Ambassadors

Are you passionate about Equality, Diversity and Inclusion? join our amazing equality ambassadors, helping us spread the word on the benefits of EDI and supporting the introduction of an Equality Law (Preventing discrimination ordinance) in Guernsey.

Email us to find out more: hello@equality.gg

Guernsey Employment Trust is changing the way businesses view and define disability by connecting disabled people to jobs that match their talents.  The charity supports disabled and disadvantaged people to prepare for work, to find work and to maintain work.  They also support businesses with their recruitment needs and have become a go-to organisation for employment and disability matters. GET have produced an Employers’ Disability Charter.  This is to encourage a change in attitudes and a positive shift in workplace cultures to provide more opportunities for disabled applicants and to improve practices for disabled employees.  The response from the business community to both GET’s training and materials has been positive.  GET is a member of the Consortium appointed as the training provider by ESS on the new discrimination law.

The website for Guernsey Employment Trust is www.get.org.gg

It’s a pleasure to be invited to be an Ambassador for Equality Guernsey. Inequality drives poor social outcomes.  Only when human rights are upheld in our homes, our workplaces, our institutions and in our wider communities will our true social and economic potential be unlocked.’  – Daisy Doardo

Daisy Doardo is training to be a solicitor and has so far gained experience in litigation, corporate and commercial law. Scoring the Highest Year Mark Award at the University of Essex, she is a 2^nd year law student with a keen interest in the intersection of business and human rights. Aspiring to work with social enterprises and purpose-led start-ups, she is Co-Founder and President of the Essex Entrepreneurs Society.

Daisy is the Marketing Manager at Tiger Law, an innovative, future-focussed law firm that specialises in serving entrepreneurs and owner-managers.

Named as an Emerging Leader on the 2021 InsideOut Leaderboard for her work towards ending the stigma of mental health in the workplace, Daisy is a mental health speaker who uses her lived experiences for good.

Roselyn is the founder of WEMVision. Who are on a mission to support the social mobility of women and ethnic minorities through employment, and to enable inclusive companies to build a future-proof pipeline of diverse talent.

I am passionate about reducing health inequalities to maximise an individual’s health potential. Being as healthy as possible is a fundamental human right. We must consider the needs of all individuals when we are shaping our policies and delivering our services. We must strive to eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation across our Islands making them a happy and healthy place for all. Our commitment to equality should be embedded and reflected across our services and society. Equality and diversity should be an integral part of everything we do.

Kevin Bales, CMG, FRSA is Professor of Contemporary Slavery and Research Director of the Rights Lab, University of Nottingham. He co-founded the NGO Free the Slaves. His 1999 book Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy has been published in twelve languages. Desmond Tutu called it “a well researched, scholarly and deeply disturbing expose of modern slavery.” The film based on Disposable People, which he co-wrote, won the Peabody Award and two Emmys. The Association of British Universities named his work one of “100 World-Changing Discoveries.” In 2007 he published Ending Slavery: How We Free Today’s Slaves, (Grawemeyer Award). In 2009, with Ron Soodalter, he published The Slave Next Door: Modern Slavery in the United States. In 2016 his research institute was awarded the Queens Anniversary Prize, and he published Blood and Earth: Modern Slavery, Ecocide, and the Secret to Saving the World. Check out his TEDTalk.

The work of the GDA has been understandably focused on the rights of persons with disabilities. However, I believe approaches to non-discrimination, equality and self-determination should be grounded in a respect for the rights and dignity of the individual, rather than in an approach which attempts to group, label and protect people according to certain physical, cultural or other human characteristics (Race, religion, age, gender, disability and sexual preference, for example).

I am heartened, therefore, to be witnessing the birth of this greater respect for, and understanding of, the dignity and rights of all persons; something which I believe offers us the opportunity to collectively make Guernsey a fairer, more inclusive and happier place to live.

“Guernsey Mind would be absolutely delighted with the adoption of a full equality law for Guernsey. While mental health is specifically covered by the disability protected characteristic, discrimination by any means can lead to poor mental health. An equality law would ensure that all of us can feel like a valued part of the community and protect those who are vulnerable from the most abusive forms of discrimination.”

James Partridge is the Director of Face Equality International, a Guernsey charity which he launched in November 2018 to campaign for ‘face equality’ and challenge disfigurement discrimination worldwide. Previously CEO of UK charity, Changing Faces, James writes and presents widely on disfigurement, disability, inclusion and social entrepreneurship — and achieved an international profile by becoming the first newsreader with a facial disfigurement on any TV news channel, Channel 5, in November 2009.

James says “I’m delighted to be invited to be an Ambassador of Equality Guernsey because this is the right time for the island to recognise how fundamental human rights and equality are for all of us and to act accordingly.”

The alliance’s website is here: www.faceequalityinternational.org.

