Mind Your P’s – Joy Lewis, CEO and Founder of AAI EmployAbility (Adopt An Intern)

Intro

Joy Lewis is the founder and CEO of AAI EmployAbility, the award-winning not-for-profit that is tackling inclusivity and diversity issues in the recruitment market head-on. She witnessed first hand the inequalities that unpaid internships presented for graduates entering the job market, and in 2009 Joy founded AAI (formerly Adopt An Intern) to create accessible job opportunities to people from low-income families. 12 years on and AAI has grown to create opportunities and promote gender and racial diversity within the workplace.

Joy shares her insider knowledge on how you can encourage more diverse applicants on job listings, as well as how AAI and the team have managed to work remotely for the last 11 years. Plus, we discuss the issue of unpaid internships and getting young people workplace-ready.

Follow Joy’s journey

Twitter: @AAIEmploy, @JoyLewisAAI

LinkedIn: @JoyLewis, @AAIEmployAbility

Website: aai-employability.org.uk/

What you’ll learn

• How to encourage women and diverse applicants to apply for your role
• Businesses in the top quarter for racial diversity are 36% more likely to have higher profits, and those with gender balance are 25% more likely
• How to successfully lead a team working from home
• Leading by example by pushing yourself out of your comfort zone

Mentions

• Diversity and inclusion workshops – ran by AAI, alongside many other exciting workshops
• B Corp – accreditation for businesses that perform to the highest level of ethics
• Hey Girls – social enterprise committed to ending period poverty in the UK, listen to our episode with their CEO and founder, Celia Hodson
• Lilypads– reusable period products helping to alleviate period poverty abroad and creating sustainable sanitary products
• Neatebox – an app that supports inclusion for people with disabilities and businesses to be more accessible
• International Women’s Centre, Dundee – helping women from all backgrounds achieve their potential through education and supportive activities, our host Caroline is the former Chief Executive of DIWC
• Slack – Internal team communications app

Transcript