5. Recommendations for ACEVO

This report was commissioned by ACEVO, with recognition that ACEVO itself can and should be a part of creating a more inclusive civil society sector. To this end, we have produced a number of recommendations specifically for the organisation based on the interviews conducted with disabled leaders for this project. These include ways to change ACEVO’s own working, and opportunities to promote new initiatives or better practice in the wider sector. ACEVO can also use the tables above to assess its own internal practice.

These recommendations are split into three sections. The first section offers suggestions as to how ACEVO can build a more diverse and representative membership base. The second looks at ways in which ACEVO can support its membership to develop inclusive practice. The final section – strengthening the sector – recognises ACEVO’s role in influencing and shaping civil society as a whole.

As above, the number of recommendations reflects how early we are in this conversation. But it is clear that organisations, including ACEVO, need to take decisive action, to collectively build a sector that supports all leaders adequately.

This does not mean doing everything right all at once. Indeed, change needs planning, resourcing and discussion with others, all of which takes time. This is long-term work requiring a sustained commitment, that will bring considerable benefit to civil society.

Increasing disabled membership of ACEVO

• Carry out marketing activities targeted at increasing disabled leaders’ membership, including ensuring that all recruitment material is available in a variety of accessible formats.
• Provide free time limited access to certain member benefits, to leaders with protected characteristics to enable them to understand what the organisation’s offer is and to communicate that to their own board.
• Consider offering an enhanced associate membership for aspiring leaders with protected characteristics, including disability.
• Create a specific offer for disabled CEOs, and ensure it is possible to access elements of the offer confidentially or without disclosure, while also normalising disclosure. This might include:
  • Co-producing an ACEVO disabled leaders offer with disabled CEOs, ensuring that they are remunerated in a way that facilitates participation – for example offering a certain number of months’ free membership, payment or free CPD opportunities
  • Creating a network for grassroots leaders from marginalised backgrounds to come together to support each other
  • Incentives or benefits such as discounted membership to encourage disclosure of disability by ACEVO members.
• Check annually with ACEVO members to give them the opportunity to update their data and access needs.

Supporting ACEVO’s membership to be more disability inclusive

• Produce or promote existing materials and resources which support CEOs, leadership teams and human resources departments to understand what is meant and required in law under reasonable adjustments.
• Ensure that all helpline staff are trained to respond to disability-related queries or, as a minimum, are able to signpost to appropriate alternative support.
• Provide templates so that organisations can develop their own access and inclusion manifestos, and capture and share appropriate disability workforce data.
• Produce materials for members on how to avoid tokenism and ‘inspiration porn’ when recognising and celebrating disabled staff.
• Support the sector to develop an understanding of the transferable skills which are developed as a direct result of disability so they can acknowledge, support and recruit candidates and staff with potential and skills developed through non-traditional means – for example, the skills that come from managing a care support package.

Strengthening the sector

• Carry out an anonymous survey of disabled employees’ experience to understand how big the issue is and what are the key push and pull points that drive disabled staff in and out of civil society.
• Carry out more in-depth research into the barriers faced by disabled leaders. This might include:
  • Disability disclosure
  • Knowledge and understanding of the benefit of ACEVO membership amongst disabled leaders
  • Access to continuing professional development opportunities for disabled leaders.
• Work with other sector infrastructure bodies to establish a State of the Sector’s Workforce report annually for the next five years, including capturing quantitative and qualitative data on the experience of marginalised employees.
• Work with other infrastructure bodies and experts to consider how disability and other protected characteristics can be represented in existing civil society workforce research and data, such as the Civil Society Almanac.
• Produce materials with user-led organisations to help the sector and society understand the difference between user-led organisations and ‘organisations for’ disabled people.
• Produce case studies, interviews and podcasts which feature and celebrate disabled leaders in civil society, including material on management issues not related to disability or other identities.
• Develop materials that help aspiring and future disabled leaders progress their careers.