An Inclusivity Unlocked! webinar
with the IP Inclusive communities
Tuesday 20 September 2022
12.30 – 1.30 pm
This was our first Inclusivity Unlocked! event, exploring workplace inclusivity in the post-Covid world.
In our April 2022 annual meeting, many of our stakeholders told us they wanted help with post-lockdown working arrangements. This is why we came up with Inclusivity Unlocked!, a banner under which we will be hosting a programme of events and corresponding resources to help organisations build back more inclusively after the pandemic. You can find out more about the project here. There’s also an up-to-date list of scheduled and past events, with links to associated follow-up resources, here.
To kick things off, we were excited to introduce a two-part online panel discussion with representatives from our communities and support networks, sharing their experiences of working arrangements post-Covid and the challenges faced by the people they represent. Together they explore how organisations can make workplaces and working arrangements more inclusive for those groups.
In this first part, we heard from IP & ME, the IP Non-traditional Family Network and IP Out. Part ii of the discussion took place the following week, on Tuesday 27 September: see here.
Meet the panel
Our panellists were:
- Josh McLennon (IP & ME), who is a trainee patent attorney at Kilburn & Strode
- Kevin Rich (IP Out), who is a patent attorney at Potter Clarkson
- Janine Swarbrick (the IP Non-traditional Family Network), who is a senior patent attorney at HGF
The discussion was chaired by IP Inclusive intern Susan Nelson, who is coordinating the Inclusivity Unlocked! campaign.
Who was it for?
This event was open to all UK-based IP professionals – no matter their role or seniority or where they worked – who are interested in understanding more about how workplaces and working arrangements can be made more inclusive post-Covid. The discussions were likely to be of particular value to those involved in HR and office management, and also to anyone who wants to be an ally for colleagues in less well-represented groups.
We invited attendees to bring a guest along too – someone in a different role or at a different career level, perhaps; an ally or potential ally; or a colleague who’s not yet involved with IP Inclusive. They were all most welcome!
Follow-up resources
A recording of the webinar is available here, and a report of both the part i and part ii events here.
Click on the images below to download some top practical tips we’ve distilled from the two events, for organisations, individuals and managers.
A list of all Inclusivity Unlocked! events and resources is available here, and the full compilation of “top tips” here. If you’d like to have your say on themes or formats for future events in the series, please let us know via our short survey.
Cost
This event was free. So are all our resources. We think it’s important to keep IP Inclusive on the right side of the paywall.
That said, we do need money to keep the show on the road, so if you enjoyed the event please consider contributing to our 2022-23 fundraising campaign. For more information – including about corporate donations – visit our fundraising page.