Confronting Racism in the Public Sector

In an intimate and unflinching keynote delivered to 50 Government Digital Service leaders and practitioners, Steve confronted the uncomfortable realities of racism within the UK public sector, not with abstract theory, but through raw, personal testimony. He shared visceral accounts of microaggressions endured throughout his career: being spoken over in meetings where his expertise was dismissed, watching less qualified colleagues leapfrog him for promotions, and navigating the exhausting performance of code switching, altering speech patterns, mannerisms, and even dress to assimilate into predominantly white institutional spaces. Steve laid bare the psychological toll of existing as one of the few people of colour in senior technical leadership roles, describing the isolating experience of being simultaneously hypervisible as a token representative and invisible when contributions are overlooked or attributed to others. He recounted witnessing colleagues from minority backgrounds face similar barriers, their potential stifled by systemic biases that persist despite diversity rhetoric. Rather than softening the message, Steve deliberately leaned into discomfort, challenging the room to move beyond performative allyship towards concrete, courageous action. His call to action was comprehensive and demanding: interrupt bias in real time when witnessed, amplify marginalised voices in meetings and decision making processes, actively sponsor and mentor minority colleagues by opening doors and advocating for their advancement, examine personal complicity in upholding exclusionary norms, and push for structural policy changes that embed equity into hiring, promotion, and retention practices. The session was designed not to comfort, but to catalyse, forcing attendees to confront their role in either perpetuating or dismantling institutional racism. Steve's vulnerable storytelling and strategic framing transformed the conversation from abstract diversity goals to urgent moral and organisational imperatives, leaving the audience with a clear mandate: allyship is not passive sympathy but active, sustained intervention.