What’s needed to make NI a more diverse entrepreneurial landscape?
Belfast Telegraph Feature Story 18.04.23
Can Northern Ireland do more to improve diversity, equality and inclusion in entrepreneurship and help fuel a better and more inclusive economy? Ulster Bank hosted leaders from across the sectors to discuss what can be done to improve the business landscape here.
More, much more, needs to be done in order to improve diversity and inclusion right across Northern Ireland’s burgeoning entrepreneurial and business landscape.
That was certainly part of the sentiment coming to the fore at a recent dinner hosted by Ulster Bank at its DSE headquarters in Belfast city centre – focusing on diversity, equality and inclusive.
A host of representatives from right across the sectors shared their insight, knowledge, expertise and, often, their own personal stories, journeys and concerns surrounding the vast challenges which remain for many here, whether it be due to ethnicity, gender, disability or socio-economic background.
“This is about changing the conversation and starting it a bit to move that forward,” John Ferris, regional ecosystems manager, Ulster Bank said.
“The challenge in a lot of this is the intersectionality of those areas,” he says. “It’s about starting somewhere… step one for us is how we get the data and the challenge people on that.”
Lori Gatsi-Barnett of JoinHer Network said there remain challenges for people not from Northern Ireland who are trying to break into business and have the confidence to bring ideas forward, address their issues and get in front of the right people – especially key funders.
The JoinHer Network, along with ArtsEkta, are two of the organisations which have recently received fresh funding from the Ulster Bank Enterprise Fund.
Ulster Bank’s Enterprise Fund supports projects aimed at promoting and encouraging entrepreneurship, particularly among those underrepresented.
“When it comes to representation… a woman who is from NI who has had a certain life, versus a woman coming from the Ukraine or Syria or anywhere else [is very different],” Lori says.
“It’s a totally different framework of understanding. It’s navigating an immigration system which has its own pitfalls – getting over the barriers of simple things.
“I think the journey for a lot of us who can articulate what we want to say is that we are not around the table. A lot of decisions are being made, and I appreciate diversity is making in-roads, but you need to hear from us who can articulate what’s happening to the average woman out there who will never have a voice.”
Nisha Tandon, of ArtsEkta – one of Ireland’s largest cultural organisations – says it’s about building confidence, and also moving away from seeing the same people at events or on panels, and creating something more representative.
“We are going to see the same old people. I have been here for 45 years and have the confidence… but there are many others who are really better business people than what I am but they just don’t have that confidence to come out,” she said. “It is very important to bring that out in a person of colour.”
That move away from business or event panels which are not diverse is a key step along the way.
“It’s difficult to get started on the journey but I don’t think it’s difficult once you get on the journey – when you speak to someone and say ‘we’re looking for someone who has this experience’,” John Ferris said.
Diane Wabo of the Ethnic Minority Employment & Entrepreneurship Network NI came to Northern Ireland around 11 years ago, as a trained accountant, but initially struggled to find the path in which she needed to take in order to get back to work.
That prompted her to launch a new awards scheme – the Minorities Recognition Awards NI, which is currently seeking sponsors and takes place on October 7 – to showcase and celebrate the high-performing, diverse and exciting range of businesses that make up the further integration of minority business owners and contribute to the country’s economy.
“It’s about trying to build confidence and encourage people,” she says. “The awards are to showcase excellence among the minority community – business owners and professionals. To help build that confidence.”
Orla McKeating, Diversity Mark NI, said that as an organisation it’s continuing on its journey to promote diversity and inclusion.
It now deals with some 155 organisations and 200,000 employees across the UK and Ireland. “My personal mission and purpose is about creating those trusted spaces for people to have the difficult conversations and move into a more equitable, diverse and inclusive society,” she said.
Susan Nightingale of the British Business Bank told guests gathered that the organisation recently produced a report looking at diversity and entrepreneurship across the UK.
“We realised it goes a lot broader than gender and ethnicity,” she says. “We opened that up and included disability, neurodiversity and those who identify as coming from a socio-economically disadvantaged background.”
The organisation asked entrepreneurs what the key barriers were and what they wanted to see to make the process easier and more accessible.
It’s identified four new workstreams, including accreditation within entrepreneurship, a female-focused finance programme, looking at the socio-economically disadvantaged side and producing a resources guide across areas of diversity.
Eoin McFadden of the Department for the Economy said his department has a number of colleagues working directly and specifically on the area of diversity and inclusivity in the workplace. “The door is well and truly open,” he says. “One of the things we are looking at actively is saying that if we are serious about diversity and inclusion, it’s a cornerstone of what we are doing and we should be building it in as a matter of design.”
Source article can be found at https://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/ulsterbusiness/features/whats-needed-to-make-ni-a-more-diverse-entrepreneurial-landscape/554860941.html