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Employer newsletter - 18 July 2023

Published: 18 Jul 2023

We’re delighted that since our last newsletter our Interim Chair, Alun Francis, has been named as the government’s preferred candidate to take on the role of Chair of the SMC. 

The Rt Hon Baroness Stowell of Beeston MBE has also been appointed as a Social Mobility Commissioner, bringing our total number of Commissioners to 7. You can find out more about all of our Commissioners on our website. 

We’ll be taking a well-earned break in August, and won’t be hosting an employers’ masterclass, but please do join us for our next event in September when we’ll be discussing our 2023 State of the Nation report and our accompanying policy vision and recommendation!

Thanks for your support,

The SMC Employers Team

Upcoming events:

2023 State of the Nation report: People and Places
Thursday 28th September 2023, 2-3pm

Join us at this online event where our Interim Chair, Alun Francis OBE, will be discussing our 2023 State of the Nation report: People and Places, charting the evolving social mobility landscape across the United Kingdom.  

Find out more and register for 2023 State of the Nation report: People and Places

Future masterclasses

We are busy planning our next Employers’ Masterclasses, which will feature topics such as Allyship, Measuring Impact and Progression – based on requests made by attendees to our previous sessions.  These will be available to register for in the coming weeks – keep an eye out here.  

If you have a topic you want us to address, get in touch, and let us know.  

Hear more from the SMC:

Recap: Let’s Talk About Class

On Thursday 6th July we were joined by Sophie Hulm, CEO of Progress Together, and Jenny Sandham, Social Mobility Champion at the Ministry of Defence for our July masterclass – ‘Let’s Talk About Class’. 

We had a great discussion about how you can encourage more people to talk about class in your organisation, and the benefits that a more open workplace brings. 

If you weren’t able to attend, or just want to check it out again, you can find the recap and recording on our website.  

In case you missed it:

  • Last weekend saw the launch of The Jobs Foundation, a new charity championing the role of business as a force for social mobility.

    The Foundation is bringing together industry leaders and entrepreneurs from around the country with the aim of helping to boost employment and social mobility.
  • Citi recently published ‘Economic and Social Mobility: The Role of Business in Improving Outcomes

    The report focuses on the role of employers in social mobility, their motivations for addressing this issue, the challenges that they are facing in doing so, and the support that they need to go further and faster.
  • Our Interim Chair Alun Francis was interviewed by The Mirror, speaking about his own background and his vision for social mobility.