Black Lives Matter

A statement from our CEO Brendan Sarsfield.

Published: 11/06/2020

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The appalling murder of George Floyd and the subsequent protests around the world have moved us all. Many have been moved to speak out against racism, and many others moved to action on the streets of our city. 

Peabody is an ethnically diverse organisation, and I've heard from many colleagues who are rightly angry and distressed about the inequalities and iniquities in our society. I share those feelings, and on behalf of Peabody, stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. We stand with our employees and all those in our communities who say that change must come as a result of all this. Enough is enough.

I wrote to all our employees last week expressing this and am grateful to the many people who responded to me to express their thoughts, ideas and support for colleagues who have talked about their own personal experiences of racism.  These discussions and reflections on where we are as an organisation are vital, and there is a role for us as individuals to learn more about these issues and how they affect people’s lives.  

I want to reaffirm our commitment to all our employees, all our residents and customers, and everyone we work with, that equality, inclusivity and diversity is first on our list of priorities. We are nothing without our employees, and they must all have equal opportunities to progress and succeed with Peabody regardless of their ethnicity.

We aren’t as diverse at senior level as we should be yet, but we have been making improvements. We're working to eradicate unconscious bias through recruitment. We will ensure that every shortlist for recruitment to senior positions at Peabody includes someone from a Black, Asian or Ethnic Minority (BAME) background. Diversity and inclusion training for all our managers is also designed to drive progress in this area. Our BAME Employee Network is an integral part of Peabody and we are looking to strengthen its remit.  We are signed up to Leadership 2025 which commits us to having greater diversity in our leadership team, and our talent management strategy is helping us identify BAME Heads of Service, Leaders and Trustees. 

This is only a flavour of what we’re doing, and we have more to do to ensure our workforce fully reflects the diversity of the communities we serve. But we are committed to it, wholeheartedly.

We must step up efforts to champion diversity and difference in our teams, promote fairness and equality, and make sure that we as an organisation stand together with our people to eradicate racism and bias wherever we find it.

Peabody Chief Executive Brendan Sarsfield