Approach
Social Investment Business (SIB) plays a leading role in increasing sector diversity and inclusion – including in being a founding partner and organisational host to the Diversity Forum and Equality Impact Investing Project. SIB also worked with sector partners to launch the Diversity Data dashboard – which publicly demonstrates whether funds are supporting Black and racialised communities.
SIB has made strides in adapting its investment processes to try to eliminate biases that might hinder funding from reaching marginalised people and communities.
Why is this work important?
SIB’s vision is for an equal society that funds a more widely distributed social economy, with more diverse leadership. This is embedded into its mission, culture and business strategy.
Lessons learned
In 2021, SIB found there were a low number of successful Black and racialised community applicants for the Resilience and Recovery Loan Fund (RRLF). This led to the creation of the Flexible Finance Programme in partnership with Create Equity and The Ubele Initiative.
SIB and Access’s Reach Fund, an investment readiness programme, was also reviewed in 2021 and fund priorities were updated to increase support to organisations in areas of high deprivation (now 63%) and to Black and racialised community-led organisations which went from 8% to 20% following the change in priorities.
Lessons learnt from the pandemic and staff feedback included moving from hybrid working to being a remote, flexible and office-free organisation. This enabled SIB to attract a more diverse workforce from across the UK.
Impact
In SIB’s 2018/19 impact report it acknowledged a need to improve diversity at both board and director level. As of 2024, SIB’s Board is 64% female and 45% Black and racialised; IC is 50% female and 50% Black and racialised; and leadership team is 40% female and 20% Black and racialised. 51% of the UK population is female and 16.7% is Black and racialised [1]. Across BSC’s portfolio Boards are on average 25-50% female and up to 25% Black and racialised; ICs are up to 25% female and 0% Black and racialised (full data set here).
After its review in 2021, SIB’s Flexible Finance programme, in partnership with Access, The Ubele Initiative and Create Equity – a £2 million pot of grant and support funding for Black and racialised businesses has so far increased Resilience and Recovery Loan Fund (RRLF) investments into this cohort of organisations from 4% to 31% in the successor Recovery Loan Fund (RLF).
SIB and Access’s Enterprise Development Programme expanded in 2021 with support from The Ubele Initiative and has so far supported 53 Black and racialised community-led organisations.
[1] Scottish Government Equality Evidence Finder, Office for National Statistics (England and Wales), Northern Ireland Census 2021