What is your diversity tech initiative? Please provide an overview.
Mindweaver’s purpose is to embed antiracism and diversity in the tech industry by increasing diverse representation, removing structural barriers, creating more inclusive environments, and unlocking innovation. We seek to ensure that minoritised and marginalised communities are part of shaping the emerging technology landscape and building the technology we rely on. Our aim is to support those from minoritised and marginalised communities to capitalise on the opportunity that emerging technology presents; but also, to mitigate the harm that it can and will cause if left unchecked. Mindweaver is changing the landscape by creating opportunities for those who have been excluded due to structural barriers to drive diversity across multiple industries. Mindweaver take the view that exclusion in emerging technology is multi-factorial but the biggest impediment is the existence of structural racism.
However, the mission of Mindweaver is not merely an external facing one. Part of our mission requires us to provide a model and example for how the tech industry can and should develop and support people from different backgrounds to thrive. Mindweaver seeks to demonstrate how with intentionality and hard work it is possible to build diverse teams, foster inclusion and embed antiracism.
We also seek to dismantle barriers for Black and Brown talent within the tech industry by offering bespoke tech training which is fully funded by Mindweaver. We are aware that in many instances being able to attend tech bootcamps to upskill can be challenging to those without the privilege of finance and time. As such we provide meaningful employment opportunities to talented technologists and aspiring technologists who have been overlooked, underemployed or otherwise disenfranchised in their desire to progress their careers.
Once Mindweaver training is completed they will be offered employment at a client organisation who we in parallel work with embed intersectional antiracism. We also work with our trainee consultants to ensure not only are they getting technical skills they are being supported with trauma, wellbeing, mental health and develop a full understanding of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Antiracism (EDIA) while they are working with our clients.
Mindweaver is a values led organisation in the truest sense, this is understood by employees, clients and prospective clients alike. As such all of our internal activity is guided by these principles:
We act with integrity
We challenge with curiosity
Impact over intent
We believe in our talent
We are a community
We pay it forward
We work in a 360 feedback environment with regular sharing forums that centres around psychological safety and empowerment. We recently launched our safe to empowered program for all employees and holding our clients accountable for our cohorts psychological safety too. We have created and hold ‘spaces to be’ ensuring that we facilitate and encourage two way feedback and discussion of world and life events that impact our employees from different groups, backgrounds and with differing needs to express themselves and share in a safe environment.
How did your initiative come to fruition?
It all started with our amazing CEO Kit Ahweyevu, Kit has built a business that has the foundation and blueprint of a culture that all organisations should be built on. It centres the wellbeing of every single person and their individual needs which in turn drives fantastic results. She has built an organisation that is made for intersectional Black and Brown people who have faced barriers getting into the world of tech with a view to dismantling systemic racism that inside the industry and technology itself.
Kit’s values, moral leadership, EDIA expertise has led her to onboard clients such as BAE Systems, BT, HSBC, Capita, Blue Prism, DCMS, and British Universities & Colleges Sport. She has built a Senior Leadership Team of experts to drive the diversity and antiracism agenda forward who all understand from her that impact over intent, integrity, and a desire for racial equity in the world of technology is what drives Mindweaver’s activity and decisions. Kit has worked tirelessly to support the development and growth of the key functions of the business providing guidance and support to her team ensuring not only that they deliver results but that they feel safe, empowered, and enjoy themselves while they do. The team works incredibly hard under Kit’s leadership. She encourages them to take their mission very seriously and spend a lot of time laughing and supporting each other and while they do.
Kit has grown the headcount of the business from 3 employees to 43 employees in under 2 years ensuring that at each milestone she and her teams never lose sight of their values and mission to bring diversity and antiracism to the world of emerging technology. Up against the same barriers that many Black female entrepreneurs face, Kit has grown a self-sustaining business organically, without outside investment generating over £1m in revenue from December 2021 to January 2023.
Why do you think you have been nominated for this award?
I think we have been nominated for this award because there is no other organisation that is doing what we are doing and recognising the importance of creating not just roles for intersectional folks of the global majority in tech but also creating organisations that actively create a space that is psychologically safe and trauma informed and also trains and develops a team of individuals to go into the tech world with EDIA at the forefront of their mind while they are building technology. Along side this we are working with organisations to support them to create environments that are safe for intersectional Global Majority folks to reduce harm. For us its about creating a ecosystem that will create better outcomes for those most impacted by systemic racism.
What impact you have had on your target audience?
By taking down barriers and the right training and support including wellbeing support we have seen more Global Majority folks thrive in the world of technology, we have seen people who would have not have even got through the recruitment process with our clients go on and be really successful. We have also seen Global Majority folks feel safety for the first time and also be able to articulate
microagressions and know how to deal with them and confidently know what steps to take and feel supported. We have also seen a rise in the number of our employees reach out for mental health support and support with diagnoses for neurodivergence conditions as we actively work to break down barriers and stigmas which means they have been able to get a better level of support and understand why they have been struggling or learn in a different way. We have adapted the way we train, interact and hold our sessions to be inclusive to everyone so they know it is possible and understand what their needs are and we have supported them to articulate it. For many they have found their time at MindWeaver to be life changing and know that they are deserving of care and support.
Please provide an endorsing statement from someone who can support this nomination (Max. 500 words)
Statement from an employee.
MindWeaver has changed my life, I was in a space where my confidence was low and I genuinely thought I had nothing to offer anyone. I used to get embarrassed to even speak in a social setting when people asked me what my job was. I suffer with anxiety anyway and PTSD due to my complex childhood and my experiences with racism. I have been with MindWeaver 3 months now and I feel like a different person. I can’t explain the amount of care and support that has been given to me and how everyone has reminded me that I am good at what I do. It has been a real reminder that my experiences are valid and my confidence has soared, I have achieved so much and I am now doing presentations and doing things I never even thought I was capable of doing. When I share my experiences there is zero judgement only a want to support and help me to be the best I can be and that is what makes MindWeaver an organisation like no other.
The senior leadership team are a team of amazing women of the Global Majority who have been through so many negative experiences who are working so hard to ensure that no one has to go through what they went through in the workplace and you can see that and the rest of HQ do the same. MindWeaver truly are changing the world for Global Majority people
