Social Diversity at Osborne Clarke – One Year On

Along with the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, June 2022 marks another important milestone.....the one-year anniversary of Osborne Clarke's Social Diversity Network. The #OCSocialDiversity Employee Network officially launched on 10 June 2021. The launch event was introduced by Managing Partner, Ray Berg and attended by over 150 Osborne Clarke employees (via Teams thanks to Covid). 

Fast forward 12 months and thanks to a host of volunteers from across the firm, the Network has achieved a variety of successes including:

• The firm jumping 33 places to rank 48th in the UK Social Mobility Employer Index 
• The launching of The Bridge, the firm's first holistic long term schools partnership, which aims to facilitate access to the legal profession for young people from diverse backgrounds 
• The successful running of the Social Mobility Business Partnership (SMBP) virtual work experience programme for students from our Bridge schools
• The creation of materials to profile diverse role models across the firm (in both lawyer and business services roles)
• The achievement of the UpReach Volunteer Award following the firm's participation in the UpReach Assessed Virtual Internship Programme 
• A number of notable collaborations with social mobility organisations including STRIVE and The 93% Club

I'm proud to see how much the Network has achieved in such a short space of time. We have a variety of exciting and ambitious plans in the pipeline for year two and look forward to continuing the fantastic progress that we've made so far."

Lara Flynn, Co-Chair of the Social Diversity Committee

Social diversity forms one of a number of key diversity networks that we are committed to at Osborne Clarke. As a trustee of the SMBP, I am delighted to witness the progress that the Social Diversity Network has made in its first year and I look forward to seeing what successes the next term will bring."

Ray Berg, Managing Partner