SLC recognised at FREDIE Awards

The Student Loans Company (SLC) has been recognised at the National Centre for Diversity (NCD) FREDIE Awards which champion fairness, respect, equality, diversity, inclusion and engagement.

SLC Chief Executive, Paula Sussex was presented with the Chief Executive of the Year Award at an online ceremony which took place last week.

The award follows the organisation’s success in achieving the Investors in Diversity (IiD) accreditation earlier in the year.

The FREDIE Awards and IiD accreditation recognise SLC’s commitment to creating an environment that enabled colleagues to support one another through the pandemic, and for its success in embedding the principles of fairness, respect, equality, diversity, inclusion and engagement in all areas of the organisation. This was demonstrated through a number of initiatives, led by colleagues across SLC, including the creation of SLC@Home; an online home working hub which provided tools, support, guidance, and digital Communication Cells to allow on-going engagement between teams working remotely.

Other examples also include the establishment of employee networks such as the LGBT+ group, Arcus and the organisation wide celebration of events such as religious festivals. SLC has been looking at how it can build diversity into technology roles through the active promotion of STEM opportunities for women. And this month, SLC also launched a remote Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) service which sees expertly trained SLC Mental Health First Aiders providing remote support to colleagues who need it.

Accepting the award Paula said:

I am honoured to be presented with this award, which is really for the whole SLC team. I have been so impressed with how, despite a global pandemic, diversity has continued to thrive at SLC thanks to the commitment of my colleagues to the FREDIE principles.

Of course, there is always more that can be done, and we will continue to drive forward our equality, diversity and inclusion agenda – not just for our employees but for our customers too. SLC exists to enable people to invest in their futures through further and higher education – and we need to ensure our service is inclusive of the diversity of our 9 million customers.