Equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) is at the core of our operations, promoting inclusion both internally and externally. Our comprehensive EDI strategy focuses on closing pay gaps, increasing staff diversity, and fostering an inclusive culture. We’re also committed to embedding EDI in our projects, recruiting and investing in diverse founders, and ensuring our three missions deliver more equitable outcomes for minoritised and disadvantaged communities.

By 2027, we will:

• Goal 1: We will aim to eliminate our gender and ethnicity pay gaps, reducing them by at least 2% every year across all levels of the organisation.
• Goal 2: At a minimum, we will be representative of the UK on the following characteristics: ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation and gender.
• Goal 3: At a minimum, we will be representative of the UK for staff from more disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds.
• Goal 4: We will foster a culture where all staff feel they belong and are included at Nesta, irrespective of their background.
• Goal 5: We will use our position as an investor to support diversity and inclusion, and aim for 25% of venture investments to be led by people from underrepresented groups.
• Goal 6: We will ensure that the majority of our innovation missions’ endowment funding will be spent on activities to improve the circumstances of people from minoritised and disadvantaged groups, and will not widen inequalities.
• Goal 7: We will make sure that Nesta’s mission work actively contributes to delivering an inclusive transition towards net zero, fairer long-term health outcomes, and equitable early learning for children facing economic disadvantage, and actively mitigates the most significant unintended consequences of our work. 
• Goal 8: We will be actively using our platforms to raise the voices of minoritised and disadvantaged groups, and contributing to a wider movement for more equitable, diverse and inclusive practices.
• Goal 9: We will have taken empirical and innovative approaches to embedding equity, diversity and inclusion throughout our ways of working. By 2027, we will have generated evidence on how our approaches address issues of discrimination and exclusion.

Our EDI strategy is anchored in a data-driven, transparent, and process-oriented framework that drives tangible, measurable progress. We leverage a wealth of data, from our high staff self-identification disclosure rate to employee engagement surveys, pay gap analyses, panel diversity, and applicant data. By collecting and analysing these insights, we ensure our decisions are informed and our interventions precise, enabling us to address gaps effectively and make a meaningful impact.

We focus on advancing EDI in nine areas, with clear goals and targets. Each goal is backed by actionable processes that are embedded across recruitment, promotions, and our project lifecycles. Transparency is central to our approach: we regularly publish our progress, share our methodologies and hold ourselves accountable to the goals we’ve set. By integrating EDI into core business functions, rather than siloing it into standalone initiatives, we ensure that equity, diversity, and inclusion are ongoing, sustainable practices that drive change across Nesta.

Vanessa Sauls, Christiana Markou, Simona Capogna, Ann Paul