Making Room for Discomfort – Part 2

Page published on 25th June 2024
Page last modified on 25th June 2024

 

Allyship is an activity, not an identity. It isn’t always easy and sometimes it will take us outside our comfort zones. In a recent IP Inclusive event, we provided reassurance, inspiration and plenty of practical guidance for people who aspire to be better allies. 

 

This year IP Inclusive’s focus has been on Allyship and our regional networks. To this end we have been developing an idea of an IP Inclusive Roadshow, a series of hybrid events around the country, all focusing on allyship, but with each event pairing with a different community to give a unique aspect. Our 23 April 2024 event, “Help! How do I start a conversation on EDI?”, aimed to kickstart the project with an inspiring keynote speech from Trainee Patent Attorney Holly Redman, and a panel featuring representatives from all our communities. These included Isobel Barry from IP Out, Marianne Privett from IP Ability and IPause, Lucy Coe from Women in IP, Fionnuala Richardson from IP Futures and Lianne da Cunha from IP & ME.  The chair was Parminder Lally. You can read more about Holly’s speech in a previous blog post. 

 

We were kindly hosted by Mills and Reeve at their Cambridge office, and Appleyard Lees contributed to the refreshments. 

 

Q: What does allyship look like for your community and what are you focusing on this year?

For most of the IP Inclusive communities their focus is around raising awareness of the issues their members face. To this end Lucy Coe from Women in IP stressed the importance of making allies aware they are welcome to attend community events, and in fact actively inviting them. On behalf of IP Ability, Marianne Privett acknowledged their unique position as a community anyone might join at some point in their life, and so the importance of raising awareness not just in general, but also specifically with employers about what they can do to improve access. IP & ME, IP Ability and IP Out are moving towards holding more “Lunch and Learn” events to educate people, whilst Fionnuala Richardson from IP Futures spoke about helping junior members of the profession to build confidence, develop networking skills and make connections. Isobel Barry from IP Out explained that there is opportunity for those under different parts of the LGBQTIA+ umbrella to be allies to each other, as they can face very different issues. She also spoke about IP Out’s focus on transgender issues this year due to the current hostile climate.  

 

Q: What issues do you find as allies and as leaders of these groups keep coming up? 

Both Marianne and Lianne discussed the problem of “convincing the already convinced.” Those who attend education events are likely already engaged in the issues, and they need to find a way to reach the next circle of people. Lucy also raised the issue of time; it is difficult to find the time to be an ally to all groups and people may face the decision of whether to be a less active ally for all, or a more active ally for a selected group. This can be even more of an issue for junior members of the profession as they are under pressure to log billable hours and may be less confident about taking time off to attend events. 

 

Q: Talk about what your organisations are doing to enable and support allies. 

All of the organisations represented have some kind of EDI task force or committee. Starting small and gradually adding more communities has been found to be more effective than trying to do everything at once. For some, making a lot of noise with lots of communications about big events has been effective at getting discussions started. It is also important to have information on EDI in starter packs, so new starters know from the moment they walk in the door that this is something they can be part of. Using internal social media to share posts and topics can also get conversations going, and when topics are popular it can even lead to new groups and policies being introduced. Varied events from movie nights to book clubs and coffee groups, at different times of day and in person and online can encourage different people to engage. Publicising the successes of an EDI task force can also increase motivation and engagement. 

 

Q: What can you do as someone more junior to get the conversation started?

Start small. Little changes can lead to bigger ones! Try to get involved in a committee or do something in collaboration with a partner or someone else senior. Working with a group will lead to strength in numbers. One organisation has an associate group that meets once a month, partner free, for sharing ideas and suggestions. A representative will share the comments anonymously – you could start a similar group. 

 

Q: As someone more senior, how do you tackle allyship? 

Being mouthy helps! Having the confidence in your convictions and having thick skin. Don’t respond immediately to defensive emails but take time to cool down. Point to external resources such as Stonewall or the South Asian Heritage Month website. Show you are a person people can talk to, for example by sharing something on the intranet or having an IP Inclusive postcard on the door. 

 

Q: Often it is women coming to events and women leading up initiatives. How do you get a more diverse group coming to events? 

Bring a friend to events and directly ask people to come along. Junior attorneys and those in support roles may not feel they have permission to take time out of their day to attend ED&I events: make this explicit to them. It is particularly important to encourage junior members, as the fear factor of doing something you don’t usually do can be considerable. Better still, go with them so they have someone they know there.

 

Q: What happens if you get something wrong?

Don’t let the fear of getting something wrong be a barrier. Simply acknowledge the mistake, apologise and learn from it. Be aware that if somebody reacts angrily it may be due to a number of factors such as repeated microaggressions or a flare up of a condition that day.

If you are the person offended, try not to be angry, just explain why, for example, a term isn’t used anymore and be supportive. Try not to discourage allies. 

Terms can be specific to communities or individuals – maybe ask what term they prefer, but if you make a mistake correct it. Try to soften it with a preface such as “sorry to have to ask this”, or “I’m not sure if this is the right term but”.

 

Q: How can you have these conversations in a small group where everyone is an ally, and there are no members of these communities?

You could get an outside speaker, or watch a video (a TED talk perhaps) about a specific experience, to bring in the perspective you need and then discuss it as a learning experience together. Just because there is no one in the firm in that community now doesn’t mean there won’t be in the future and you still need policies in place. 

 

Summary

As part of our 2023-2025 business plan, IP Inclusive are focusing on allyship, what more we can do, how we can be better allies, and what people with protected characteristics want and need from allies. You can see a collection of our webinars on allyship as a playlist on our YouTube channel (see below). Taking it further though, we are working on allyship guidelines and an EDI starter pack; watch this space! 

As touched on during the panel discussion, one of the problems our communities face is how to avoid “preaching to the converted” and reach new audiences. It is so important for allies to be involved, attend these events and know that such events are for everyone not just people in that community. So go on, sign up for an event with a community you have never approached before, bring a friend too, step outside of your comfort zone and start learning!