Project: Improving Social Investor Diversity & Inclusion
City: London   Grant: £55,100

TSIC is a social change strategy consultancy that, among other activities, will act as the project manager for The Gathering Working Group on diversity. The Gathering Working Group is comprised of the leading social investors in the UK, with a focus to promote diverse talent recruitment and ensure that the sector is grounded in principles of inclusion, representation and justice.

Responding to a lack of diversity in the social investment sector, The Gathering Working Group have identified an opportunity to re-set the culture and narrative of social investment so that social finance does not replicate inequalities of gender, race and class evident in mainstream society. This project centres on the need to address investor diversity in order to improve decision-making, avoid group think, and to create a more inclusive sector that can better represent, understand and invest in the communities it seeks to serve. There are five key strands to the work, including strengthening the existing Steering Group; conducting original research and an E&D audit; skills development and resource sharing; data sharing and network mapping; and improving communications strategies.

The introduction of more diverse perspectives and experience to investment teams can improve decision-making, enhance relationships with investee organisations, and help to break down barriers of race, class, religion, gender or disability. The ideal outcome would be for the social investment sector to better reflect the diversity of both social sector organisations and the beneficiaries that investors seek to serve.