A message from our Chief Executive

I am proud to lead an organisation whose staff, Leadership Team and board are passionate champions for equality, diversity and inclusion.

I am also proud to be part of a talented workforce that wants and deserves a plan of action to do everything we can on this critical agenda. My starting point for our organisational culture is that we are all human beings with unique identities, our own responsibilities, different ways of thinking, and lives outside of the NHF.

This mix of who we are as individuals is an asset to the NHF and we need to embrace it.

This strategy sets out for the first time, in one place, the NHF’s commitment to addressing equality, diversity and inclusion in our workforce. That commitment is a cornerstone of who we are as an organisation.

The NHF is the voice of a sector driven by its social purpose, and by serving the people and communities who need us most across the country.

Our three-year business strategy makes clear that in the period 2019-22 we will deliver excellent service to our members and stakeholders – including by demonstrating our commitment to improving equality, diversity and inclusion in our organisation.

We have a lot to welcome in terms of the people policies we have in place at the NHF, and much progress to build on as we look to improve equality, diversity and inclusion. As things stand, our workforce, and our leadership, are not as diverse as they should be or could be. This strategy is a vital step forward in putting this right.

Leadership Team and I are firmly committed to the vision, ambition and activities outlined in this strategy and to working with our staff to deliver them. This strategy lays out for our staff, and potential staff, what they can expect from the NHF, and we are proud to share it with the wider sector.

Kate Henderson