Newsflash | Q-Seed Partnership

NEWS RELEASE - ABOUT THE Q-SEED PARTNERSHIP

A new ground breaking partnership aims to enable Black and Global Majority leaders to have their voices heard in the national policy debate, build personal and organisational resilience and network with other criminal justice leaders.

Never has there been a time for a greater emphasis on the role of Black and Global Majority leaders (BGM) who are working at the coalface of the criminal justice system. With unacceptably high proportions of BGM people in prison and not enough people getting the right support from the right organisations, its paramount that this ecosystem is disrupted and the status quo changed for the long term.

Q-Seed is an exciting new partnership which aims to disrupt the criminal justice ecosystem, from policy through to service design and delivery by supporting BGM leaders of not for profit organisations working in the criminal justice to challenge and transform leadership.

Foundation for Women’s Health Research and Development (FORWARD), Black Men 4 Change, Grow Live (CGL), Clinks and Coding Black Females have joined forces to work together on this innovative pilot leadership development programme tailored exclusively for Black and Global Majority (BGM) 1ileaders working in the criminal justice sector (CJS). The partnership operates on an allyship and power-sharing model, led by three prominent BGM organizations, with support from two established 'mainstream' institutions, CGL and Clinks.

‘It was important that we built the right partnership from the outset that ensured Black and global majority people were in the lead and that our allyship model was an illustration of real power sharing. The Q-Seed partnership understands the impact on BGM people of working in the criminal justice ecosystem. This is why we will ensure there will be a big focus on wellbeing and self-care, liberation and ethics in our approach.’ Naana Otoo-Oyortey, Executive Director, FORWARD

Funded by Barrow Cadbury Trust and Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales, this dynamic initiative acknowledges the inherent resistance to change in the current criminal justice system.

Q-SEED will work with a cohort of 20 BGM leaders in the CJS to offer a bespoke and unique competency-based leadership programme and emerging best practice to support work on influencing change and building core skills of these leaders for scaling service delivery. By competency based we mean a focus on 3 key areas: Personal development, organisational development and system thinking, based on skills, capabilities and behaviours that will enable leaders to do their work as change makers successfully.

‘Black and Brown people are over represented in prison and the criminal justice system yet massively underrepresented in the commissioning of services to those in need. This is simply unacceptable in a post-George Floyd world. We know that to change the status quo we need agile, corporate minded and well equipped BGM leaders who have the social, technical and equity capital to operate at scale. Maximising the use of technology is key to supporting sustainable growth’. Viv Ahmun, Strategic Advisor, Black Men 4 Change.

Global majority refers to people who are Black, Asian, Brown, dual-heritage, indigenous to the global south, and/or have been referred to as "ethnic minorities".

The programme seeks to empower a stronger Black and Global Majority sector to advocate for new approaches. The focus will be on building resilience, enhancing leadership competencies, fostering well-being, and understanding systemic racism while promoting a shift towards intrinsic values.

‘This programme will really centre the needs of leaders by offering bursaries for participation, access to mentors and a genuine commitment to co-produce the programme going forward. Focusing on wellbeing and self-care are essential components of surviving and thriving in an ecosystem that has systemic racial disadvantage’. Jake Ferguson, Founder & Strategic Advisor, Black Men 4 Change.

The programme will be open to BGM leaders across the UK and at least 50% will be women and 25% based outside London.

‘Change Grow Live fully supports the aims of Q-Seed in developing Black and Global Majority leaders in the criminal justice system, aiming to develop a fairer system for all. Change Grow Live will work as an ally to the lead partners, bringing leadership training, clinical supervision framework and support that enable participants to develop their practice. business’. Simone James, National Director of Inclusion, Change Grow Live.

A Discovery Group of experts from BGM leaders with CJS experience has been created by the Q-Seed partnership to: act as a sounding board for the delivery partners; to help select the right people for the programme; and to help shape the programme implementation.

‘We know that members of our Race and Justice network are in need of this sort of programme - one which truly understands their lived experience, centres a liberatory approach and provides the right support for growth’. Emma Kidger, Support and Development Manager, Clinks.

The pilot programme will be independently evaluated so that the learning from the programme can be scaled and the assets created made more widely available.
The programme will be launched in the new year at the Bringing Hope Project in Birmingham.

To hear more from the partners please watch the Q-Seed trailer here

To contact Q-Seed and know more about the leadership training please email: Hadeel Elshak, Project Assistant, FORWARD. Email: Hadeel@forwarduk.org.uk

-----------------------------------------------------------

Clinks logo

Get involved Become a Member | Follow Clinks on Twitter

Click here to manage your subscriptions. For assistance, email info@clinks.org

Registered office: 82A James Carter Road, Mildenhall, Suffolk, IP28 7DE

Registered charity: 1074546 | Company limited by guarantee in England & Wales: 3562176