Since 2020, through our work conducting racial equity audits, research, and workshops across the social impact and impact investment sectors, we’ve gathered a wealth of insight, not just from the work itself, but from our own lived experiences as racialised people navigating these spaces.
This article shares some of the recurring themes we’ve seen in our work. These are not case studies, nor are they stories from specific individuals or communities. In line with our commitment to care and data privacy, nothing here is attributable. These are our reflections as researchers and practitioners – what we’ve witnessed, what we’ve felt, and what we want others to carry forward.
Over the past six years of running Spark, we’ve conducted over 1,500+ interviews, as well as focus groups, audits, and research sessions with racialised people and communities. Across this work, we’ve seen recurring themes that go beyond any one organisation or sector.
These include:
- The deep connection between racial inequity and other structural oppressions, such as class, disability, gender, and migration status.
- A persistent mistrust of institutions rooted in lived experience of harm and exclusion.
- Fatigue and disillusionment among racialised staff and community members when promises of change are not followed by tangible, sustained action.
- The importance of leadership accountability and active modelling of anti-racist practice, rather than delegating equity work to junior staff or external consultants.
- The need for approaches that build safety and belonging, not just compliance or reputation management.
These insights have shaped how we approach equity work: centring community voice, being honest about power, and supporting organisations to move from statements to systemic change.
We’re sharing this now because we believe this knowledge should be shared beyond us. We hope this piece can support both the organisations we’ve worked with and the communities we care about.
This isn’t a marketing post. It’s a letter to the work that remains.
Key Themes on Racial Equity in the Workplace
1. Speaking Up Comes at a Cost
Across every sector we’ve worked in, we’ve heard that raising racism complaints is rarely met with care or accountability. Instead, racialised staff often pay a high price for speaking up and raising complaints, including:
- Damage to relationships with colleagues and managers, leading to isolation or exclusion from informal networks.
- Retaliation ranges from subtle punishment – being left out of projects, denied opportunities, to overt discipline or criticism.
- Being labelled as “difficult,” “divisive,” or “not a team player,” which can stall careers and undermine credibility.
- HR processes that protect the institution’s reputation over addressing harm, often leave the person harmed to carry the emotional and professional fallout alone.
2. Representation Without Power
Many organisations have made progress on hiring more racially diverse staff, but this representation is often concentrated at junior levels, with little meaningful influence at senior or strategic tables. Racialised employees are frequently asked to “feed in” on inclusion or EDI efforts without the authority, budget, or decision-making power to shape or implement them.
This creates a dynamic of extractive consultation, where insight is gathered but ignored, and leaves many feeling like symbolic figures rather than leaders with agency. Many racialised staff end up feeling used as symbols of diversity, rather than being equipped as leaders with agency.
Over time, this creates organisations where decision-making, resource allocation, and strategy remain primarily in the hands of white individuals, sustaining systemic inequity and preventing genuine transformation.
3. Cultural Norms That Exclude
Professional norms in most organisations still reflect white, middle-class expectations of behaviour, communication, and leadership. What’s considered “professional” is often narrowly defined in ways that don’t accommodate different ways of being.
Racialised staff, particularly Black and Asian women, often describe feeling pressure to soften or suppress parts of themselves, including how they speak, express emotion, or present their ideas, to be seen as professional. When they don’t conform to these unwritten norms, they are more likely to be scrutinised, dismissed, or labelled as difficult, confrontational, or not a good cultural fit.
Different groups experience this differently: Black women are often perceived as aggressive or confrontational when they assert themselves, while Asian women may be stereotyped as passive or lacking leadership potential. Those who don’t conform to these expectations face harsher scrutiny and are more likely to be dismissed, sidelined, or labelled as not a good cultural fit.
4. We’re Not a Monolith
There is no universal “racialised” experience at work. People’s experiences are shaped by intersecting identities – migration history, class background, education, religion, language, and personal politics. Some feel called to engage in equity work and find it meaningful.
Others are exhausted by the expectation that they should lead on inclusion efforts simply because of their race, pointing out that they are not anti-racism or EDI experts, yet these roles are often thrust upon them without choice or support. Organisations often treat racialised staff as a single group with shared views or burdens, rather than meeting people with curiosity, nuance, and consent.
5. Barriers to Progression Persist
Progression systems are often opaque and reliant on networks, sponsorship, and subjective judgements – making it harder for racialised staff to advance. Many told us they feel they have to “overperform” just to be seen as capable, while white peers rise through softer, informal pathways.
When racism comes from a line manager, there’s rarely safe or effective ways to challenge it without risking one’s career progression or causing relational strain. The result is a sense of being stuck, sidelined, or having to leave to move up.
6. Invisible Labour, Unequal Pay
We consistently heard about racial pay disparities: people with equal or greater experience being paid less than white peers.
In addition, racialised staff often shoulder hidden workloads, mentoring, emotional support, translating cultural dynamics, or fixing EDI failures, without compensation or recognition.
This work is often expected, and yet not acknowledged. It adds to stress and burnout, particularly for those already minoritised within their teams.
7. Shallow Inclusion Work
Many organisations do the minimum – like hiring a consultant to deliver unconscious bias training, or releasing a statement after a global event, but stop short of systemic change.
Without changes to leadership, power structures, strategy, and accountability, these efforts feel performative. People told us they’re tired of talking about racism in workshops without seeing action afterwards.
Real inclusion means embedding equity into the heart of how an organisation operates, not treating it as a separate or optional initiative.
8. The World Doesn’t Stop at the Office Door
From police brutality to anti-migrant rhetoric, racialised communities experience ongoing political and social harm. These realities don’t vanish when someone logs onto Zoom or walks into the office.
Yet many workplaces act as if these issues are “too political” or irrelevant to work. This avoidance creates a sense of dissonance and disconnection.
Racialised staff are expected to perform professionalism while grieving, fearing for their safety, or navigating societal injustice – with little acknowledgment or support from employers.
Power, Whiteness, and Harm: One Consistent Learning
One of the strongest patterns across our work is the role of white people in either blocking or enabling progress on racial equity.
We’ve seen:
- Defensiveness from white staff derail conversations about racism, shifting focus to white discomfort rather than the harm experienced by racialised staff.
- HR functions acting as protectors of the institution, prioritising reputational risk and procedure over justice and repair.
- Harm caused by white staff being minimised or disbelieved, with racialised staff portrayed as aggressive or divisive for naming it.
- Institutions prioritising appearances and statements over real action – refusing to share power or address systemic patterns.
But we’ve also seen white colleagues who challenge harmful norms, amplify racialised voices, and stay committed even when it’s uncomfortable. What sets them apart isn’t getting it perfect, but being willing to act, listen, and change.
What Now?
This post is part of our attempt to leave behind something useful. The themes we’ve shared are not new – and many have been spoken about for decades by those who came before us. But we hope that by naming them again, clearly and without euphemism, we make it harder for organisations to look away.
If you’re a community member navigating these realities: we see you. Our Racism at Work Support Hub includes a practical guide, articles and links to other support organisation which we hope will help you feel less alone.
If you’re a client or colleague in a position of power: we invite you to engage with this support hub and it’s contents. The work doesn’t end with a workshop or audit. It lives in how you lead, hire, listen, and repair.
Thank you to everyone who has trusted us enough to share their stories, and to those doing the work from within.