Museums Galleries Scotland’s Anti-Racism Action Plan

Goal: Leaders actively model anti racism. Our culture lives it

Leaders demonstrate visible, ongoing anti-racist leadership by making decisions through demonstrated behaviours of our values. Every team member will have access to training, enabling them to feel equipped, confident and competent in anti-racist practice. We will cultivate a workplace where all people feel a sense of belonging and agency.

Goal: Anti racism becomes part of everything we do, not an optional add on

We will embed an anti-racist, intersectional approach into all decision-making levels. Responsibility for anti-racism sits with everyone, not just a few, by embedding it into job roles, performance reviews, strategies and policies, creating spaces for discussion and review. Resources are allocated to fulfil our anti-racism goals.  We will build internal processes, so initiatives continue even during staff turnover or organisational change.

Goal:  We will push beyond our usual networks and help set an example for the sector

We will promote anti-racism good practice across museums, whatever their size or location. We will share our learning and insights with the sector. We will collaborate with other institutions to drive systemic change, pooling knowledge and holding each other to account. We will expect individuals and organisations we contract or partner with to be committed to anti-racism. We will seek partnerships with organisations led by communities most impacted by racism and amplify their voice and leadership in our sector.

Goal: We will track progress, own shortcomings and course correct as needed

We will publicly communicate our plan and report on progress where appropriate and necessary. We will establish robust review mechanisms, including external partners, to validate our progress and explore areas for improvement. We will publish results and reflections and invite feedback from staff and external partners.

The Senior Management Team will own the plan, champion it and support staff in delivery. An internal anti-oppression implementation group (which includes colleagues with racialised experience) will monitor progress, flag issues and drive updates. We will provide support and resources for them to do this.

We will establish external accountability relationships (for example critical friends, external experts or advisory groups) and co-design a review system with them.

We will track and act upon three measurement levels:

• Input measures – what resources, training and policies we put in place.
• Output measures – what clear actions we deliver against.
• Outcome measures – are we achieving the change we set out to achieve against our goals.

We will use short, specified time cycles of planning and action delivery with built in review points. For each cycle, we will select a few priority actions to implement within that timeframe. Other actions will be noted and internally visible on a future actions list.

At cycle end, we will review what worked, what did not and capture lessons learned. We will review and reprioritise fucture actions based on those lessons, moving the most impactful, feasible actions into the next cycle. This approach means that the plan will always include active and future actions.

Actions listed here (and above) have been collated from the action planning both staff cohorts from the anti-racism training and from the first of the Board’s two anti-racism sessions. This list can be added to at any time.

Organisational Leadership and Culture

• Implement regular, transparent communications to support shared learning with sector; hold check-ins
• Ongoing learning re leadership and decision making
• Host creative workshops to reframe strategic plans
• Pair Execs with staff with lived experience for mutual learning
• Communication – develop guidelines, training, and baseline expectations
• Influence partner org’s recruitment practices – share resources and provide training
• Recognise proactive inclusive comms in staff reviews
• Training / guidance / support for staff to develop inclusive language
• Create best practice/minimum requirement for supporting people with lived experience of racism

Capacity & Sustainability

• Develop fixed-term post induction & exit continuity plans
• Develop planning process to ensure time, resource and expertise around ani-racism built into all new work taken on
• Pilot targeted refresher sessions and discussion spaces

Sector wide influence and legacy

• Board to create blog/talking heads re importance of board leadership
• Explore how grants influence can be used to encourage sector development. Investigate funding in relation to anti-racism across different sectors and what other funders doing – how others have supported sector change
• Create an internal sector communication plan to support museums to understand the importance of working towards becoming anti-racist
• Prepare museums for opposition to social justice work with training and resources
• Work towards embedding anti-racism into Accreditation and Recognition in a way that takes account of organisational size
• Investigate challenges around inclusive recruitment practices and develop best practice around positive action initiatives
• Develop a framework/mechanism for MGS to track progress of the sector and map where there is engagement 

Evaluation, accountability, and measurement

• Embed process for evaluation in staff reviews
• Gather feedback through anti-racist lens
• Engage external support for group and individual feedback (leadership)
• Understand where comms activity can support monitoring of progress for this plan. Ensure responsibility and resourcing is clear for how we take comms activity forward.