DataKind UK and DEI — practising what we preach
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
In our 2022–26 Strategy, we set ourselves the goal of ensuring our volunteer community is diverse — more so than the data science sector itself — and our practices are as inclusive as possible. We know that embedding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) into our processes will improve the service we provide to charities, as it gives us more diversity of experience and thought in our projects.
An inclusive community culture that encourages diverse input will make our work better — and enable us to bring a broader spectrum of perspectives to the charities we work with, including best approaches to data ethics. We kicked off our DEI work this summer — this is what we’ve done so far.
Starting the work
At our first workshop with the staff team and representatives of the volunteer community, led by an independent consultant, we discussed key values and aspirations for our future community building.
One of the goals in our Strategy is a thriving community that is ‘open to difference, and proactively seeks out diversity of viewpoints, skill sets and backgrounds’. We talked about what this means to us:
A safe space and a wonderful place that feels like home to our community.
Collaborative, supportive, cooperative.
Easy to navigate, transparent, and accessible.
Transformative, thoughtful, and impactful.
Brave enough to stand up for our values and for others.
A visible, leading example that inspires other communities and charities — we mean what we say.
More diverse and inclusive than the overall data science profession.
Of course, it’s easy to make a dream list! We were able to group these into some key themes.
Increase diversity meaningfully
DEI is a long-term commitment that must be part of who we are and how we work.
Some groups are underserved in the vital and growing data science profession, and we want to do our part to shift attitudes and support people from minority communities. Kindness is in our name, and this means being thoughtful about how we make things better both in the data profession and in the social sector, particularly for under-represented groups.
Improving the diversity of our community must happen in a meaningful, not performative, way that accounts for and celebrates intersectional identities. Asking people to volunteer already creates barriers for certain groups who have lower earnings, less available time, or caring/parenting responsibilities. We want to ensure we can tap into 100% of the talent that’s available out there, and show that we value a spectrum of talents and skills, while respecting our own Theory of Change as a charity, and understanding our own constraints.
Get better data
It’s hard for us to measure the impact of our DEI work meaningfully at present. While we can make some assumptions about the data science sector and our volunteer community’s makeup, data on the diversity of the sector is patchy, making it hard (but not impossible!) to benchmark ourselves.
What we know about the diversity and experiences of existing volunteers is based on observation only, hence this project. We want to improve the way we examine the diversity of our volunteers and partners, and be transparent about what data we capture and why.
Collaborate
We want to lead by example as a charity that drives positive impact across other charities and communities. We are part of a diverse ecosystem of peers and allies, and aim to collaborate and partner with organisations that share our ambition to ensure the data science profession is welcoming and supportive of all.
Improve accessibility
We will continue to put in place accessibility and visibility measures to make our events and opportunities as inclusive as possible, for instance providing documentation and information in accessible formats. We plan to document our processes more clearly by, for example, developing and publishing an accessibility guide.
Improve transparency
We understand that data science is not suitable for every situation, and we’re open about it.
We will clearly communicate what we do, how we do it, and why. We’ll set out what partners can expect from us, and give potential and current volunteers what they need to meaningfully engage with us.
What next?
There are certain barriers facing us in making commitments to ensure equity is actively thought about for all of DataKind UK’s resources and community needs. We’re a small organisation and don’t currently have the reach to tap into the diversity of the data scientists of today and the future. We’ve started the process with research within our community — in the form of listening circles and a survey — to guide us in deciding what we should prioritise.
Our next step will be to create an action plan that embeds DEI into our community building. We’ll carry on sharing our thinking as it develops, and continue to involve our incredible community.
As our team and impact grows, we want our board, staff, and volunteers to share this commitment so that we can attract more collaborators, partners, and community members who share our values. We may be passionate about DEI for different reasons, but we are all on this journey together.
