Sudha Singh FPRCA Chart.PR’s Post

Adversity can be a harbinger for positive change. It is usually difficult to see it at the time. But, facing barriers to career progression (2016/17) in the UK led me to embark on a fulfilling and motivating learning journey. In the initial years it was to figure out the how and why I found myself in that situation, and to be able to speak with knowledge and credibility when advocating on DEI/DEIB/A. Later, it was about being able to show verifiable understanding and experience of my chosen areas of work DEI/DEIB/A; Sustainability/ESG. It was and is about addressing the innate self doubt: Am I good enough? Do I know enough? Will I be in the consideration set? Mostly, I feel I am, I do and I should be. For the rest I have learned to not care so much. Time and learning have been given me perspective and set me free. Hindsight as they say is 20:20. I enrolled for the CIPR Sustainability Communications Diploma last year(to add another certification) but had to defer to April 2024 because of health reasons. The learning experience was good and I had a wonderful tutor. Though I must admit struggling with prescriptive writing requirements and the referencing 😅😅😥 (too many). Finally it is done and dusted and happy days I did very well (Excellent Pass).💃🏾💃🏾💃🏾 For someone who needs to know everything it will be difficult to ever stop learning but I am going to definitely put a pause on academic learning. May get back to it in my 60s. Until then I am going to get busy using my knowledge and experience to help clients navigate their sustainability journey. #CIPR #Sustainability #SustainabilityCommunications #Lifelonglearner

Sustainability is a much-abused word. It has become a catch call phrase for individuals and businesses keen on asserting their ‘good for society/good for planet credentials’. Cynicism aside, behind the rhetoric and noise, there is serious effort by some businesses to integrate it into their business strategy. As we hurtle towards 2030, the reality is that the private sector has a pivotal role to play in helping to meet the SDGs. A couple of weeks back, I spoke with Chris Argent, Head of Sustainability for AMEA at Syngenta to understand the role of the private sector in global food security #SDG2, on innovations that can catalyse change and help improve the lives and livelihoods of farmers (especially marginal farmers). According to the World Economic Forum, ‘the global food security challenge is straightforward: by 2050 the world must feed two billion people more and the demand for food will be 56% greater than 2010.’ The sector also accounts for a whopping 30% of greenhouse gas emissions and 70% of freshwater withdrawals, so innovation for sustainability is non-negotiable. How is the private sector responding to this challenge? How are businesses innovating for sustainable development? Chris covered some of the issues during our conversation👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾 👉🏾 The link between purpose, profit and sustainability 👉🏾 How organisations can be authentic when speaking about purpose or sustainability 👉🏾 What it means to be a leader in agricultural innovation for Syngenta? 👉🏾 The impact of climate change on small and marginal farmers who make up majority of the world’s farmers and produce over 70-80% of the world’s food (UN FAO 2021) 👉🏾 The ‘Good Growth Plan’ (Indian context) a time bound target to reduce its carbon intensity by 50% by 2030 from a 2016 baseline 👉🏾 The Portfolio Sustainability Framework aimed at increasing transparency to external stakeholders 👉🏾 Changing food preferences and growing trend for sustainably grown food We also spoke about sustainability narratives, reporting, communications and much more. Global non-profit EAT, “Food is the single strongest lever to optimize human health and environmental sustainability on Earth” To hear more, head to the podcast (Link in comments) 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾

Guess who I bumped into at India Week 2024? Azeem Rafiq, Author, Anti-Racism Campaigner, former cricketer. And most importantly whistleblower at YCCC. In 2022, I wrote a piece on Yorkshire CC’s response to racism and ECB’s response for PRovoke Media’s annual crisis review. As a practitioner I was looking at it from public relations and stakeholder engagement perspective. It was difficult not to be sad and angry because what he faced has been the lived experience of many ethnic minorities in our society. In person Azeem Rafiq is soft spoken, humble and happy (and so terribly young) to accommodate requests for selfies. He is refreshingly candid and disarming.  He mentioned how his life changed in the hour and 45 minutes he was sharing his experience with the DCMS Committee. At the time he was commended for his bravery in sharing his harrowing personal accounts of racism and bullying at his former club.   Since then, he and his family have had to move country and continent to escape the relentless abuse and threats to life. I am sure that all this has come at a tremendous cost (personal, mental health, financial). But he has persevered and found a way forward by writing about his experiences and becoming a campaigner. The title of Azeem Rafiq book is, “It’s not banter, It’s racism: What cricket’s dirty secret reveals about our society”.  I am sure the title resonates with a lot of people, whose daily lived experience is to deal with “friendly” banter. As an advocate for fairness, equity and inclusion, I am hopeful that Azeem Rafiq’s sacrifice will not have been in vain and will help dismantle institutional racism in sports, making way for more consciousness and awareness about what constitutes just fun and banter. For the rest of us it is important to keep learning about how our choice of words and language can isolate and exclude. Meanwhile, I am happy to have had the opportunity to engage with a wonderful human being and campaigner and looking forward to reading the book. Thank you Pratik D. for the invite 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

