Agencies for Good

DEI research (Phase 1)

Dec 2024

Process & Intentions

Contributors

Ray Cooper - Lead researcher

DEI practitioner for 10+ years, community organiser & community researcher, social entrepreneur, with background in tech & product�

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Arfah Farooq - Co-researcher

DEI expert, co-founder of Muslamic makers & Muslim Tech Fest, background in tech & community management�

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Chan Fagan - Accountability partner

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DEI expert, creative freelancer, community-building at Nottingham Contemporary.

Doing the work as we do the work

�When an organisation or community embarks on DEI work it can be easy to delay action - through our approach we’ve purposefully brought in the people currently underrepresented in the AfG space through ensuring research is conducted by and with those currently not represented within AfG.

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Mutually beneficial research

We wanted to ensure that the conversations were not extractive for the purposes of the working group only, so we have met people where they are and ensured that conversations spark thoughts/reflections for them too, supporting some of the existing AfG members to examine their practices around DEI and to reflect on what they most need within the work more generally.

Where does this data & insight come from?

• Existing insight from community managers and charity digital skills report�
• 22 responses to this questionnaire�
• 5 conversations with existing members - 2 freelancers and 3 agency founders (2 people of colour, 1 non-binary autistic person)�
• 5 conversations with people outside the network - 2 agency founders, 3 freelancers (all people of colour, 3 muslim people, 2 lgbt+ people)

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Understanding the reality of the discriminatory ecosystem AfG is part of

"I don’t use my picture on LinkedIn because I’ve noticed that when I do, I get fewer responses or opportunities. It’s not just about them seeing me as a Muslim woman—it’s about the hijab. People see it and immediately make assumptions.

“I set up my agency due to direct experience of discrimination around pronouns when applying for jobs”

“Massive discrepancy from art school and then into an agency - have to mask constantly as an lgbt or neurodivergent person. We have to do a job that is very creative and have to hide who we are”

61% of charities’ have all white senior leadership

“I get used to being the odd one out - you don't realise the little things that you miss”

“A client emailed all staff to tell them I was black and that meant they were doing the diversity thing”

“I never go to the big design awards event. I always get shortlisted but I never attend because… It’s the environment—I just wouldn’t ever go.”

The role of DEI in members work

• Most members are doing work that centres social justice issues - but many feel they lack confidence in particular issues such as youth justice, disability justice, racial justice, trans rights and mad liberation

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• 30% of charities say they are not doing user research with diverse groups*�
• 52% of charities feel that a commitment to DEI is important when choosing digital suppliers*�
• 65% of black-led charities are struggling to find funds to invest in digital infrastructure

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*Data from Charity digital skills report

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What does this mean for what AfG does?

• People will be excluding themselves from this space before they’ve even tried to access it

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• Belonging and safety will only be possible if AfG goes beyond surface level DEI initiatives�
• AfG has to work hard in order to disrupt inequities and power dynamics engrained from the system - and this requires concerted, strategic efforts�
• But it also has the power to be a space that drives change not just in agency culture but also in the charitable and social justice sector.

Culture

Commitment

Value

What are the foundations for building a vibrant and equitable community?

How is it resourcing people?

How do people feel?

What belief systems are centred?

What is the space generating?

What energy do people show up with?

How and why are connections sustained?

What current value is present?

• Expertise specific conversation “I joined because someone asked an accounting question, and now they are a potential supplier for one of my clients”�
• Recommendations for urgent requests “Some good designer recommendations - but would have been more likely to build that network in person”�
• Sharing resources and support: “I posted a project about accessibility - people were very supportive and responsive.”�
• Regular briefs (but usually more techy): “Sharing of briefs that aren’t relevant to us”

How is the potential value being limited?

• Perceptions of the space
• Narrow criteria for membership
• Wide-ranging belief systems disguised under a veneer of uniformity
• Transactional nature of the space

Challenge: Perceptions of the space

• Diversity of working group: “I saw the working group and they are all white.” �
• Most other networks and communities people are part of have events and/or directories. More in person / online meet ups were mentioned multiple times.�
• Solely being a slack community means people get very little sense of it before joining. The best relationships to the space seem to be those connected to existing relationships:�

Challenges: Narrow criteria for membership

• The working group are being very thoughtful about protecting the space from sales pitches and spies (?), but it’s at the detriment to the people you really want to be present feeling confident to join�
• “We work with the NHS, Hackney council etc, spatial justice projects but spotify pays our bills... are we still 'for good'?" (non-member)�

