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Image Show: Professor Katherine Linehan, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and People at the University of Nottingham and Professor Todd Landman, Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the University of Nottingham’s School of Social Sciences

The University of Nottingham and The Women’s Organization have developed a new Charter to facilitate a more inclusive ecosystem for entrepreneurs in the East Midlands and beyond.

The Charter for Inclusive Entrepreneurship aims to minimize barriers and improve entrepreneurship outcomes for all, especially underrepresented groups.

The University of Nottingham, East Midlands Chamber, D2N2 and the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship are some of the first signatories.

Dr Lorna Treanor, Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Nottingham Business School, said: “Underrepresented social groups such as women, ethnic minorities, youth, immigrants and people with disabilities face distinctive barriers to entrepreneurship. For example, less than 1p of every pound invested in the UK in 2017 was invested in all women-owned businesses; Black women face even higher barriers when trying to access such funding, receiving just 0.02 pence per pound of total investment funding over a ten-year period in the UK.

“Inclusive entrepreneurship can be enabled through a partnership approach by developing a united regional ecosystem of individuals, organizations, agencies, and businesses committed to supporting greater equality of opportunity and outcomes.”

Shari Leigh, Founder of the Black Business Network, said: “The Black Business Network is honored to join the Charter as a signatory to this ecosystem. We strongly believe that to facilitate growth and game-changing results for underrepresented entrepreneurs, organizations, networks, and resource centers must work together to create a pipeline that supports and empowers entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey.

“The charter is a fantastic model for organizing this for the East Midlands, and we will work to replicate it across the country. We look forward to sharing the opportunities and access shown by the Charter with the entrepreneurs and business owners in our network and championing their growth wherever we can.”

Professor Katherine Linehan, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and People at the University of Nottingham, added: “The university is very proud of the work done by Dr Treanor and his colleagues to highlight and support underrepresented social groups. . We are delighted to be signatories to the Charter, which will be an invaluable tool to accelerate our work on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at the university.”

The Charter outlines the basic principles for implementing and supporting an inclusive business ecosystem in the East Midlands in five key areas: promoting diverse role models across the business ecosystem; Provide inclusive business support; Allow lifelong learning of business education; Guarantee equal access to business financing; Implement measurable goals for inclusive business policies and procurement practices.