DE & I
Lessons in DEI & B
Catie Owen interviews Ray Rhodes , head of inclusion and diversity , RX , about the exhibition organiser ’ s new Race Equality Matters Bronze Trailblazer Status
hat drives your
W passion for your role at RX ? This work is extremely important , and very personal to me . I grew up in a very conservative culture where I was ‘ othered ’ from a very early age . Being a gay young man where I grew up , in a rural area of the southern United States , was dangerous . I was forced deep into the closet .
As I progressed through my career , presenting as a straight man , I worked hard to disguise my identity , and over time , it became a great source of sadness and despair for me . A couple of close friends and colleagues at work recognised that something was wrong and supported me through the “ coming out ” process . They didn ’ t know it at the time , but they quite literally saved my life .
In the past , I would hear colleagues casually make ignorant statements about people , and over time I found that sharing my story and actively engaging in promoting Diversity , Equity , Inclusion , and Belonging ( DEI & B ) programming in the workplace has taken away that destructive power that others held over me for so long . I work every day to ensure ALL our employees know that they belong at RX , that their unique perspectives are treasured , and that , no matter what they are facing outside of the workplace , RX is a safe place to be .
Above : Ray Rhodes , head of inclusion and diversity , RX
What was the process behind achieving the Race Equality Matters Bronze Trailblazer Status ? We have a remarkable global executive sponsor for race and ethnicity , Alinne Rosa , who is also the head of HR for RX Americas . We were seeking ways of measuring our efforts and opportunities for creating a more psychologically safe environment , increasing representation of People of Colour in our workforce , and improving the diversity of our candidate pipeline . Race Equality Matters provided us with a great vehicle for steering our work .
Alinne navigated a lengthy application process , detailing our efforts to promote race and ethnicity inclusion and equality over the past few years . Our application was reviewed by a panel of diverse judges from across the world , and we received invaluable feedback from the panel to help shape our strategy to achieve the next level of status .
What drove RX to want to achieve the Status ? We weren ’ t driven by the promise of an ‘ award ’. Our DEI & B strategy is built around regularly exploring who we are and who we want to be and identifying actions to help us continually improve over time . We now have a better sense of what we ’ re doing well and have identified some meaningful opportunities to expand our levels of support to colleagues across the globe . The tiered achievement approach that Race Equality Matters enables us to thoughtfully pace our progress towards long-term behavioural and cultural change .
What is RX doing to progress to the higher Status levels ? In the past , we ’ ve placed quite a
www . exhibitionworld . co . uk Issue 5 2023 65