We acknowledge the power and privilege we hold as a grantmaking organisation with a large financial resource, that is funding but not working on the front line of social justice causes. As a foundation with a focus on the education, development and administration of law, we recognise that law and legal systems can be used to oppress rather than liberate, in particular racialised, migrant, disabled and other minoritised communities.
Countering injustice is central to our work therefore it is essential that we uphold racial justice, disability justice and anti-oppressive practices in all our work with grant partners, applicants and wider sector colleagues as well as with our own staff team and trustees.
We call our approach Power, Culture and Inclusion (PCI), and in November 2022 we appointed an experienced member of staff to lead this work in recognition of the need for dedicated capacity to coordinate the delivery of our ambitions.
- Power signals our commitment to using our own power to confront injustice and the power imbalance in the grantmaking system. It puts voices of those with lived experience of injustice front and centre.
- Culture reflects the transformation we are going through in our learning, behaviour and attitudes, and that we want to build the best grant-making environment.
- Inclusion, alongside diversity and equity, is also central to this work and speaks to our responsibility to being representative of and accountable to the communities we work with.
We value, welcome and respect all the differences that make us who we are, including: age, cultural background, disability and mental health, ethnicity and race, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, neurodiversity and socioeconomic background.
Our Power, Culture and Inclusion action plan
The action plan is updated regularly with timescales set at one to three years to ensure goals and tasks are realistic and achievable. The overall PCI work intentionally has no prescribed end date to reflect that this is now part of the Foundation’s core.
Key elements of the action plan achieved or in progress in 2023 – 2024 are outlined below:
Grants & Strategy
- Advisory panel with lived and learned experience of social injustice influencing new strategy development
- Racial justice grants made under Fairer Systems in 2024
- Race equity data collection based on nuanced quantitative and qualitative approach, avoiding solely numerical definitions, minimising burden on partners
- Understanding and defining ‘lived experience’ through contributing £10,000 to Lloyds Foundation research on small voluntary sector organisations and defining ‘by-and-for’
Governance
- Governance reviews of Justice Collaborations to dissect whether governance meets values including anti-racism, and LEF to analyse power-dynamics, lived and learned experience of racial and disability justice and social justice issues
- Board diversification resulting from updated recruitment language and practices
- Values developed and monitored by staff and board
People & Policies
- Diversity survey of staff and board revealed broad ethnic diversity and some representation of lived experience of poverty and social welfare legal issues but lack of representation of disabled people; considering how to share data publicly from 2025
- Staff diversification improving racial and social injustice representation
- Progressive policies including reasonable adjustments, recruitment and leave
Training
- Quarterly staff workshops covering anti-oppression, neurodiversity, disability confidence, trans awareness, misogyny and sexism
- Justice First Fellows training on disability confidence and anti-racism
- Ten Years’ Time Community of Practice 2024-2027 will support us through an accountability assessment, coaching and training to embed racial justice into our investing, grant-making, and governance alongside peers
Access
- Inclusive events guidance developed for LEF events to improve accessibility
- Support for disabled Justice First Fellows
- Workplace and website accessibility enhanced
