries and we are excited to let you know that 2024 will see the materialisation of some of those conversations into exciting projects. So do watch this space. We are also excited to share the winners of the competition we held at the ExCeL for free training. All entrants will be informed of the outcome after this message has gone out.
Finally, in December we were pleased to be on the judging panel of the DOJ Gaminz Festival, held by our clients DOJ Gaminz in Nigeria. It was an awe-inspiring two-day event; the first with leading gamers in Nigeria and the second with game developers responding to the theme of ‘breaking stereotypes’ in their video game submissions. There was so much talent and innovation in this sector, and we are grateful to our friends at DOJ Gaminz, who have allowed us to be part of their EDI journey within the gaming arena.
Further, we were also fortunate to have been able to deliver our CPD Course ‘The Grassroots of Diversity’, to Security Officers at the event. It was great to see Officers engaging with many EDI themes, such as unconscious bias, providing inclusive welcomes, (dis)ability and accessibility, but applying it to the landscape of Nigeria. Doing EDI work in the UK has its own challenges, but tailoring EDI for it to be culturally specific to where our clients are based, brings new and exciting learning opportunities and we were grateful to be in such a position.
Whilst we know there is lots more to be thankful for and to do, our focus for this year is to build on being a forward-thinking organisation, addressing EDI within and beyond its own parameters. This year you will see input from expert thinkers on exciting new topics. You will see the development of our EDI image bank and A-Zs in various identity categories. You will see the development of new PILAA-led research and resources. We will continue to deliver our workshops unpacking EDI issues at their root causes, whilst learning about the various industries that we enter through our work with past, present and new clients. We will continue to answer your mental health, accessibility, and well-being questions, irrespective of whether they seem too big or too small. Finally, we will continue to be advocates of EDI and continue to collaborate with organisations and individuals who are committed to engaging with EDI in a socially conscious way.
From us at PILAA, we would like to wish you a happy start to the year and an inclusive future in 2024.
Dr Ope Lori
Hanukkah – 7th – 15th December Hanukkah is the eight-day Jewish festival of light, this year taking place between 7 and 15 December. While it […]
Written by B.J. Woodstein, PhD
“Thanks so much for your efforts! We really appreciate it!” or “You did a fantastic job on that project!”
Wouldn’t you love it if your colleagues or managers spoke to you like that? Wouldn’t you feel good about going to work and giving it your all if you knew that you would be thanked, appreciated and respected?
Well, new research shows that in workplaces where women are in the majority, this is much more common a scenario. Intriguingly, the implication is that women are more likely to show gratitude – at least in the workplace, but perhaps beyond it as well – than men. The underlying idea here is that women are socialised into being more empathic and caring, and this extends to seeing how hard someone is working and how much they’ve tried, and then feeling grateful for that and wanting to show appreciation. Men, on the other hand, tend to be socialised into being more self-focused, which means they’re more likely to recognise and brag about their own efforts, instead of looking outwards at other people. Someone self-centred might be scared of acknowledging other people, because they might worry that doing so somehow downplays their own contributions. Logically, we probably realise that promoting others makes both them and us feel good, and also makes us look like we’re thoughtful and generous people, but emotionally, some people worry that being grateful to others somehow makes us look bad in comparison.
You might wonder why this matters. After all, you should be doing your best at work anyway, so why do you actually need to be thanked for it? Don’t you do your work in exchange for pay? Isn’t your salary thanks enough? No, frankly, it’s not. As humans, we all need to be seen for who we are. We want our own skills and characteristics to be valued, because that means we’re seen as individuals, rather than as easily replaced automatons. In fact, being specific about what we appreciate about another person actually boosts their self-esteem and builds their confidence. And if they’re happier, that rubs off on us and everyone else around them. What a great cycle!
That increase to people’s self-belief and overall moods should be reason enough to do it, but if you want to look at it from a more cynical perspective, you could say that happier people who feel good about themselves will work more efficiently and more effectively. That makes it good for the workplace too. However, there’s a depressing downside to the idea that women are more grateful. The fact is that even in this modern era, women are still paid less than men. You’d think gender pay gaps would be something from the past, but research shows they are still disturbingly common. Two people doing the same sort of work should obviously be paid the same, regardless of their gender, or any other aspect of their lives, such as their ethnicity or marital status or class. Women may not speak up about the pay gap because they have the feeling that they should be pleased to have any job.
