Our 2023 annual report

2023: Evolution and heritage

A year that saw reduced activity in some areas, but expansion and renewal in many others, served to remind us of IP Inclusive’s heritage: how it began, what drives its development, and why it works so well.

IP Inclusive provides a nucleus around which IP professionals can gather to collaborate on the EDI-related issues that affect them, a mechanism for both coordinating and empowering their responses to those issues. It follows that as IP professionals’ priorities change, so too must IP Inclusive’s. And because our networks are set up and driven by the people they support, we must adapt as the need for them changes. Sometimes that means being bold about pruning back in some parts to strengthen growth in others, about welcoming new volunteers as others take a step back. After all, facilitating change is why we exist.

These are issues addressed by our Lead Executive Officer Andrea Brewster in her foreword to our 2023 Annual Report, which we are delighted to publish here. It covers a year in which we completed our popular Inclusivity Unlocked! programme, welcomed large numbers of potential recruits through our Summer of IP outreach campaign, and expanded our menopause support work. We have seen new leadership in our IP & ME and Women in IP communities, new members of our governing body IP Inclusive Management (IPIM) and increased capacity in our executive team. We have a new two-year business plan, with a strong focus on allyship, which we embark on with confidence. We’re looking forward to continuing that journey with you!

To find out more about IP Inclusive’s 2023 activities, please take a look at the full 2023 Annual Report. You can also download, separately, Andrea Brewster’s foreword and our 2023 Financial Report.

Our 2024 annual meeting…

…will be on Tuesday 16 April. This year it will have a hybrid format, in-person in London and also online, and we are grateful to our kind hosts Allen & Overy for making that possible.

Please save the date, and keep an eye on our website events page for more details and a sign-up link.

As usual, everyone who works in or with the UK’s IP sector, whatever their role, is welcome to attend. We’d love you to be there to help us celebrate our 2023 work and shape the next twelve months’ plans.