In my second innings I have been intentional about working with the third sector. Through #TheElephantintheRoom, I am able to engage vicariously with the sector without being a part of it. To some extent I have been able deepen my understanding and engagement with the sector through Professional Assistance For Development Action (PRADAN) where I truly believe there is an alignment between my passion and their purpose. However, truth be told the sector is cliquey and closed like most sectors/industries the world over. A bit jarring considering they exist to make society more equitable and inclusive, to provide support to the most excluded. In the Indian sub-continent where I have spent a lot of my time it is no different. A cursory look at leadership, boards and composition of teams can be revelatory. That they mirror society, and all its inequalities is a bit alarming? Is it possible for them to continue to work with the excluded and marginalised, and be effective in their current avatar? What does it mean for the sustainability of the social sector short term and long term? To learn about what the sector is doing to change, I reached out to Dasra one of India’s most respected and leading third sector organisation. Dasra evolved from being a philanthropy fund to a bridge between NGOs and funders. On their website they state that, ‘Equity is at the centre of everything we do’.   To kickstart my conversations with the sector I spoke with Kavneet Kaur Sahni, who anchors internal DEI efforts, spear heads the #GEDI (Gender, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion) initiative at Dasra and leads on their Social Impact Program. #GEDI is a lens that not only guides Dasra’s internal inclusion strategy but also informs their funding and grant making strategy. For the uninitiated GEDI is commonly used amongst multilateral organisations including ILO, IRC, UN to frame conversations on diversity and inclusion. In this freewheeling episode Kavneet Kaur and I spoke about her background, move to the third sector, faith, privilege, #GEDI, the drivers for change in the social sector, representation, war for talent, barriers to change, best practice, inclusive campaigns and initiatives, successes and failures……… My one key takeaway, the road to inclusion is paved with failure, learning and that change is an existential imperative...... Like to learn more head to the link in comments👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾

At 2.30pm yesterday, Delhi recorded 52.3 degrees C in a place called Mungeshpur on the outskirts of the city. Parts of Northern India, have had temperatures of over 45 degrees for what seems like weeks. This is the third summer in a row that India has been gripped by a heat wave, and 52.3 degree temperature broke the record of 2023 being the warmest year on record.  Most schools closed early for summer in mid-May on advice from the Indian Metrological Department. According to the Delhi Heat Action Plan 2024-25 (Yes, such a plan exists) by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority, ‘the Indian subcontinent is experiencing higher temperatures that arrive earlier and stay for longer and will likely continue to experience more frequent heat waves in the coming decades.’ The report states that this extreme heat is fuelled by human-caused climate change…No surprise there then! The mortality rates per million for heat waves have increased by 62.2% in the last four decades according to the Ministry of Earth Sciences. Exposure to ‘Loo’ (not toilet) the strong, dusty, dry and hot summer wind, can often lead to fatalities. Post Covid one would assume that businesses/employers are more conscious of risks and better prepared for eventualities. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Are traditional brick and mortar companies (including our industry) prepared to support their staff during such extreme weather events? Has this been identified as a risk? Is there a business resilience plan in place? Are employees allowed to work flexible hours, flexible location, and given the support they may need? What are the gig economy companies doing for their workers - the people who help build these Unicorns? Zomato India, Swiggy Dineout, Dunzo, Urban Company, Amazon, Blinkit, bigbasket.com. How are they supporting their workers feeding the voracious appetite of Indians for online shopping and instant delivery?  Can they take a break between 12-4pm unless there is an emergency? And do we care enough about these people to believe that they deserve to be treated humanely? These are not random questions, they have a bearing on organisational purpose, values, sustainability goals and are linked to bona fide human rights issues.  It is no longer enough to just crank out sustainability and ESG reports and data. This is the ‘decade of action’ - what action are leaders and organisations taking? I am privileged, I work flexible hours, with the blinds and curtains drawn and the Ac cranked up but struggle with the heat. Very interested to hear what people are doing. #Climatechange #Globalwarming #Labourrights #Humanrights #Businessresilience

Nelson Mandela famously said, “Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does”. There are examples the world over whether it is Cricket, Football, Athletics, Tennis ……. It brings together fans and inspires current and future generations. However, like the rest of our society and business racism and exclusion is rife in sports. The good news is that there has been a concerted effort by sportspersons, sports bodies, regulators address systemic issues in the past couple of years.  Recently, I had a wonderful opportunity to engage with Jatin Patel, to learn more about what is being done by England Rugby to bring about change. We spoke at length about the four areas of focus including i) embedding inclusion within the org; ii) gameplay; iii) game leadership and iv) fan, followers and partners. A huge and challenging remit by any standards.  We spoke about the importance of data for building a business case in organisations; his thoughts on whether DEIB/A is really slowing down/stalling; Social mobility as one of the biggest challenges facing English Rugby; Racism at the institutional level and steps being taken to tackle the behaviour of fans and influencers; Role models; accountability and much more……. Key takeaway, much needs to be done and nothing is going to change overnight but the collaborative approach by England Rugby, the two premierships (men's and women's premiership), as well as the rugby players association, to develop an elite game, inclusion diversity plan seems like a step in the right direction (to address root and branch).  Like to learn more, head to the links in the comments 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾 “Ultimately being in this job is about influencing. And I think a lot of leaders have realised that EDI leaders are influencers, they use knowledge and expertise and data to drive suggested ways of change, but they understand they can't do it themselves. And I think it's that layer below where people do need more help because perhaps they've been more stretched that we need to close that gap of understanding that EDI practitioners are not there to do the job, they're there to help you and enable you to do the job, to be more inclusive, and therefore see diversity foster and succeed as a result of it.” Jatin Patel  #EnglandRugby #rugbyagainstracism #Inclusivesports #Socialmobility #Buildbetter

