NESsT and BNY Mellon hosted a discussion panel dedicated to building diversity in the workplace and improving training and employment of underrepresented women and underserved youth in high-growth careers
On October 3rd, NESsT portfolio social enterprises, business representatives and the Lower Silesian Center for Social Policy met at the headquarters of BNY Mellon in Wrocław, Poland. During the Social Impact Challenge, both entrepreneurs and business representatives had a chance to discuss their mentoring needs, their challenges and possible cooperation. These were our key take aways:
Achieving Diversity in the Workplace
Diversity is not only a matter of building diversity in the workplace. It also includes social suppliers and social companies in the supply chain. The experience of NESsT entrepreneurs (e.g. the Being Together Foundation or Future Collars) shows that one of the biggest obstacles in achieving diversity are long-term decision-making processes in large organizations. In Wrocław, organizations are working to mitigate this problem through cooperation of companies within the Responsible Business Laboratory, championing active involvement of employees in volunteering, and cross-sectoral cooperation.
NESsT team brainstorms with BNY Mellon representatives and business leaders during the Social Impact Challenge.
Supporting Underserved Youth: Talent Recruitment, Mobility and Mentoring
BNY Mellon shared best practices in supporting underserved youth in the workplace. The first place is recruitment, e.g. workshops for high schools where BNY representatives highlight expectations of working for a corporation. The next is encouraging employees to work in various areas, giving them the opportunity to practice in other departments. A critical next step for ongoing support is incorporating mentoring programs, where juniors receive the necessary support from a senior specialist in a given field. An example is the current cooperation of the MożeszITy Foundation with Credit Suisse.
Lifting Up Women and Working Parents
NESsT’s Filip Wadowski works with our BNY Mellon partners to lead discussion on supporting re-entering parents in the workplace.
Participating business representatives discussed the critical need for training programs for women returning to the labor market after maternity leave. Examples of programs supporting this work in Poland are the IT Woman Champions program, Mentoring Walk, and Start It Mum. There is also a crucial need for championing a stable work-life balance through programs supporting working parents. BNY Mellon discussed their support of this through their office building’s Nursery.
Looking Forward: Our Social Enterprises
NESsT acknowledges the important work our partners are doing to support diversity in the workplace. It is through their support and collaboration in Poland that our social enterprises in the country have been successful: Coder’s Lab has been pivotal in supporting youth across all levels of education in programming skills so that they can build a career in Poland’s IT sector. Dimpact is a social enterprise that offers affordable training packages that provide young people and women with specialized skills and hands-on training to help jumpstart their careers in the BPO/IT industry. Siedlisko trains and employs youth with intellectual disabilities and long-term unemployed people as caregivers of the residents as well as in running the catering and laundry services.
Interested in joining the NESsT portfolio?
NESsT is hosting an open call for social enterprises in Peru and Colombia seeking debt capital.