Case studies › OVO Energy
Race Ahead® · energy · 148 senior leaders
OVO set out to give its senior leaders the tools, language and confidence to lead as active anti-racist allies. Over the programme, recruitment of people from Black and ethnic-minority backgrounds rose from 9% to 38%, and 148 leaders left with a concrete action pledge.
Background
OVO wanted to deepen its commitment to race equity by ensuring its Senior Leadership Team had the tools, language and confidence to lead as active anti-racist allies. Leaders had a foundational understanding, but baseline confidence and knowledge scores sat at around 4 to 6 out of 10.
The opportunity was to bridge that gap, move past the discomfort that often surrounds talking about race, increase representation of Black and ethnic-minority people, and shift the organisation from being “not racist” to actively anti-racist from the top down.
What we did
We delivered half-day Race Ahead sessions across 148 senior leaders, designed as a psychologically safe yet brave space that balanced honest, deep reflection with practical leadership action. Some leaders who did not believe there was a problem, or were unaware of the role they could play, left with a very different mindset.
Rather than a tick-box exercise, the sessions helped leaders constructively reframe power, privilege and systemic racism, and captured 148 concrete action pledges so the focus stayed proactive long after the training ended.
Growth and impact
average rating across 148 senior leaders.
recruitment of people from Black and ethnic-minority backgrounds.
leaders' confidence to discuss race, out of 10.
of leaders very likely to recommend EDP.
Leaders now actively use shared anti-racist language and open up reflection spaces within their own teams. They are integrating anti-racism into core business areas, from equitable recruitment and coaching underrepresented talent to embedding allyship in performance conversations. The work also helped OVO be named a Top 30 Employer for Investing in Ethnicity.
Key results
Behind the delivery
"Bianca's open, supportive and deeply reflective delivery style was exactly what our leaders needed to move past discomfort and step confidently into active allyship. She expertly balanced challenging conversations with the psychological safety our team needed to be honest about their blind spots and confident in their action planning."
Louise Bailey · Belonging Manager, OVO Energy
The thinking behind it
"Awareness dissolves discomfort. Knowledge combats fear. Together, they build the confidence needed for action."
The Race Ahead programme