Image descriptions:
1 The word "Accountability" is handwritten in green on a light blue background.
2 A drawing of an elderly South Asian woman lying asleep in a crescent moon. The moon is held up by two hands. The mood is calm, relaxed and wholesome. Letters are scattered around the image that read "Rest your sweet mind".
3 The word "Accountability" is handwritten in green on a light blue background. The text below this reads: We want to be a pro-Black space where Black lives are celebrated, supported and equity is taken seriously. We know this is going to be a work in progress and we will continue to explore, learn and radically listen to our team members and audiences for feedback. We have started sharing the work from our Warmth research in order to open ourselves up to criticism, make the conversation around these internal elements public, gather feedback, use this feedback to inform future versions of working methods and generally become more transparent. Accountability is a difficult term to get to grips with so in the following slides we will line out some methods we will start implementing.
4 The words "Radical listening" are handwritten in green on a light blue background. The text below reads: We will learn how to listen in a supportive and radical manner, by giving people space and time to speak, by listening to what is being said and what is not being said, we will have 15 minute check ins at the start of each session to allow people time to just be in the space and share what is going on.
5 The words "Taking mental health seriously" are handwritten in green on a light blue background. The text below reads: Just like for physical illness we will give time off for mentally ill heath, we will work with partners and funders to avoid putting unnecessary pressure on individuals, we will offer counselling if possible or if not, we will sign post individuals to free services, we will encourage conversations in the team about mental health to take away stigma and stereotypes.
We will ensure to offer support to everyone who works with us, be this in a paid or voluntary capacity, to ensure that each team member starts the day having covered their basic human needs.
6 The word "Dependents" is handwritten in green on a light blue background. The text below reads: We will support our team and freelancers by speaking to them about their dependents and what kind of support they may need, be this time off, brining dependents to the work place, identifying services that could support the individual and by taking the toll caring for a dependent takes on individuals seriously.
7 The words "Professional development" are handwritten in green on a light blue background. The text below reads: We will offer training, one to one time, mentoring and other professional development sessions to all our staff and freelancers to ensure that we can all develop our careers in a supportive and non-competitive manner. This will include creating leadership progression routes within our team.
8 The words "Exploring Boundaries" are handwritten in green on a light blue background. The text below reads: We acknowledge that different people come to work from very different places and experiences. We know that there is a strong correlation between race, disability, gender identity, class and success in the arts. We will therefore take this conversation seriously and explore within our team how we can support each other to bring our whole self in, what is professional and what is unprofessional, what boundaries there are and how we can break through them.
9 The words "Sitting with conflict and discomfort" are handwritten in green on a light blue background. The text below reads: Conflict is part of every day life and is more likely to take place when people from different backgrounds come together. We will learn to sit with difficult emotions, take time to think and feel, stop ourselves from reacting in a defensive manner and use empathy to understand where others are coming from. We will endeavour to create safe spaces for the team to share experiences of conflict.
We want to ensure that we have equity at the heart of our communication and decision making. We will discuss issues as a team, ensure everyone is listened to, empathise with each employee about the issue they raise and their circumstances. We will make a decision with them, not about them. We appreciate that we are not experts and we will look for support from relevant experts.
10 The words "What do you think?" are handwritten in green on a light blue background. The words below say: We welcome your thoughts:
Where are you at in your journey to accountability?
What did we miss off our list?
What does professionalism mean to you? Comment below!