To celebrate the culmination of Black History Month, Nimbla would like to highlight the launch of the Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation, one of our chosen charities. In 2018, Theresa May announced that every 22nd April would be known as Stephen Lawrence Day in commemoration of the tragic death of the teenager from South London. This week, Stephen’s mother, Baroness Doreen Lawrence of Clarendon, announced the formal launch of the Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation.
Stephen Lawrence was murdered in a racist attack in 1993. At age 18, he had yet to grapple with the challenges that professional Black men encounter, and pursue his dream of becoming an architect. Twenty-seven years later, Baroness Lawrence highlighted the continued significance of Black History Month, not only in light of the systemic barriers that ‘Black’ people continue to face in the UK and worldwide, but the recent tragic death of George Floyd this summer. Igniting the Black Lives Matter movement, Floyd’s shocking passing was a reminder of the prejudice that persists in our social systems.
“Racial inequality remains prevalent.”
— Baroness Doreen Lawrence of Clarendon
As Doreen Lawrence stated in her recent article for blackhistorymonth.org.uk, obtaining justice for the death of a black man (Stephen) was difficult “for reasons that shouldn’t exist and which required time, persistence and insistence to be acknowledged.” Nor was Baroness Lawrence ultimately satisfied that full justice for Stephen’s murder was achieved. “Racial inequality remains prevalent”, she wrote this week. As COVID-19 persists and press attention shifts away from the Black Lives Matter movement, Baroness Lawrence pointed out that “COVID-19 mortality disproportionately affects the Black population”.
With our support of the Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation, Nimbla recognises not only the loss of Stephen Lawrence, but also the innocent lives we are losing due to inequality as the COVID-19 crisis continues. At Nimbla we are dedicated to making protection accessible. We want to acknowledge and act upon Baroness Lawrence’s injunction that as a society “We must redouble our efforts, think bigger, create more opportunities for more people.”
The Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation is devoted to removing and overcoming the barriers that Black people and youth in particular still face. The Foundation operates through three ‘C’s’; Classrooms, Community and Careers. The Foundation is on a mission to “put Black men from low-income families on a path towards the Boardrooms of the UK’s most prestigious organisations”. Removing the barriers to entry to these institutions that Black men meet is ethical. But according to studies by global management consultancy McKinsey, it is also business critical. Financial outperformance increases 30–40% in ethnically diverse leadership teams, according to McKinsey’s findings.
“We want to inspire young people to dream freely without barriers.”
- Baroness Doreen Lawrence of Clarendon
The Foundation’s Career initiative reflects Stephen’s own aspirations and is globally unique. Nimbla is proud to support the Foundation in this important work, and would like to encourage our business partners and colleagues to join us in supporting the Foundation and its Career initiative in particular. Our businesses will benefit from developing young Black talent, and using our positions to increase racial equality is just the right thing to do.
We look forward to supporting the Foundation’s programmes, alongside communities, schools, businesses and individuals throughout the UK and across the world. A percentage of every Nimbla policy sold goes to one of Nimbla’s three chosen charities, including the Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation. Click the link to read Baroness Lawrence’s original article.
