Fiona Cannon, Director of Diversity and Inclusion at Lloyds Banking Group, has been named Diversity Champion of the Year at the European Diversity Awards 2015.
For more than 25 years Fiona has been a pioneer for promoting diversity and inclusion across the UK, and was awarded an OBE in the 2011 New Year’s Honours List for services to equal opportunities.
Fiona is responsible for the development and delivery of Lloyds Banking Group’s Diversity and Inclusion strategy, which reaches 76,000 employees, 30m customers and an extensive network of suppliers and communities. She has spearheaded the agenda throughout the Group, seeing it become recognised as one of the most progressive organisations within the industry. In 2014, a public commitment was made to having 40% of senior roles filled by women by 2020, making Lloyds Banking Group the first FTSE 100 organisation to make such a bold commitment. She is also Director of the Agile Future Forum; an alliance of 33 UK FTSE 100 chief executives supporting UK businesses to become more agile.
Fiona Cannon, Director of Diversity and Inclusion at Lloyds Banking Group, said:
“I am humbled to be named as the winner of this prestigious award. Throughout my career I have always had a passionate belief that diversity and inclusion in the workplace brings about richness of thought and better business decisions. Lloyds Banking Group’s commitment to diversity and inclusion runs throughout the organisation, and is embedded in the Group’s Helping Britain Prosper Plan. I accept this award on behalf of a much wider team who all deserve to be recognised.”
Fiona has been a founder member of number of campaigns including the UK Race for Opportunity and Employers for Fathers campaigns. She has also been involved in developing equality legislation over the past 20 years and was a member of the Work and Parents Taskforce, which advised the Government on how to develop and implement flexible working legislation.
The European Diversity Awards celebrate those organisations and individuals that have shown innovation, creativity and commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. They recognise excellence in the areas of gender, disability, sexual orientation, age, race, culture and religion across Europe.