It is a well-known fact that when senior business leaders are focused on agreed priorities then there is nowhere to hide when it comes to making progress. Senior sponsorship is, in fact, one of the most critical aspects when driving cultural change and building a more inclusive workplace for disabled employees.

But what are the core characteristics required of senior Disability Champions / Executive Sponsors? How can we learn from some of the best? How do they notice the big-ticket issues and work in partnership with the organisation’s network/resource group? And as we enter the next stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, and organisations start to make plans for what that means for their people, what do Senior Champions need to take account of?

In addition, we turn the focus on Allies – and ask ourselves, ‘What do we want our Allies to Do?’

Don’t forget, we are fully digital, and our learning and development programme offers something for everyone, wherever you are based and whatever sector you work in: whether you have been running a network/resource group for years and looking for some fresh ideas, or part of a brand new start up network/resource group.  

As ever, we offer you the opportunity to take up one of the challenges for the month ahead. This month, why not do one of the following?: 

• Say thanks to an existing Ally: one of the traits of great Allies is that they aren’t in it for the thanks … and yet they deserve it. So let’s give our Allies a clap by thanking them and noticing the amazing work that they do. We have produced a graphic for you to use throughout the month so that you can join in the digital party as we thank great allies around the world.
• Tell us about an unsung Disability Champion hero: we see it as part of our work to help you showcase your work and progress – the more we do it, the more skilled the community becomes in driving cultural change. So come and join us on the Member Zone and tell us about your Champion ‘heroes’
• Remind yourself about the role of the Disability Champion: take a look at our template role description.

This month's must reads

In the June issues of ‘Spotlight On’ Communications and Marketing Officer Lauren Pemberton-Nelson interviews Annette Moody, Group Governance IT Director, Serco, and later this month, she will interview Patrick Stephenson, Senior Disability Sponsor at Fujitsu.

And of course, we have a range of specific resources to help you through the month including:

Purple Champions & Allies Leaders’ Guide – first produced in 2017, this publication offers a good ‘all round’ description of the role and value of Champions and Allies

Purple Champion Leadership Model– produced in 2019, in partnership with Iain Wilkie, founder of 50 Million Voices, this publication shares some of the key competences of Disability Champions / Executive Sponsors

25 Ways to be an Ally – launching this month. This is a new summary resource brimming with ideas on how to build or refresh your own Allies programme – full of suggestions about the things that allies can do to be helpful, engaged and active.

This month's must attend events

On 24th June, we host What Makes a Great Champion webinar, chaired by Patrick Stephenson. He will interview three senior Disability Champions about their work and areas of focus, including Serco's Annette Moody and the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy's Karl Hoods. This is a brilliant opportunity to bring your Disability Champion as a plus one – learn together, take notes, plan for the future. Click here to find out more and book your place.

To round the month up, we invite you to join us on Tuesday, 30th June for this month’s peer group learning session focused on Putting Working with you Sponsor/ Champion into Practice.  A small group of network/resource group leaders will have the opportunity to discuss with each other, with help from the expertise of PurpleSpace, how to ensure that their network is making the most of the relationship with its Sponsor/ Champion. 

We have six places available, allocated on a first come, first served, basis to make sure that all attendees are able to get the most from the experience. Click here to secure your place. We have speech to text facility available, if you need it and book in advance. We will post a summary of the key topics we explored on the Member Zone.  

Our new working groups

During the month we will also be announcing the introduction of two new working groups:

ERG Global Forum: where we bring together Network / ERG leads to consider how we can jointly deliver best practice in order to accelerate cultural change for disabled employees around the world.

#PurpleLightUp Reference Group: where we unite members and Ambassadors to plan for a fully digital extravaganza on 3rd December 2020 – highlighting the importance of access in our super-charged digital lives.

And finally…

Have a great month. You are part of a large global community of change agents: day by day, each of you are making the world a better place. So, stay safe, don’t work too hard, play even harder and when it comes to driving disability inclusion don’t forget #You’reDoingItAlready

Find the space you need to feel good about the work you do. PurpleSpace.