Our founder, Stacy Johnson was recently invited to the OECD headquarters in Paris to speak at the OECD Social Policy Ministerial Meeting and High-Level Policy Forum ‘New Frontiers for Social Policy: Investing in the Future’.
This high-level gathering brought together Ministers, policymakers, academics and global leaders to foster dialogue, share best practices, and strengthen the collective commitment to building resilient and inclusive social protection systems. The meeting underscored the shared responsibility to enhance social protection systems for the global challenges ahead.
While OECD countries have made substantial progress in several areas of equality, there is a need to advance further in combatting discrimination in all its forms, while recognising differences in opportunities and outcomes for different groups.
Stacy was part of a panel focused on ensuring equal opportunities and addressing blind spots in equality.
Discussions centred around policies to best help ensure equal opportunities for disadvantaged groups and ensure that existing barriers, systemic discrimination, stereotypes and biases are not perpetuated through artificial intelligence.
Ensuring Equal Opportunities: What are the blind spots?
Illustration by Blanche Illustrates
When we asked Stacy about the most impactful provocation she presented at the conference, she cited drawing attention to the myth that merit was objectively measured and perceived which in turn meant that the notion of “meritocracy” was flawed and problematic. She also highlighted the need for more attention to intersectionality in social protection policy.
Stacy was particularly pleased to connect with University of Nottingham Alumnus Ben Hunte, CNN Anchor and Correspondent. They were delighted to discover that they were also both Alumni of City, University of London, where Ben studied MA in Broadcast Journalism and Stacy studied for an MSc in Economic and Quantitative Methods in Healthcare, more than 20 years apart!
You can watch back the panel discussion here!
If you’d like to hear more about our work with organisations such as the OECD then please do reach out!