Local Party Diversity Officer

Find information on the role and responsibilities of a Local Party Diversity Officer here.

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What's the role?

Time: 2 - 3 hours per week

The Diversity Officer needs to be someone in the local party that has a passion for people and is supposed to bring in diversity to the party with the aim of making the local party more relatable to the community.

This is a very fun role as you get to learn about your local community and the many different groups that give it its diversity. You will be educated about these groups, but also prepared to learn about their concerns, so that you can help the exec group take them into consideration when discussing and deciding the local manifesto or different policies.

This role can also be a great help to your local party’s fundraising and campaigning activities, as well as your Membership Officer when it comes to organising events. Be open and diverse in your thoughts, and never make an assumption about any of the groups in your community.

Key tasks

The Diversity Officer needs someone who can reach out to different groups within the community, and who is happy to go to many events to meet new and different people.

Make a list of the groups in your community, including all of the charities in your area.
Make contact with all of these groups, and arrange to go to their events and meet their management team.
Help these local groups organise their events, and volunteer to help staff them.
Set up a diversity calendar, containing important cultural events and dates.
Make a social media message plan, to make sure you are putting the right messages out on the right days.
Share details of diversity events in your area on your social media pages.
Invite these groups to attend your local party events, so that they can educate your members.

Help & support

Liberal Democrats approach to Diversity
Lord Alderdice's report on Race, Ethnic Minorities and the Culture of the Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats Campaign for Race Equality
Find out more about the Disability Lib Dems group on their website.
The Liberal Democrats Diversity team on Twitter
Liberal Democrat Women are a group within the party who provide support and training for women, and who work to eliminate inequality based on gender.
You can visit the Liberal Democrat Campaign for Gender Balance Facebook page here.
Visit the LGBT+ Lib Dems website, and follow them on Twitter.

Skills & attributes

Research skills to be able to identify and find information on the local groups and learn about them.
Interpersonal skills, so you can make a good impression when you meet new people.
Being outgoing and enjoy talking to people and attending events.
Organisational skills, as you will open the door for receiving emails from these groups.
Event planning, so you can help with their events or arrange events for your local party for certain "diversity days".
Social media skills so you can help your social media and campaigning teams with content on "diversity days".

How to apply

This is an optional role within local parties.

If you'd like to become the Diversity Officer for your local party, then speak to your Chair about it.

Your Chair could propose a motion at the next Executive Committee meeting to create the post of Diversity Officer, and co-opt you into the role until the next AGM.

Then at your next AGM, it can be opened up to all local party members as an elected position.