The theme of this year’s Black History Month is Reclaiming Narratives; an opportunity to highlight those who have used experiences of discrimination to drive them. Cadence Partners founder Shani Newbold’s experiences as a young black woman of dual heritage fuelled her determination to champion social justice, human rights and equality issues. Here’s her story.
People often recall an experience in childhood being the catalyst for the path they end up going down in life, and I’m no different. At school in the East Midlands aged ten, I told my teacher that I wanted to be a human rights lawyer. He told me the local factory was a more realistic target for someone like me.
Despite my young age, this experience of discrimination was one of many. But while insidious and destabilising, it triggered something in me to start fighting back.
I’d always been a voracious reader, but I ramped it up, devouring the works of Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker and many others whose brave, powerful voices further-ignited my indignation and determination. I didn’t know it then, but I was preparing myself for a lifelong battle to challenge systems that consciously or unconsciously demonstrated inequality or bias. One that continues to this day.
Ignoring my teacher's advice, I studied hard in service of my ambition. I went on to study law and business on a scholarship in the US and completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Management and Law at Lancaster University.
Since then, I’ve amassed over 20 years of experience in executive recruitment and talent management, both in the UK and the US. After becoming a recruitment consultant for a well-known firm, I then joined another high-profile company as the head of executive search. I was struck by the discrimination I saw regularly in my working life, as well as the seismic impact my decisions could have on people's professional prospects and personal lives. More concerningly, I saw how flippantly this enormous influence was treated by many others in the recruitment business. Every day, I saw really brilliant people being overlooked for totally spurious reasons. Appointment decisions were made based on poor, limited information, with incredible levels of bias displayed throughout the decision-making process. Too often, even the basic legal requirements weren’t even taken into account.
Knowing I couldn’t be part of that culture for the remainder of my career, I took the leap and founded Cadence Partners 12 years ago. As an executive recruitment and equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) consultancy, we aim to break the mould of rigid, bias-riddled recruitment and ensure under-represented communities are fairly represented in senior leadership.
I’d like to think we’re an agency with a difference; part recruitment, part consultancy, but wholly underpinned by EDI and a social purpose. We’re not a large, unresponsive corporation; we’re a wonderful team of individuals from diverse backgrounds who care passionately about justice, equity, diversity and inclusion.
Many of the people in my amazing team can relate strongly to the experiences I had as a working class, dual heritage woman trying to forge her way in the world, so we know first-hand the creativity, profitability and value a wide range of perspectives and experience adds to an organisation. We also know from lived experience the consequences when diversity is not embraced. That’s why we go to great lengths to uncover talent from non-traditional sources, creating greater accessibility for under-represented groups and, of course, greater choice for our clients.
Fighting for fairness and inclusion can be exhausting work, so one of the things I’m passionate about is championing others who are trying to make positive change. In founding Cadence, I wanted to create a space where like-minded people could co-exist and draw strength from one another. I try to work outwards as well as inwards, so I’m a trustee with the Agenda Alliance, a senior advisor to The Fore, served as a member of the race advisory group of the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations and we are a Women on Boards recruitment partner. I also partner with mentors and coaches and sponsor annual bursaries for first-time trustees and non-executive directors.
I want to help people from diverse backgrounds remember they’re not on their own. Amidst all the challenges of creating a fairer more inclusive workplace and society, we should never lose sight of the fact that even just role-modelling inclusive behaviours can be life-changing, even for just one person. There’s also a whole host of support from organisations like ACEVO and NCVO, so please do access it.
Finally, I want to tell fellow business owners that being bold in your recruitment choices pays off. There’s mounting evidence to show that candidates are actively seeking out inclusive environments. According to Glassdoor, 76% of job seekers now view workplace diversity as a make-or-break factor when eyeing potential employers, and 32% of job seekers wouldn’t even apply to a company with a lack of diversity among its workforce.
