The Birmingham Business School Advisory Board Guest Lecture

From Rhetoric to Reality: How the Diversity and Inclusion landscape is changing and how you need to respond to it.

In the wake of #MeToo, Black Lives Matter, and new flexibility that has come out of successive lockdowns, Mark will set out why Diversity and Inclusion is important, and why the rhetoric isn’t working, by looking at the promises organisations make and their poor delivery against them.

In the face of new expectations upon organisations, he will ask “what does good look like?”, with a focus on changing systems not people. To achieve this, we must also deal with our history, and Mark will explain how Lloyds of London is recognising and seeking to reconcile its history with the transatlantic slave trade.

The talk will be introduced by the Chancellor of the University, Lord Karan Bilimoria CBE, and promises to be a masterclass in best practice and how to embed Diversity and Inclusion throughout an organisation and make change stick! 

Mark Lomas has delivered numerous diversity and inclusion projects in the UK and internationally for organisations across a wide variety of sectors, including The Financial Reporting Council, Lloyds Market Association, Inclusive Recruitment review, Bermuda Hospital Board, Groupama Insurance, The BBC, Sheffield University, NHS Clinical Commissioning Group Boards, Highways England, ITV, DR TV Denmark, Lloyds Market Association & The Bermuda Human Rights Commission, HS2 and The Law Society. He is a published author on the topic of Equality and Diversity having authored the Law Society E&D Risk & Compliance Toolkit which assists law firms to comply with regulation. Mark recently joined Lloyd’s as Head of Culture where he is accountable for all aspects Lloyd’s Culture, Engagement, Wellbeing and Equality, Diversity & Inclusion strategies. Mark won Inclusive Companies Head of Diversity of the year Award in 2019 and has been named in the People Magazine Top 20 D&I Powerlist. 

The event will be held in the Alan Walters Building on our Edgbaston Campus.