Episode 4 of Let's Talk Disability, hosted by Professor Jackie Carter, EDI Academic Lead for Disability, is a conversation between Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice Chancellor of the University of Manchester and Hamied Haroon, member of the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health and Chair of the National Association of Disabled Staff Networks.

This episode focuses on Staff Networks as 8th May was the National Day for Staff Networks. https://www.nationaldayforstaffnetworks.co.uk/

Networks are all about people; they are about progressive change; they are all about supporting the employee journey and inspiring a feeling of belonging.

The purpose of the National Day for Staff Networks is to shine a light and recognise the multiple benefits that staff networks/resource groups offer and in so many cases offer their organisation. Research in 2020/21 showed that 51% of workers wanted to join a network as they returned to working in shared physical spaces. Nearly 40% of organisations relied on their networks to keep them informed on the wellbeing of employees.

At the University of Manchester we have a range of staff networks. Our 'big 4' are:

AllOut and AllOut Allies - LGBTQ+
Women@Manchester
The Disabled Staff Network (including the Neurodivergent Network and the cancer network)
The B.A.M.E network

This session, hosted by Stephanie Danson includes our current Director of EDI, Banji Adewumi MBE, Matthew Sanderson and Megan Johnston - Co-Chairs of AllOut and Emma Shiels and Lin Ma - Co-Chairs of Women@Manchester.

You can find out more about our staff networks at https://www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/equality-diversity-inclusion/staff-networks/

A video version with subtitles of this episode is available on our Youtube site at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCclcKuTeX8ExnKrZZiXJ4vg

Episode 3 of Let's Talk Disability.

Patrick Hackett, Registrar and Chief Operating Officer and Kathy Bradley, Lead EDI Partner talk with Professor Jackie Carter (Academic EDI Lead for Disability) about being a disabled leader as well as the resilience needed to do disability advocacy work whilst also being a disabled person.

The conversation touches on being a disabled leader and the visibility of disabled leaders and also the resilience needed to do disability advocacy work whilst also being a disabled person.

If you require a subtitled version of this podcast please go to https://tinyurl.com/LTDepisode03

If you do not see a transcript please contact us at equalityanddiversity@manchester.ac.uk and we will ensure you receive one.