A couple of weeks back I was in Ranchi as an observer for a workshop on Gender Sensitive Communications and Inclusive language. The workshop was an important milestone for work being done for the last couple of years at Professional Assistance For Development Action (PRADAN) to build an organisation where all individuals can thrive. Along the way there have been numerous meetings, workshops, a policy handbook, a facilitators manual, e-learning modules and the decision that institutional capacity building was a must if we are to succeed in our mission. This has meant building a cadre who would operate across geographies as internal resource groups and advocates for this behaviour change programme. Since February 2024 over 600 individuals have been trained by these internal resource groups. This is a massive achievement and a statement of intent and commitment by the organisation (it takes time, money and resources to do this). The initial invite by Manoj Kindo was to lead the session since the two facilitators Shiv Sankalp and jyotsana jaiswal (it was their first time) were slightly apprehensive of facilitating a bunch of senior Pradanities. After some encouragement they ran a fantastic, incredibly engaged session creating a safe space for people to be vulnerable, share their stories and learn. As an external advisor success for me is when I become redundant on the specific challenge that we are addressing - super proud that there is an amazing cohort leading the charge internally. Thank you Professional Assistance For Development Action (PRADAN) for being committed to change and leading the way in the social sector Saroj Mahapatra Parijat Ghosh Amitav Rakshit Sudhir Sahni Sarbani Bose Souparno Chatterjee #buildingbetter #inclusiveorganisation #gendersensitive #inclusivelanguage #equitableculture

On The Elephant in the Room podcast it has been my endeavour to spotlight leaders from the global majority. I recently had the privilege to speak with Taisha L. Nurse, Global Senior Director, Diversity Equity and Inclusion McDermott International, Ltd. As a senior HR practitioner she has been responsible for building HR Centre’s of Excellence across multiple geographies before moving to her current role in 2020. A role she loves the most and believes that her various experiences have prepared her to navigate the web of challenges and opportunities she faces in the course of her work. The focus of the conversation was on an industry well known for its lack of diversity, and to her her views a female leader on all things DEIB/A. We covered many interesting topics including  👉🏾 The challenges to finding success in her DEIB/A role in an industry that isn’t traditionally recognised for gender diversity 👉🏾 Cultural intelligence and steps to building an inclusive culture (one culture) in a global organisation 👉🏾 The role of managers and leaders in building safe work spaces 👉🏾 Her definition of leadership 👉🏾 Measurement and evaluation of DEIB/A efforts in an organisation I name checked Ekpedeme "Pamay" M. Bassey when Taisha spoke about being a learner for life❤️❤️❤️ “It's probably my most favourite job in my 20 plus years is it definitely keeps me on my toes, but it allows me to stay in the sphere of being a learner for life. Every day, I'll have a conversation, I'll read something. I'll have an experience. And I think, wow, I didn't see it from that perspective. And so it's really putting me in a very open mindset. Even though I sometimes resist it, I want to be kind of in my comfort zone, but it puts me in this open mindset to see the world through someone else's eyes, when I'm thinking of a strategy, a campaign, the training that's required, being able to sit and think, okay, this is the audience, how are they going to receive it?” #womenleaders #deibestpractices #leadership #Measurement #futureofwork To listen to the episode, head to comments for link 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾

I have been passionate about DEIB/A for ever but could not find enough time in the day to devote to it until I hit a career roadblock because I was a brown person, with a brown person name amongst other things. Opting out (not all due to bravery) propelled me to a marathon journey of learning including becoming a certified DEIB/A trainer. Since then I have run many a strategy and training sessions for clients and partner organisations in the UK and India. It is something I genuinely enjoy and find fulfilling. Not just sharing my story and best practice but also hearing the stories of and learning from the people I engage with. So, I am delighted to be running my first ever training session for the PRCA on 'DEIB: Moving from Talk to Action and Measurement' in early April. Thank you Souha Khairallah and PRCA for getting me onboard to share my experience and learnings on this important topic ❤️❤️🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾 Check out details here 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾 'DEIB: Moving from Talk to Action and Measurement' course:  https://lnkd.in/ey4jZuFx