Challenges: Members have wide-ranging belief systems

• “We are brought together by common values so it would be surprising if we regularly find people with a different world view”�
• “AfG needs to be bolder about what we mean by 'for good' - working for charities doesn't necessarily make you 'good'”�
• "Do people have a wealth redistribution strategy - how do bigger agencies build sustainability in this ecosystem outside of themselves?" vs the fact there are a lot of agencies working on social justice issues without a confident anti-oppressive stance on these issues (from survey data)

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Challenges: Transactional nature of the space

• “It felt quite cold… I would just expect a little bit more friendliness…more welcoming… a couple of messages I got were quite blunt…a bit cold..”�
• “Lots of the conversation is very 'techy'”�
• “People aren't discussing the type of work we do, so I don't always have a reason to get involved. (marketing agency)”�
• “Lot of tech briefs, and introductions which are self-promotional and of no value”�
• “It’s difficult to be vulnerable in the space when your competitors are present” “We had a bad dip at the end of last year and I probably wouldn’t share that”�

Opportunities: Build confidence in principles of the community

• Stronger commitments - a charter designed by those currently not engaging “The rules of engagement are bland and meaningless”�
• Clearer (ideally decolonial) articulation of what it means to be ‘for good’ �
• More confidence in the working group/network around management of conflict & consent

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Opportunity: Careful engagement around the topics that matter most

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• Show people what you value about them: “Approach me for my brains - not my abundance of melanin”�
• Facilitate connection on the stuff that makes you ‘for good’
• “I want to hear about qualification of clients from others in this space”
• “Develop resources like a DEI handbook for freelancers and small agencies.”

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• Encourage honest accountability in the sector: “We don't really get to work with "controversial" charities because they are too small to afford agency fees”�
• Identity or specialism specific spaces to build more rapport

Opportunity: Explicit learning and development opportunities that value your members experiences

�Learning /knowledge sharing as a way of bringing people together and giving people an opportunity to demonstrate what they know/their culture�

• As a small agency I need help with how to build a confident team - a team that feels empowered to speak to clients when we aren’t in the room�
• I want to learn from bigger agencies about how they’ve got to where they have �
• “Our needs are not about winning work, they are about team wellbeing, restructures, support for how we work/ other decisions we make”�
• “Accounting fridays”

Opportunities: Strategic approach to seeding collaboration

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• Building connection with collaboration in mind: “Collaboration with other agencies is a fantastic way to learn - would love for AfG to facilitate that… facilitate more connection so that we know who we want to collaborate with when opportunities arise�
• Strategic mentorship programmes / platforming of talent : “we're seen as creative and fun but risky because of who we are as a team…”�
• Connecting people around values & the spaces they work in: “I’d love to work with people that are as radical me”

Opportunities: Broaden out the people you deem as relevant

Broadening out of types of agencies and freelancers engaged in the space builds future possibilities for the community and the sector. It also shifts what conversation is possible in the space. �

• Less digital focus
• Potential freelancers “It took me 3 years to leave my part-time job and become full-time freelance”
• Earlier talent “I don’t meet any other agency directors my age”
• Those ‘around the edges’ - e.g. accountants, HR people, facilitators etc

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People in the space care primarily about the ethos of people:“I’d love to work with people that are as radical me”

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What levels of commitment are present?

• To the network
• “I’m part of agency hackers and agency collective - I want those experiences & forms of connection but with the people in Agencies for Good.”
• Working group engagement levels as ‘volunteers’
• Very little self-organising nature present in the network?

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• To DEI
• Pockets of really good practice: “We are people before being workers”
• High levels of well-intentioned ignorance
• There are a lot of agencies working on social justice issues without a confident anti-oppressive stance on these issues

Commitment: What could shift this?

• People in the working group being confident about the value they get from doing this work�
• New energy and creativity from new members in the working group�
• Seeding of funds to specific network members to instigate community initiatives (e.g. PoC or Queer meet ups, paid panel discussions platforming underrepresented members / agencies that are embodying the values of the space) �
• “I think there needs to be more of a commitment to building connections with new people to the space or at least having mechanisms in place to support new people in getting to know the community”�
• Or if the commitment isn’t there change the shape of the space. “Spaces that don't require a certain level of commitment - the Guest list email group - can put requests in and respond to requests without apps etc”

Conclusions

• Agencies for good as a community has to be better than the ecosystem it is part of if it wants to build a diverse and equitable community�
• Before you invest energy in doing that consider what value you are providing, and how you value the skills/mindsets/experiences brought in by those who differ to the current status quo

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• When you are clear on this, develop a more ambitious and progressive charter for Agencies for Good (with support from those outside of the space) to galvanise energy and open up the space for more interesting conversation and collaboration