The following report is a testament to the collective effort of numerous people across Nesta. Since we began our journey, we have endeavoured to embed equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) through every facet of our organisation. With this in mind, we want to thank all of those who have played a significant role in driving our progress over the last year:
Shruti Venkatesh, Matthew Smith, Carla Hallmark Jones, Faizal Farook, Chris Norris, Jose Sanchez, Susanne Ollig, Hassan Pesaran, Ella White, Davinia Kiley, Claire Doran, Ella Sandelson, Andy Regan, Louis Stupple-Harris, Simran Motiani, Georgina Roberts, Ann Paul, Simona Capogna, Christiana Markou, Monique Sang, Mia Simmons, Elspeth Kirkman, Maja Podrzaj, Sue Mcdonald.
Introduction
Three years ago, we published an EDI strategy that provided a counterexample to platitudes: we wanted to be both ambitious and accountable. We set ourselves nine measurable EDI goals to address some of the biggest inclusion challenges facing society today within our own organisation.
As we believe that holding ourselves publicly accountable for progress against this strategy is important and a key way of contributing to the wider EDI agenda, we publish our progress and reflections each year in an annual EDI report.
In this latest report, you will find an update on our progress to date, takeaways from our recent strategy review process, and where we are heading next.
Nesta’s EDI goals
When we developed our nine-goal strategy in 2021, we aimed to reflect the most pressing EDI issues we face as a society, and the issues that Nesta has the leverage to change - spanning who we are and what we do.
The nine goals reflect our staff diversity across gender, ethnicity, disability, socioeconomic background (SEB) and sexuality; pay parity among staff; belonging and inclusion within the organisation; our communications; mission impact (through projects, new ventures and investments); use of endowment funding; supply chain; and research.
We still believe that these issues are the most relevant for Nesta, and are some of the most critical EDI challenges to tackle beyond Nesta.
