GMCVO drives socio-economic inclusion in Greater Manchester. We work to understand the barriers to an inclusive economy and find ways to overcome them in order to strengthen the Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) sector. We do this by offering thought leadership and influencing policy, developing organisations that would otherwise be left behind, and offering social investment.
We cannot fulfil our organisational purpose without embedding and embodying Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (EDIB) principles:
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GMCVO’s support must be equally accessible to all if we are to drive socio-economic inclusion
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We must demonstrate best practice of EDIB if we are to be influential thought leaders on socio-economic inclusion
As a charity that has carried out a great deal of work relating to economic exclusion, we are highly aware of EDIB principles. As an organisation, GMCVO is proud of its positive practices for incorporating EDIB principles into our external processes (delivery/projects). We want to make sure this high level of awareness translates into an equitable, inclusive culture that values diversity and fosters a sense of belonging internally. We want to be confident that we reflect the good practices we advocate for. Therefore, we are on a journey to reflect internally and enrich our culture, which will benefit those within GMCVO, whilst further strengthening our external processes.
We are committed to embedding and embodying EDIB principles:
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Addressing the root causes rather than correcting the imbalance when it occurs and
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Ensuring our beliefs and goals are reflected in our policies.
We are ambitious - we know we have some good practices in place, but we want to move infinitely further along on our EDIB journey.
To us, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (EDIB) are defined as follows:
Equity is the mechanism for bringing about equality. We want to ensure that everybody is provided with the resources they need to achieve what they want to achieve. Our focus is on outcomes, not just equality of opportunity.
Inclusion means that people are actively accepted, welcomed and feel included - in equal measure - for and regardless of their protected characteristics. Employees feel safe and encouraged to have their own voice and we act with compassion and empathy to all, being mindful that we may not have similar views or ideologies.
Diversity is the result of equitable and inclusive practices, so that as an organisation we are reflective of the diverse communities of Greater Manchester. In our understanding of diversity, we look beyond protected characteristics alone (e.g. race, ethnicity and gender/sexuality) to reflect our different beliefs, values, worldviews, perceptions – all of which influence our communication, our behaviours, and ultimately our relationships with others.
Belonging can be seen as the natural outcome of our efforts to be equitable, inclusive and diverse. Everyone wants to feel valued, included and accepted; it is a fundamental human want and right to belong. By feeling connected to a group of people, place or organisation, everyone can be their authentic self and feel confident and comfortable. However, belonging is a feeling and everyone will have a different perception of their belonging. We aim to create a working environment so that every employee feels that they belong and everyone can work to their best ability.
There is no one blueprint for how an EDIB journey should look; we need to create the blueprints ourselves. We intend to do this by:
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Signing up and committing to Diversity Forum’s Manifesto *
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Setting up and empowering a dedicated EDIB Steering Committee to oversee our progress towards EDIB excellence
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Developing a Theory of Change that clearly illustrates why EDIB is needed and the intermediate outcomes we are striving for
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Developing a manifesto of key commitments for how we will achieve those intermediate outcomes
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Allocating resources to deliver these commitments
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Driving a policy review, and then ensuring policies, procedures and frameworks are regularly refreshed thereafter;
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Producing a report to document our journey that leads, guides and inspires other organisations.
*GMCVO joined the Diversity Forum in December 2022 to enable us to embed Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging throughout our organisation.
