26 Oct 2021

Join techUK's Skills & Diversity Council

Do you work for a techUK member organisation? Applications are now open for techUK's Skills and Diversity Council.

Are you working hard to promote future skills and diversity in your organisation and across our sector? Perhaps you should consider applying for the techUK Skills and Diversity Council

techUK launched the Skills and Diversity Council at the beginning of 2018 following the merge of both the Women in Tech Council and the Skills, Talent and Migration Group. The Council aims to support the wider diversity and inclusion agenda in the tech sector and take concrete steps on helping the UK develop skills for the modern economy.

The Council brings together some of the most influential networks and people working across the industry to champion diversity in tech, relating to: ethnicity, LGBTQ+, disability, neurodiversity, social mobility and gender. In addition, the Council discusses new approaches which help to address the skills gap today and in the future, including successful multi stakeholder partnerships, innovative recruitment strategies and lifelong learning.

Current companies on the council include: Accenture, Atos, BAE Systems, Cisco, Costain, EY, Experis, FUJITSU, Huawei Technologies, Lewis Silkin LLP, Leyton UK, MeVitae, Micro Focus, Oracle, Sanderson, Thales, VISA, Valtech.

The techUK Skills & Diversity Council has contributed to several reports, research projects, and consultation responses to influence relevant government policies through lobbying and policy development including on the National Data Strategy, AI skills in the National AI Strategy, the House of Lords living online: the long-term impact on wellbeing inquiry, and more. The Council has also helped to organise or provide speakers for a number of events and webinars.

The Council has produced a best practice report on Gender Pay Gap reporting, expanded techUK’s Returners Hub which supports those who have taken career breaks to return to work in the tech sector, and continued to support initiatives like the Tech Talent Charter, Colorintech’s BlackTechFest, and WISE Campaign’s My Skills My Life, an online platform which provides girls with female role models in STEM and demystifies career pathways into tech aimed at moving the dial towards gender parity in STEM. The Council has provided insights and blog posts on a range of skills and diversity topics, spoken at external conferences, and has continued supporting the initiatives from the previous year.

In 2022, the Council will focus on taking forward the seven recommendations highlighted in it’s flagship skills report Fast Forward for Digital Jobs and focus on techUK's ongoing commitment to improving diversity and inclusion in the tech sector.

If you have enthusiasm or expertise in any of these areas and would like to contribute to the Council’s work then we want to hear from you!

To apply for this council, please request the Council Terms of Reference and Nomination Form from Nimmi Patel.

Nomination forms should be submitted to Nimmi by 17:00 Monday 6 December 2021. Successful applicants to be notified by close of play on Wednesday 8 December.

Nimmi Patel

Nimmi Patel

Head of Skills, Talent and Diversity, techUK

Nimmi Patel is the Head of Skills, Talent and Diversity at techUK.

She works on all things skills, education, and future of work policy, focusing on upskilling and retraining. Nimmi is also an Advisory Board member of Digital Futures at Work Research Centre (digit). The Centre research aims to increase understanding of how digital technologies are changing work and the implications for employers, workers, job seekers and governments.

Prior to joining the team, she worked for the UK Labour Party and New Zealand Labour Party, and holds an MA in  Strategic Communications at King’s College London and BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of Manchester.

Email:
[email protected]
Phone:
07805744520
Twitter:
@nimmiptl
Website:
www.techuk.org
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nimmi-patel1/

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Diversity and Inclusion

Diversity and inclusion sits at the heart of digital growth. The tech sector understands that innovation thrives from diversity of thought and is continually looking to attract, recruit and retain a diverse workforce. techUK is proud to support a number of initiatives that promote this, from doing outreach work to ensure that people regardless of their background are inspired into tech, to initiatives that help build more inclusive workplaces for those with different accessibility needs.

Find out more