Walkers’ Jersey office has signed a statement of support for the Jersey Institute of Directors Jersey Diversity and Inclusion 2020 Vision Statement.
This signals its intention to collaborate with and support IOD Jersey in creating a Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Charter, to encourage and underpin tangible diversity and inclusion (D&I) action.
The firm has recently established a Channel Islands Diversity and Inclusion Committee chaired by partner Alexandra Corner, who also sits on the firm’s Global D&I Committee along with representatives from the firm’s Asian, Caribbean and European offices.
One of the local committee’s first acts was to arrange unconscious bias training for all of Walkers’ employees in Jersey and Guernsey – the sessions will be led by senior counsel Sarah Ash, who is a specialist in discrimination law issues in the firm’s Guernsey Employment Law Practice Group.
Alexandra said: “We anticipate that the Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Charter will be an effective and considered framework for organisations of all kinds to embrace principles in a practical and meaningful way and we look forward to working with the IoD and other businesses to create that Charter”.
Group partner Leanne Wallser and associate Meg McAuley will be attending the IOD Jersey workshops this month with the aim of helping shaping the Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Charter. Leanne said: “We are pleased to be one of the early signatories from the legal sector to support the vision statement and excited about the opportunity of being involved with this
important initiative”.
It is anticipated that the Jersey Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Charter will set out core D&I principles such as:
- Valuing a diverse range of perspectives, ideas and experiences, regardless of gender, age, disability, ethnicity, neurodiversity, sexual orientation, language, cultural background, religious beliefs, educational background, socio-economic background or marital, family or carer status.
- Building the knowledge, skills and tools to attract and retain the widest possible pool of human talent, creating broader and richer workplaces to enhance creative thinking, innovation and problem solving.
- Promoting and encouraging diversity and inclusion, raising awareness of the benefits by “walking-the-talk” and leading dialogues on best practice within our organisations and the broader island community.
- Preventing unlawful discrimination, building workforces that are representative of all sections of society, and respecting every employee, volunteer, supplier and customer.
Partner Jonathan Heaney, who leads Walkers’ Jersey office, said: “At a point at which we’re growing so rapidly and recruiting so widely, signing up to the IoD 2020 Vision Statement not only demonstrates our commitment to valuing and living D&I principles to our team, it also ensures that these points are front-of-mind as we continue to expand”.
