Equality, diversity, and inclusion policy
1. Our commitment
Prewired welcomes people of all backgrounds and abilities, both as participants and mentors, and is committed to encouraging Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion within the organisation and our services.
Our vision is that all young people should have the opportunity to learn about technology and be creative in a safe environment.
Our aim is to provide equality, fairness, and respect for all.
We oppose and will not tolerate any form of unlawful and unfair discrimination, victimisation, harassment, and bullying based on protected characteristics, backgrounds, and abilities.
All people involved in the organisation and its services will be valued, as well as helped and encouraged to develop their full potential.
Our trustees and mentors will not discriminate directly or indirectly, or harass other trustees, mentors, participants, or attendees, because of any protected characteristic under Equality Act 2010 (age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation).
We will review all our practices and procedures to ensure fairness.
This Policy and the associated arrangements shall operate in accordance with Codes of Practice issued by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, any Government Departments, and any other statutory bodies.
This Policy is developed and will be monitored and reviewed regularly by the organisations’ EDI Officer and it is fully supported by the Board of Trustees.
Breaches of our EDI Policy will be regarded as misconduct and could lead to disciplinary proceedings.
2. Responsibilities of the EDI Officer and the Board of Trustees
Responsibility for ensuring the effective implementation and operation of this Policy’s arrangements will rest with the Board of Trustees and will be led and encouraged by the EDI Officer.
All members of the Board of Trustees should:
- be aware of and comply with this Policy;
- not discriminate in their day-to-day activities within the organisation;
- not victimise, harass or intimidate other trustees, mentors, participants, or attendees within the organisation’s space (physical or virtual) who have or are perceived to have one or more of the protected characteristics, or because of an individual’s association with another individual who has one or more of the protected characteristics;
- inform the EDI Officer if they become aware of any discriminatory practice.
The Board of Trustees and the EDI Officer will ensure that they and the mentors operate within this Policy, and that all reasonable and practical steps are taken to avoid discrimination.
Specifically, the EDI Officer, with the Board’s support, will ensure that:
- all the trustees and mentors are aware of this policy and the arrangements, and the reasons for this Policy;
- grievances concerning discrimination are dealt with properly, fairly and as quickly as possible;
- proper records of incidents and those involved are maintained.
3. Responsibilities of the mentors
Responsibility for ensuring that there is no unlawful discrimination rests with all mentors. Mentors’ attitudes are crucial to the successful operation of fair practices of the organisation and its services.
All mentors should:
- comply with this Policy;
- not discriminate in their day-to-day activities within the organisation;
- not victimise, harass or intimidate other mentors, trustees, participants, or attendees within the organisation’s space (physical or virtual) who have or are perceived to have one or more of the protected characteristics, or because of an individual’s association with another individual who has one or more of the protected characteristics;
- inform the EDI Officer if they become aware of any discriminatory practice.
4. Third parties
Third-party harassment occurs where a Prewired trustee or mentor is harassed, and the harassment is related to a protected characteristic, by third parties such as participants and attendees, partners and sponsors, or members of the public within the organisation’s space (physical or virtual).
Prewired will not tolerate such actions against our trustees and mentors, who should inform the EDI Officer at once that this has occurred, following the organisation’s Grievance section of this Policy.
Prewired will fully investigate and take all reasonable steps to ensure such harassment does not happen again, according to the organisation’s Disciplinary section of this Policy.
Third parties should also be made aware of and comply with this Policy at all times.
5. EDI Training
Training on this Policy and EDI matters is provided to all members of the Board of Trustees and all mentors at least once a year. A briefing on raising awareness on this Policy and EDI issues is offered by the EDI Officer to all mentors during their induction training, when they also sign their Mentor Agreement which includes an EDI section.
6. Grievance and disciplinary
Prewired is committed to taking seriously complaints about any form of unlawful discrimination, victimisation, harassment, and bullying because of any protected characteristic under Equality Act 2010 (age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation) by management, organisers, and third parties.
All trustees and mentors have a right to pursue a complaint concerning discrimination according to Prewired Policy:
- A trustee or mentor should make the EDI Officer aware of any complaint concerning discrimination, who in turn will consult the Board of Trustees.
- A trustee or mentor who desires to make a complaint concerning discrimination that concerns the EDI Officer, or who does not feel comfortable reporting it to the EDI Officer, are welcome to contact the Chair of the Board of Trustees.
All third-party individuals, such as participants and attendees, partners and sponsors, or members of the public within the organisation’s space (physical or virtual) who have experienced discrimination by a mentor or a trustee are welcome to contact the EDI Officer to discuss and agree over action that should be taken.
All forms of discrimination will be treated as disciplinary offences and they will be dealt with under Prewired Policy.
Before starting any disciplinary procedure, the complaint handler (i.e. EDI Officer) will investigate the problem by privately talking to the people involved, listen to all points of view, and see whether the problem can be resolved in an informal way.
Depending on severity of case, disciplinary actions might include:
- apologise on behalf of the organisation;
- EDI training of all parties involved in the incident;
- alterations of our operating procedure;
- potential removal from Prewired.
7. Monitoring
Prewired deems it appropriate to state our intention not to discriminate and assumes that this will be translated into practice consistently across the organisation as a whole (please read section 8 for examples of good practice).
Accordingly, a monitoring system is introduced to measure the effectiveness of the Policy and our practices, and update or revise it as needed.
We collect some EDI related data to monitor the demographics of our trustees, mentors, and participants/attendees in order to ensure the right practices and approaches are being implemented for everyone to benefit from our services.
We will maintain information on all individuals who have been involved in grievance and disciplinary proceedings.
The information collected for monitoring purposes will be treated as confidential and it will not be used for any other purpose.
8. Examples of good EDI practice
Accessibility (in collaboration with CodeBase):
- The entryway, toilets, and general venue space are wheelchair-accessible
- Standard Windows/Linux accessibility features on our laptops, accessible website, and accessible online resources
Inclusivity (in collaboration with CodeBase):
- Free equipment (i.e., laptops, headphones, USB sticks etc) available for use by all participants and mentors
- Free period products available in the venue toilets
- Quiet room available
- Vegan snacks
Version 1.0, last revised 29 July 2024
If you have any questions or comments on this Policy, please contact Dr Athina Frantzana - EDI Officer: [email protected]