Equity, diversity and inclusion

At LifeArc, we’re committed to becoming a sector leader when it comes to equity, diversity and inclusion (ED&I).

We aim to foster an environment that is collaborative and inclusive for our people, our partners and our beneficiaries. We want to provide more inclusive solutions and help deliver breakthrough innovations that can benefit as many people as possible.

That is why we have an ED&I strategy to help us reach our goals by 2030. It will steer us towards achieving a truly diverse, equitable and inclusive organisation that is reflective of the communities we belong to and will help  us deliver our ultimate ambition: to make life science life changing, whilst delivering tangible ED&I outcomes.

We pledged to review our strategy annually to ensure it remains relevant, continues to support our organisational priorities and responds to any emerging issues or trends. Our first annual review (May/June 2023) has streamlined our approach, to reflect our current organisational structure and accountabilities, respond to natural synergies across workstreams and avoid duplication.

Our strategy has 3 pillars:

1. Inclusive culture

Our goal is to create an inclusive culture at LifeArc, with a workforce that at all levels represents wider society. We want all those in the LifeArc community to have equal access to career development and progression opportunities and feel they are developing within an inclusive, safe and accessible workplace.

We aim to create more inclusive recruitment processes and remove any barriers to career progression. We also want to help staff to better understand inclusive behaviours – actively listening, encouraging constructive challenge and debate, and recognising different points of view. It will help us make better decisions and achieve outcomes that ultimately benefit patients.

2. Inclusive funding and engagement

We aim to work with a diverse range of organisations that actively share our vision, and as an advisory and investment partner, we commit to helping diversify research in the wider life sciences sector.

How we reach out to, engage, select and work with all our partners, including those we fund, defines the relationship and solutions we want to establish.

We will develop a framework to embed ED&I into all our partnering and funding activity.

We want access to information, advice and funding to be equitable, inclusive and transparent for all and we will build ED&I into our selection processes, so it is clear what we expect of our partners to achieve better outcomes for all.

We will develop more diverse representation on funding panels and ensure ED&I are reflected as criteria for applicant institutions and partners during the assessment process.

3. Inclusive science and research

We want patient needs to inform the opportunities LifeArc pursues and the decisions we make. To do this we will work with patients to bring their voice and diversity of experience directly into our thinking and ensure our scientific advisory boards, who help to shape our work, are diverse, particularly in terms of gender and ethnicity.

Collaborating with diverse patient representatives at every stage will enable greater innovation in healthcare solutions and more equitable healthcare outcomes.

How we are making this happen

Policy and action

Our ED&I strategy is underpinned by specific actions plans and a range of policies and guidance to support us in delivering on our ambitions, including for example, our LifeArc ED&I Policy.

Our approach

 Listen, involve and learn

  • Involve representative employees in shaping our strategic approach and priorities
  • Work collaboratively with employees and key partners to co-produce the right solutions
  • Apply an intersectional lens – recognising the impact of interlocking disadvantage and exclusion

Be data driven and  transparent

  • Gather data across our processes to inform priorities, policy and planning
  • Benchmark against the best in class
  • Share data and establish mechanisms for feedback and new  ideas/thinking

Integrate ED&I into the way we work and the decisions we make

  • Use ED&I assessments to screen for potential ED&I impacts, before we make key decisions

Hold ourselves accountable

  • Clarity on who is accountable for what and how we monitor delivery and progress
  • Commitment to personal accountability for our own behaviours and action

Report regularly on progress and continuously review

  • On-going monitoring and transparency in reporting our progress internally and externally
  • Ask for regular feedback from all key stakeholders on how we are doing

We are a proud member of the Employers’ Network for Equality & Inclusion (ENEI) and work with them to enhance our work to become a fully inclusive employer.

We are a ‘Disability Confident’ employer and are currently working to achieve Level 2 of the government’s Disability Confident standard for fully accessible and inclusive recruitment and working practice.

We are also a member of the EDIS (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Science and Health), a coalition of organisations working to improve ED&I in the sector.

Our ED&I work is supported by a team of volunteers from across the organisation. They help us identify opportunities, develop awareness of ED&I issues and shape plans to help ensure equity and improve diversity and inclusion across LifeArc.

We track and report our progress internally and share regular updates with colleagues and partners, so that our core ED&I objectives reflect our aspirations both within and beyond LifeArc.

Gender pay gap

We have measured and reported our gender pay since 2021. Now, with the growth of our organisation, we will register our data as required by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

You can read the summary of our most recent report here.

We know that the underlying reasons for our gender pay gap are varied and complex. We are working to reduce the gap directly and indirectly via our ED&I strategy. We want LifeArc to be the best workplace it can be. Taking action to address the gender pay gap is a key part of achieving this.

You can read about our plans for addressing the gap in the report link above.

We will continue to track our progress by analysing and publishing our data. Our next report will be published by April 2025.