Posted on July 08, 2021
As Senior Partner of Abel + Imray I, Jim Pearson, make the following pledges to demonstrate my personal commitment to improving Diversity and Inclusivity (“D&I”) in our firm and in the IP profession as a whole.
Below is a list of what I commit to, and how I will demonstrate this commitment.
Providing visible and proactive leadership to improve D&I in my organisation
- Being personally involved in, and contributing to, D&I projects and events
- Publicising my commitment in regular corporate communications, both internally and externally (including publicising this pledge!)
- Acting as an ally to, and champion for, colleagues from under- represented groups
Taking D&I seriously at the highest level
- Encouraging and supporting partners and managers in our firm to invest time in D&I work
- Acting as a D&I champion at partnership level
- Making sure that D&I is included as a standing item on the agendas of our Executive Board meetings and our full partnership meetings
Embedding and valuing D&I throughout the organisational culture
- Building and maintaining a culture in which the whole of our firm is involved in the quest for D&I
- Encouraging and allowing time for staff to work on D&I-related projects and training (including outreach and wellbeing initiatives)
- Ensuring that internal communications regularly include D&I-related content
Building trust and safe spaces throughout the organisation
- Continuing to support our internal D&I Committee by:
- ensuring that our D&I Committee continues to have representatives from different roles and levels within our firm
- as senior partner of the firm, participating in our D&I Committee meetings, and ensuring links with our Executive Board and partners meetings
- Encouraging staff, at all levels, to bring their whole selves to work and speak openly about their identities and life outside work, and leading by example where I can
Educating myself and my colleagues about D&I issues
- Promoting and supporting allyship, privilege awareness and unconscious bias awareness for staff at all levels, including board/partnership level
- Ensuring that we continue to mark within our firm D&I-related awareness dates (e.g. LGBT+ History Month, Black History Month, International Women's Day) and encouraging staff to learn about and mark those dates
Sharing my privileges
- Encouraging and supporting in our firm outreach / mentoring projects to improve access to the IP professions and working where appropriate with outreach charities and community interest groups
- Widening the channels through which we advertise vacancies in our firm Ensuring that our firm continues to support and be involved with IP Inclusive’s Careers in Ideas outreach initiative (www.ipinclusive.org.uk/careers-in-ideas)
Insisting on equity
- Promoting and supporting fair, diversity-enhancing recruitment and promotion procedures throughout our firm
- Monitoring D&I stats for our firm and regularly evaluating our HR processes and other policies for their impact on D&I levels in our firm, and making improvements where we can
Working closely with HR and/or management colleagues to achieve this
- Involving HR personnel in our D&I Committee
- Encouraging and supporting our HR personnel in effecting D&I-related changes in our firm
Jim Pearson
Senior Partner, Abel + Imray 8 July 2021
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