Nexus Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion Formally Recognised

Nexus is proud to announce it has received accreditation formally recognising its commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Nexus was awarded a Bronze Diversity Mark Accreditation and has committed to investing in ongoing diversity and inclusion education and training for all employees, and transparently communicating progress, challenges, and goals to foster a culture of trust and accountability.

Diversity Mark is the awarding body of the Diversity Mark accreditation. Its mission is to help organisations in the UK and Ireland build more diverse and inclusive workplaces where individuals feel included and truly welcome. It provides counsel, information, resource and insights by delivering a robust framework and invaluable independent feedback to support organisations reap the rewards of creating a diverse and inclusive workplace.

Michelle Bolton, Head of People and Organisational Development at Nexus said:

“This is the starting point in our Diversity & Inclusion journey.  We understand the importance of having an inclusive and diverse organisation to enable increased creativity and performance. Receiving the Bronze Diversity Mark evidences our on-going commitment to this and reflects our dedication to a workplace where every individual feels valued, respected, and empowered.

“We have recently developed a Diversity and Inclusion Policy, implemented a cross-departmental team of Diversity & Inclusion Champions, and have identified key actions we will take to attract a more diverse workforce and increase representation of more communities.

“Our data baseline on gender breakdown[i] shows that that our organisation is largely comprised of white females over the age of 30. While we know women make up 73% of the voluntary and community sector workforce[ii] we also know this is not wholly reflective of the communities in which we work.

“Our first step is to tackle the underrepresentation of males in our organisation in line with guidance given to us by Diversity Mark at Bronze level. We see this as phase one – we are ambitious and committed to achieving further inclusion as we progress and look forward to working with Diversity Mark to do so.”

Emma Lyttle, Head of Engagement at Diversity Mark Northern Ireland, said:

“We are delighted that Nexus has achieved the Bronze Diversity Mark Accreditation. Our Independent Assessment Panel commended Nexus on an energetic and passionate submission for their Accreditation and noted that Nexus has the potential to make a real difference and impact within their industry. Congratulations to all the team on this robust achievement.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

• Nexus is the leading organisation in Northern Ireland supporting individuals impacted by sexual abuse and abusive relationships, providing counselling and support to people of any gender and none, aged eight and up. It also provides education and training to young people and professionals to raise awareness with the aim of breaking the cycle of abuse.