Anti Racism - Our Commitment

Our Actions & Commitments

Commitments moving forward - 2021 and beyond
Updated 30/10/21

1. Continue to improve our workplace inclusivity

One of our immediate goals has been to diversify our team and hire more Black and non-Black POC into the business. While the UK’s population is currently 86% White, 7.5% Asian. 3.3% Black and 2.2% Mixed Ethnicity (2011 Consensus), our team needs to reflect our wider community.

Currently our workplace diversity is 17.9% Black and non-black POC (of 102 employees), and we are running annual equality monitoring reports to continue tracking our progress. Although we have made improvements in this area, our work is ongoing. We now liaise with non-mainstream, diversity-focused recruitment platforms, where all external vacancies are published exclusively for a period of time before they open to wider channels. We also include an addendum with our external adverts, stipulating that we seek to work with people based on an equitable model*, and actively encouraging people from marginalised and maligned groups to apply for these positions. It is now also a requirement that all interviews for external vacancies include non-white candidates.

*Equitable models are designed to compensate for the lack of a level playing field in the fashion industry at-large given the structural and systemic injustices that disproportionately affect marginalised and maligned groups. These groups are vast, but include Indigenous people, Black people, People of Colour, women, queer & LGBTQ+ people, disabled people, people living in poverty, and immigrants & refugees.

2. Flexible working to remove barriers 

Geographical location can affect the diversity of candidates that apply for roles that are office based. In 2020 we moved to a 4 day working week to improve employee wellbeing, allowing our team to spend more of their time at home. Along with this all new roles that are advertised have flexibility built in, with the most common being office based 2 days per week and home working 2 days per week. Since introducing this we have seen more diversity in our applications and hires. 

3. External Advisory

We work with external advisors on an individual basis if projects or business decisions require consultancy. We seek this advice to discuss topics such as race, inclusivity, diversity, accessibility, ethics and sustainability with an intersectional lens. This ensures that our initiatives are both in keeping with our brand mission and align with wider, ongoing social justice issues.

4. Champion and invest in creatives and businesses owned by People of Colour

We work with many amazing artists and creatives, from print designs, to models and content creation, and last year we made it our goal to actively seek and collaborate with more Black and POC creatives.

Of all planned print/artist collaborations for the next 12 months Black and POC artists from around the world account for 48%, and we have an ambition to increase this moving forward. If you’re a budding artist, we would love to hear from you! You can contact our Production team directly at artists@lucyandyak.com*.

Our Creative team have been working even harder to ensure that we have a more diverse portfolio of models that we regularly collaborate with, and have increased our representation.

With regards to social media and digital marketing, we are mindful of always ensuring that we are representative of as many experiences, voices and talents as possible. We always welcome new opportunities to work with fantastic individuals; if you’re a content creator, creative, activist, dancer (and anything else in-between) you can reach our Marketing team at collabs@lucyandyak.com* - be sure to give us as much info as you can on your collaboration idea!

* Please note that we receive a high volume of requests at this address, and this inbox is monitored by a small team. We’re so grateful to everyone who reaches out to us, but we are unable to respond to every request we receive.

5. Use our voice and provide our platform

Lucy & Yak was founded on inclusivity and the empowerment of all individuals. We are committed to supporting community-led projects at every level, and we will continue to champion, actively participate in, and amplify the efforts of grassroots initiatives wherever possible.

We always welcome the opportunity to do better, and have implemented our Positive Change team who collect any feedback from our community to share with relevant departments, as well as our Advisory Panel. You can reach the team via positivechange@lucyandyak.com.

  1. Continued Education
    Anti-racist work is an active rejection of racism in all its forms. Anti-racism is not a destination; it's a journey. To be anti-racist as a company, we must collectively continue this work and prioritise these conversations, using our platform to increase awareness. Education is one of the best and most important ways we can continue to do this, and to keep challenging ourselves and empower our employees.
  2. Our Donations
    Over 2021 we have made charitable donations and championed initiatives supporting anti-racist work. Last year, we set up a dedicated charitable giving fund that we use for extemporary donations; alongside this, we have donated to Loveland Foundation and Black Minds Matter UK.
  3. Listen
    We are still listening, and always learning. Sometimes this will feel uncomfortable, and sometimes we’ll get it wrong, but we are committed to the journey and to doing better.

    If you have any feedback, ideas or suggestions, we value every contribution! Please get in touch by sending us an email via positivechange@lucyandyak.com.

    Looking for Black-owned businesses to support? Check out our Indie Brand Directory of Black-owned businesses, and our directory of Black Creatives, Platforms, Consultants and Educators. For notable charities, petitions, and incredible individuals to follow on social media, we’ve compiled a directory of resources here.

UK

Stand Against Racism and Inequality - A service user/community-oriented agency that provides support and advice to victims of hate, and promotes equality and good relations between people with protected characteristics as defined by law. 

Kick It Out / @kickitout - English football’s equality and inclusion organisation. Working throughout the football, educational and community sectors to challenge discrimination, encourage inclusive practices and campaign for positive change, Kick It Out is at the heart of the fight against discrimination for everyone who plays, watches or works in football.

Show Racism the Red Card / @showracismtheredcard - The UK’s largest anti-racism educational charity. It was established in January 1996, thanks in part to a donation by then Newcastle United goalkeeper Shaka Hislop. 

Runnymede Trust / @runnymedetrust - The UK's leading independent race equality think tank. They generate intelligence to challenge race inequality in Britain through research, network building, leading debate, and policy engagement. Runnymede is working to build a Britain in which all citizens and communities feel valued, enjoy equal opportunities, lead fulfilling lives, and share a common sense of belonging.

The Black Curriculum / @theblackcurriculum - A social enterprise that aims to deliver black British history all across the UK. They run a variety of virtual and in-person programmes to schools, young people and corporations to promote the importance of Black history. They also have a curriculum and develop free and licensable resources for schools to teach students about Black history.

DAYLDN (Dear Asian Youth London) / @dearasianyouthlondon - DAYLDN’s aim is to educate and empower British Asian youth and communities, to uplift the British Asian identity, and ultimately to fight our misrepresentation in mainstream media.

Glamour Magazine - Stop Asian Hate

Glamour Magazine - Xenophobia During Coronavirus

 

Safety

YoungMinds - Racism and Mental Health

Reporting an Issue on Social Media 

Report a Hate Crime via True Vision


US

Anti-Asian Violence Resources

Stop Asian Hate / @stopasianhate - a work-in-progress space to centralise information and important links in support of the #StopAsianHate movement.

The Strategist - 68 Ways to Donate in Support of Asian Communities 

 

How to be an Active Bystander 

Hollaback - Bystander Intervention to Stop Hate-Based Harassment