To read the full article, you must be a PILAA Member.
Written by B.J. Woodstein, PhD “Thanks so much for your efforts! We really appreciate it!” or “You did a fantastic job on that project!”Wouldn’t you love […]
Written by B.J. Woodstein, PhD
I don’t think anyone would argue against the idea that representation matters. We know how important it can be to, for example, see people who look like you or who you share other traits with and to know they are being treated how you would like to be treated, or that they are achieving things that one day you’d like to achieve. If you don’t see people like you in jobs you want to have, or in positions of authority, or on TV, or in books, it can be hard to believe that one day you could do those things too. When there’s representation, there’s inspiration. And furthermore, when there’s representation, you feel included and acknowledged.
But another important aspect of representation is that it can actually save someone’s life.
I was heartened by a recent short news piece about medical students who have developed a website that depicts skin conditions on a variety of skin tones. Since textbooks and other materials frequently resort to white skin as the “norm”, medical students and healthcare professionals don’t get the chance to see the way that skin conditions or other illnesses might look on black or brown skin. And if they don’t learn that, then it is very possible they might not understand what they’re seeing when they are examining a non-white patient, and they could misdiagnose the issue or tell someone they are well, when in actual fact they are not. In the worst possible circumstances, that could result in death. So depicting different ethnic groups and skin tones is vital from a medical perspective, but it also is vital when it comes to countering the inequalities experienced by many minority groups. Seeing people like you depicted in a textbook shows you that you matter and that people care about you and your well-being. You’re not an afterthought and you’re not seen as a challenge to the norm; instead, you change what people perceive to be the norm.
I personally learned this lesson some years back when I was training to become a lactation consultant (IBCLC). Nearly all our books and websites showed breastfeeding positions solely on white skin. Similarly, they only talked about breast conditions as they applied to white skin; an example would be focusing on whether an area of tissue has turned swollen and red in order to help diagnose mastitis, but unfortunately mastitis could be missed if a practitioner focuses on the redness, as it does not present in the same way on darker skin. Thankfully, an IBCLC recognised this gap in knowledge and developed the Melanated Mammary Atlas, which is a huge help to healthcare professionals because it depicts breasts and breastfeeding in brown and black skin. Now we just have to hope that our lactation textbooks are updated to likewise include a range of ethnic groups in their images of breastfeeding and that they explain the differences in words as well.
To read the full article, you must be a PILAA Member.
Written by B.J. Woodstein, PhD I don’t think anyone would argue against the idea that representation matters. We know how important it can be to, for […]
You are likely to have Jewish and/or Muslim colleagues, who will have friends and relatives in Israel and Palestine, and who will be experiencing strong emotions about the current conflict in the Middle East. How can you best support them at this difficult time?
The most important thing to remember – whether for this conflict or any others – is that it’s better to say something than to ignore the situation. Don’t worry about getting it wrong; showing people you care and that you’re there is what matters.
Life goes on, even amidst such depressing conflicts. People need to keep working, and sometimes even find it helpful to keep their heads busy. At the same time, though, we’re humans with feelings, so show awareness of what’s going on, and how it might be affecting people.
The Team at PILAA
Celebrating our Sisters, Saluting our Sisters, and Honouring Matriarchs of Movements Black History Month in the United Kingdom is celebrated during the month of October, […]
Photo: Group Photo: Day 2, 7th of September 2023: Res Artis Conference London – Mind the Gap: Designing Residencies for Everyone
On the 6th – 9th September, PILAA was delighted to be one of the invited session delivery speakers, on Facilitating a session on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Heath Check for Residency providers, at the Res Artis Conference London – 2023, hosted by Acme, in partnership with University College London (UCL). The four-day international event titled “Mind the Gap: Designing residencies for everyone”, brought together a community of artist residency providers, artists and arts organisations, too, as the programme stated, chart ‘a future for impactful residency opportunities, with a focus on optimism and practical working solutions for issues facing the sector’.
This was the first time that the community was being brought to the UK, which coincided with celebrating the 30th anniversary of Res Artis and 50 years of Acme, with both bodies supporting artists through residencies, awards programmes and affordable artist studio provisions.
