A week of celebrations: International, regional, and local speakers connect on week-long inclusion event

Our Partnership is bringing together local, regional, and international speakers for a week-long celebration from Monday 4 to Friday 8 October. The week will showcase the work taking place across the area to connect on inclusion, whilst celebrating diversity within its workforce, learning from others, and highlighting the positive difference made when all come together. Coordinated by the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership (WY&H HCP) Race Equality Network online event speakers include Cllr Shabir Pandor, Leader of Kirklees Council, our Partnership Inclusion Lead and Rob Webster, our CEO. 

King’s Fund and Professor at Lancaster University Michael West CBE; Dr Habib Naqvi MBE Director, NHS Race and Health Observatory; Jenni Douglas-Todd, Director of Equality and Inclusion at NHS England and Nadine Pemberton all the way from St Lucia will take part amongst many others. As a previous Executive Director of Legal for Social Work England and current consultant coach and mentor, Nadine will be sharing her leadership journey.

Other speakers include Monique Carayol, Founder and Managing Director of Your New Avenue, previous NHS Director of Strategy and Transformation and Helen Bevan, Chief Transformation Officer, NHS Horizons

The week-long event, held using digital technology, will recognise WY&H HCP’s approach to championing diversity, inclusivity, and equality, whilst setting out the difference made since it launched its race review in October 2020 into the impact of COVID-19 on minority ethnic communities and colleagues.  This includes an award winning Fellowship leadership programme, which was informed by the WY&H HCP Race Equality Network and a coproduced anti-racism movement with the West Yorkshire Violence Reduction Unit and over 550 partner organisations/ community allies.  

Network members are now on key decision-making forums, with representation on interview panels and are supporting the development of a health inequality fellowship, The Network has also been involved in the West Yorkshire Vaccine Programme to encourage take up. Other examples include a toolkit for recording ethnicity being embedded within the WY&H HCP Development Framework.

Register on Eventbrite by Monday 27 September.

You can read the programme for the week-long event here. 

Read some of our guest speaker profiles and biographies here.

Recognising those who are 'Connected on Inclusion'

An inaugural race equality awards ceremony will close the week-long event and will give us the opportunity to mark the progress made by colleagues over the last few years. You'll find more information about the awards ceremony, the different award categories and how to submit a nomination on the Race Equality Awards page here.