Aims of the campaign
The campaign leads, Deputy Director of Infection Prevention & Control Kerry Holden and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Lead Coral Boston share some of their hopes and aims for this project
Positive role models
Positive role models can be found all around us, and these role models may resonate with us for several reasons. You may not like everything about them, but you can still respect them for being hardworking, knowledgeable, courageous, determined, or having certain attributes that you value. We know how important it is for people from ethnic minority groups to see other people from ethnic minority backgrounds in roles that they may have assumed are impossible for them to reach
You can’t be what you can’t see
When we started talking about this campaign for Black History Month, we talked about the phrase you can’t be what you can’t see; although some people may see this as a cliché, there is a great deal of truth to it. If someone is interested in pursuing a particular passion or career path, it’s natural to look to people who are already thriving in that field for inspiration and guidance. If that area is filled with brilliant people who look and sound like you, you are more likely to believe that you might be able to flourish, too.
Feeling like you belong matters
We know that people who feel like they belong are more likely to enter and stay in the NHS and our Trust, so lack of belonging may be one reason for people of colour's lack of representation in senior roles. We hope that this wonderful group of role models will inspire others within our organisation to aim high.
It's really important that people from ethnic minority communities can see colleagues who have truly broken the glass ceiling in terms of career progression... I hope that in the future, people no longer feel that they have to work harder to achieve promotion because they are part of a minority. We rise by lifting others and by celebrating the contributions of these role models, we want to say to others that we are here and we will support you.
Kerry Holden, Deputy Director of Infection Prevention & Control
