Four-time Olympian Donna Fraser OBE shares her best-practice advice for setting out a cultural-change strategy in a small organisation.
Donna, who was awarded an OBE recipient for her services to equality, diversity and inclusion, is currently the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Director at The Professional Cricketers’ Association.
The Association has 31 staff which looks after every professional cricket player in England and Wales, both current and former players.
Over the past 18 months, Donna has been reviewing the policies and procedures of her organisation to ensure they are fully inclusive, right down to the language that is used. She is taking a 360-degree approach to her EDI strategy:
“We embed diversity, equity and inclusion in everything we do so everyone is treated equally and fairly.
“Allyship is vital for our work,” says Donna. “As a director I am at board meetings but having an EDI champion on the board is essential to progress the work we do.
“Collaboration is another way we are helping to challenge the status quo in cricket, and we are connecting with other organisations in the sport – and outside it. There’s strength in numbers.
“I use data to really understand who our members are and gain insights using their personal data. It helps me know what changes need to be put in place. In terms of retention, we have begun holding ‘stay interviews’ not just exit interviews. We’ve found that if an issue is addressed early enough, people are less likely to leave their job.”
Donna shares honestly the DEI journey of the Professional Cricketers’ Association: “We have currently gained Level 1 status as a Disability Confident employer, and are working towards Level 3. It’s all about making a start and moving forward,” says Donna, who also signed up to the Business in the Community’s Race at Work Charter. “All these things keep us accountable and 90 per cent of my job is education, both for members and for our people.
“I’m not the EDI police. I’m not going to drag people kicking and screaming – I’m here to help to bring everyone with us to create an inclusive environment.”
In 2009 Donna retired from her 20-year athletics career because she was sadly diagnosed with breast cancer. Since her recovery, Donna has continued her commitment to making real, sustained change in the workplace. In 2021, she was named Head of Inclusion & Engagement for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games; prior to this she led vital EDI activities for UK Athletics and other organisations and led the ground-breaking COACH exhibition, housed at the Houses of Parliament.
Donna worked throughout her time as a professional athelete including for EDF Energy where she spearheaded several key ED&I partnerships, including Microsoft and Breast Cancer Now, and chaired EDF’s award-winning BAME Network. She has been a judge for the Black British Business Awards and was included in the Ethnic Minority Future Leader lists in 2019 and 2020.
Donna was recognised with the Freedom of the Borough of Croydon in 2018 for Services to Sport, is an Ambassador for Breast Cancer Now and has served as a Trustee, advisor and Board member for multiple organisations, such as the London Marathon Charitable Trust, Women’s Sports Trust, British Athletes Commission, International Women’s Group and Her Spirit.
Organisations need to share and learn from each other to advance the cause of EDI, believes Donna: “There is some great work being done in organisations and when people see it and see it working, then others are likely to follow and make it happen.
“When just talking about it, it’s another tick box thing. When organisations talk about bringing our authentic self to work, it’s great saying that, but if the work culture isn’t for you, then the commitment isn’t authentic.
“I’ve been working in this space for a number of years and we are at the point when people are now taking EDI seriously: this is a choice organisations can make and individuals can choose to be better people.
“It’s important to shout from the rooftops the positive impact that EDI work is doing in organsiations to make sure everyone joins in.”