Set across three UCL locations, Here East, at the Queen Olympic Park in East London and the Bloomsbury Theatre in the West End, and with the sessions being live streamed to the local and international communities, what emerged was a rather special event. Here, delegates were keen to impart best practices in addressing some of the challenges that the sector faced.
The following four points are our top takeaways from the event. We hope that from reading them, they can be of use not only within this sector, but within current and future debates within the EDI landscape:
Photo: Slide presentation – Saber Bamatraf (Art27Scotland), Residencies for Everyone: Equality, diversity and inclusion in local and global contexts
In a pre-recorded video transmission Ukhona Ntsali Mlandu, the Founder of makwande.republic and Director of Greatmore Studios in South Africa, spoke about having a deeper awareness around the lived experience of hiring through a residency space. For her, this lived experience referred to knowing what it felt like to go through the residency hiring process, as someone from a marginalised group, where the visa system was seen as a form of ‘weathering’. By weathering she meant that the system perpetuated a form of structural violence against marginalised groups. An understanding of lived experience in this context, looked at the laborious amounts of time it takes to engage in the visa application process, as well as the physical labour of having to travel to different places for interviews. It also would address the feelings of anxiety and financial stresses that one may face. Acknowledging lived experience in this context, was not just a buzz phrase, but rather a felt reality that needed to be factored in, when addressing the inequalities within the hiring process, through a residency space.
It was pointed out, that we often hear about the conditions artists may face, or the terms and conditions of the contracts, but one area seemingly overlooked, was about training for the hosts themselves. This is where staff training on themes such as inclusive welcomes, would be pivotal. It was clear that as an artist navigating the residency programmes for the first time, it can often be daunting. Travelling from one part of the world to another, would mean that artists and providers would need to learn about new customs and ways of working and it was important, that providers demonstrated this duty of care for artists, not only as they arrive, but through the whole residency experience. During the listening circle A Continent of Multiplicities: A perspective from the African continent on intersectional iterations of residencies – realised and imagined, the term ‘mothering’ came up, where crazinisT artisT Artist, the Artistic Director and Curator of perfocraZe International Artist Residency in Ghana and Oyindamola Fakeye, Board Member of Res Artis and Artistic Director of CCA Lagos, Nigeria, discussed this duty of care towards artists on residencies, that providers had to show. As a host, you are making sure that no stone has been left unturned, in the health, safety and well-being of the artist. For example, thinking ahead to whether the artist has appropriate clothing if they are coming from a hot country to somewhere cold, or checking to see whether artists know how to access the internet, should they not be used to it. Whilst these may seem like small things outside of the focus of the residency, from the perspective of the artist, it shows that the residency host cares.
Photo: Dr Ope Lori’s mask from: Supporting neurodiversity and disabled artists workshop
Supporting neurodiverse and disabled artists, was a highly fun and creative afternoon breakout room session, facilitated by Sheryll Catto, the Artistic Director & CEO of Action Space, an organisation who works with, supports and creates opportunities for learning disabled artists, alongside Michael Achtmann, one of their exhibiting artists. In a group we were asked to work with in teams of five and had the simple task of decorating a blank mask with various materials. After a period of a few minutes, you would then have to pass your mask along to the person on your left, until after a number of passes, your original mask is then returned back to you. This activity was in the aid of highlighting key points around organisations supporting neurodiverse and disabled artists which included:
We heard the term ‘learning disabled artists’, as used by Sheryll Catto, when speaking on the panel, Residencies for Everyone: Equality, diversity and inclusion in local and global contexts. This term pre-fixes learning as opposed to simply using disabled artists. We also unpacked the word accessibility. Often, accessibility is used in reference to the physical environment, but it was pointed out, that we should also consider it in recognising challenges in the mental health and well-being space. For example, recognising the potential feelings of anxiety for people who are learning disabled, and who might not want to give artists talks about their work in a traditional lecture hall space, as well as other marginalised groups, where being the only one, can often be uncomfortable. Accessibility was also used in the sense of various bodies being allowed to pass. As we mentioned earlier, the visa application processes can indirectly discriminate against marginalised groups and so by accessibility, we should think of the total ways in which this term is being used and recognise the various barriers that can limit a person’s movement or sense of belonging.
If you are looking to implement an inclusive welcome training course, please get in touch!