CIH is awarded RACE Equality Code Quality Mark

The Chartered Institute of Housing has secured the prestigious RACE Equality Code Quality Mark in recognition of our commitment to improving equality, diversity and inclusion in our organisation, throughout our membership and across the housing sector.

The RACE Code stands for Reporting, Action, Composition and Education and is based on current laws, reports, charters and pledges. To be awarded the mark, an in-depth assessment was required, looking at how inclusive CIH is currently, as well as the work being undertaken to further improve and support its diverse workforce.

Gavin Smart, chief executive of CIH said: “We are delighted to have achieved the RACE accreditation.  At the heart of being a housing professional is serving people, meeting their needs. And to do that we as housing professionals and members of CIH need to understand the people and communities we serve.

“I’m proud of the work we have achieved to date and I would especially like to thank our governance, ethics, renumeration and nomination (GERN) committee alongside our staff and members EDI groups. They have been instrumental in CIH achieving the accreditation, the launching of our EDI framework, developing an EDI census and ultimately ensuring CIH shows the leadership on EDI that the sector deserves.

I am committed to CIH playing its part to ensure that EDI is a core aspect of housing practice for all housing organisations and I look forward to working with our members to make this a reality.”

Lara Oyedele, current president of the CIH said: “It’s my motivation to inspire change and champion equality, diversity and inclusion, especially anti-racism, throughout the whole housing industry. This is why I’m incredibly pleased to see that CIH has been awarded the RACE Equality Code Quality Mark.

However, even with this recognition, we know there is still so much work to be done in this space. I will continue to work with CIH, our members and the wider sector to highlight why it’s important to create a fair and inclusive environment where the breadth of talent that exists among our tenants and communities is reflected in board rooms, executive teams and in the decision making across the whole sector.

We would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has helped with our EDI work over the past couple of years. This includes:

• The CIH governance, ethics, renumeration and nomination committee – Elly Hoult FCIH, Geraldine Howley FCIH, Anne Chapman CIHCM, Ria Bailes CIHM, Foluke Sangbowale CIHM, Gordon Perry FCIH
• Our member EDI group – chaired by Alison Leech CIHCM and Cordelia Johnny, attended by a diverse group of members from across the sector.

To find out more about CIH’s work in EDI, please use the following links:

• In my shoes, the presidential campaign by Lara Oyedele
• CIH EDI framework
• CIH EDI census