Blog author: Steve McGregor, Group MD
As a baby-boomer, I’ve had the good fortune to live abroad for 17 formative years, with a further 14 years working internationally. Living, working and visiting over 60 countries has provided me with a rich and indelible tapestry of cultural experience. That early and consistent exposure built my assured and intuitive comfort with equality, diversity and inclusion. That’s never waned.
Music was a regular feature in our house, so I grew up hearing 50’s and 60’s Rock-n-Roll, R&B, Soul and Motown. It included influential and timeless civil rights artists, like Sam Cooke, long before I was old enough to really understand what he was singing about. I eventually learned to understand his evocative lyrics of hope and protest, and came to love his enduring talent….what a voice!
In 1964, he wrote and released “A change is gonna come” following a personal segregation experience in Louisiana. It’s a personal favourite of mine, and it subsequently became and still remains one of the most recognisable civil rights songs of all time.
During my 43 year career I’ve witnessed our industry changing for the better, but it still has a long way to go. Our only constant is change, and our only limitation is ignorance, so making EDI happen simply depends on us all wanting to.