Jayne Ozanne is a well-known gay evangelical who works to ensure full inclusion of all LGBTI Christians at every level of the Church.  She is Director of the Ozanne Foundation, which works with religious organisations around the world to eliminate discrimination based on sexuality or gender in order to embrace and celebrate the equality and diversity of all.

“As a Christian I believe that we are each uniquely created and equally loved by a God who calls us to be ambassadors of the same.  Our society is therefore always far stronger when we embrace and celebrate our differences whilst treating each other with mutual love and understanding.  I am thrilled to be part of the Equality Guernsey Campaign as I know that the island has always been a steadfast rock that offers a place of refuge to all.  I am looking forward to “coming home” in July to participate in the EGC conference so that we can explore this together further.”

www.ozanne.foundation

Dave is CEO of Northern Trust Channel Islands where he is responsible for the Banking, Fund Administration and Fiduciary business.

Dave has previously represented Northern Trust’s Channel Islands business on a number of regional diversity and inclusion resource councils, campaigning for excellence in recruiting, developing anddeployingthe highest calibreworkforce.

“All of us share the same simple desire to live our lives free from unjust treatment, unkind attitudes and unfair barriers to taking part in employment, education and the wider life of the community. The language of equality and non-discrimination can be daunting, but at its heart, that’s all it is about – respect, dignity and equal opportunity for everyone who lives here. A better understanding of human rights will help to bust some myths, and encourage public services, businesses and community groups to make positive changes – often small or gradual – so that every islander can share in the best of Guernsey (/Bailiwick) life.”

“I am delighted that there is an opportunity for the College to be a partner with Equality Guernsey Campaign, we will be supporting raising awareness about Equality and Diversity issues in our community. The College is an inclusive organisation, and we are very proud of the work we do to ensure that we welcome and support everyone. Our work to address equality and diversity work at the College has involved all staff and all students from across the organisation including our full-time students who are usually aged between 16-19 year of age, to our oldest students studying part- time. Last year our oldest student was 88 years of age. I believe that respecting equality and diversity is essential in all areas of our lives, this is an exciting time for our community as we work together to inspire and take action to promote positive change in respecting human rights and promoting equality.”

In today’s society we all stand up and say we want everyone to succeed, we want everyone to reach their dream but how can we when half of us are being held back. I believe we should all be involved in the conversation and the only way to do that is by having equal opportunity, equal rights and over all having equality.

Working for Liberate in Jersey I meet a lot of different people across the Channel Islands at various stages on their journey with diversity and inclusion. Some have just begun to understand what it means to be part of a minority group in the Bailiwicks, others have embraced a particular identity for years and are proud to talk about it, some work for organisations who enthusiastically promote their responsibilities and those of their employees to treat everyone fairly and with respect, whilst others struggle with the concepts of social equality. Wherever we are on that journey real change can only happen when we admit our biases, accept ourselves for who we are and see the diversity of our Islands as a strength to be embraced and fostered. That is why I am proud to support the Equality Guernsey Campaign that will #starttheconversation about how each of us can contribute to a more diverse, inclusive, fair, equal, respectful and accepting society.

The introduction of equality and non-discrimination legislation here on Guernsey builds on our commitment to the European Convention for Human Rights.  For me, it represents the implementation of the Golden Rule of all major world religions in that we should treat others as we would wish to be treated ourselves.

Our common humanity is what unites us and brings us together in a civilised society. Whilst we are all different with our own gifts of imperfections we are also very similar – we all wish to be happy, we all wish to be healthy and we all wish to be free from suffering.  In the same way we should all enjoy the same rights and freedoms without any discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion. This legislation will help make Guernsey a better place to live for all members of our community and that’s why I am delighted to support the Equality Guernsey Campaign.  I am looking forward to developing a greater understanding of the issues in our community through dialogue and discussion in the coming months.

The launch of an organisation specifically dedicated to promoting equality locally is fantastic news. From the new anti-discrimination law and the recent introduction of equal marriage, this is a very exciting time locally, as the law begins to catch up with the views of many islanders, who want to continue to see Guernsey become a more equitable place. Equality is not about making everyone the same, but respecting and celebrating difference, and explicitly recognising the issues that some groups, including women, people of colour, LGBTQ+ people and disabled people face. It is also about recognising that economic precariousness (especially around living standards and employment) in an advanced economy such as ours is unfair, rather than just being an unfortunate fact of life. It has been exciting also to see more discussion of the effects of in-work poverty, income and wealth inequality. Education about human rights and inclusion is vital to help everyone feel confident about their rights and involved in promoting them with kindness and respect.

Between work in the States, the voluntary sector, amongst companies and individuals committed to equality, there is some fantastic work going on around equality and it is exciting to see how Equality Guernsey will take this forward!