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EDI at Aquila
Powerful Workplace Allies Workshop – inclusivity and unconscious bias training for everyone
“Workplace allies” are people who are willing to personally align themselves with colleagues from underrepresented or marginalised groups to make sure they’re heard and included.
We recognise that one of the main barriers to many inclusion initiatives is the fear of doing or saying the wrong thing. Aquila’s employee-led EDI Group recommended to the Group board that all employees receive a 3-hour training session to help everyone to have a better understanding of how to have open conversations, to nurture an inclusive environment, and step up to be powerful and effective workplace allies. The Group board supported this recommendation, and mandatory training was put in place for all employees.
Joanne Lockwood is the founder and CEO of SEE Change Happen, a Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging Practice with a specialism in providing Transgender Awareness and support to organisations and businesses. Aquila has been working with Joanne over the last few months to deliver her unconscious bias training to all our employees.
The key lessons we have covered in these training sessions are:
- Recognising our biases, perspectives, and blind spots
- Owning the impact of the language we use
- Understanding microaggressions – these are indirect, subtle, or unintentional discriminations against members of a marginalized group
- How to be an effective ally at Aquila
We are proud to train all employees across our subsidiaries to be aware of unconscious bias and enable a more inclusive conversation between colleagues and clients across the Group.
It is our intention that this training is the start of a programme of activities. We want to ensure that we are all equipped with the tools to enable us to step up and amplify colleagues and clients who are not being represented.
For more information about our work across Aquila on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, please click here.
To read the EDI Group’s Terms of Reference, please click here.
