Our Commitments

Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) Progress Report  

 December 2025  

At Social Investment Scotland (SIS), we value and celebrate diversity of people and ideas. 

Our mission is to connect capital with communities to make a real, measurable and sustainable impact on people’s lives.  

Our vision is an Impact Economy where social entrepreneurs, businesses, consumers, investors and government work together to deliver meaningful outcomes. 

Through our 10-year strategy Building an Impact Economy (2020–2030), we work to minimise harm and maximise positive impacts for people and planet, while contributing solutions to society’s biggest challenges. Equity of access is central to this vision, and DEI remains a core part of our work. 

This report summarises progress made in 2025 and sets out clear priorities for 2026 to advance diversity, equity and inclusion across SIS and the wider social economy. 

We are committed to breaking down systemic barriers to finance and creating opportunities for inclusion across Scotland’s social economy. Through Financial Inclusion for Scotland and other initiatives, we aim to ensure fair access to capital for underserved communities, supporting diversity and equity as central to social progress. 

Since publishing our DEI statement in 2022 and our first progress report in 2023, we have continued to embed DEI principles across our organisation and sector.  

Progress  

In 2025, we updated recruitment processes to reflect DEI principles, improved data collection for monitoring diversity, and maintained active staff engagement through training and dialogue. Externally, we supported sector-wide initiatives, funded research to inform inclusive practice, and created opportunities for underrepresented voices to influence decision-making. 

Potential  

Building on this progress, we see clear opportunities for 2026. Our priorities will focus on embedding inclusive recruitment practices, expanding accessible application processes, and improving data to monitor representation. We will strengthen collaboration through co-designed initiatives and shared learning, maintain transparency by publishing progress updates, and continue advocating for systemic changes that improve equity across the social economy. 

Questions, comments and feedback  

If you have any questions or would like to discuss any aspect of our DEI practice, please contact Lindsay Wake, SIS Head of Impact and Communications at - lindsay@socialinvestmentscotland.com 

Read the full Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Progress Report for December 2025 here.

At Social Investment Scotland (SIS), we value and celebrate diversity of people and ideas.  

Our mission is to connect capital with communities to make a real, measurable and sustainable impact on people’s lives. 

Our vision is for an Impact Economy where social entrepreneurs, businesses, consumers, investors and government are aligned and focused on delivering impactful actions and meaningful outcomes.

Through our 10-year strategy 2020 - 2030 ‘Building an Impact Economy’, we seek to minimise harm, maximise positive impacts for people and planet and contribute solutions to some of society’s biggest challenges. This vision encompasses equity of access for all and places DEI as a core element of our work. 

In November 2022, we published our DEI statement – detailing our approach to diversity, equality and inclusion including our partnership approach and data management practices. In November 2023, we released our first DEI progress report.

The 2024 DEI progress report highlights the key milestones we have achieved and outlines, aligned with the seven principles of the Social Investment Diversity Forum Manifesto 2.0 our focus and priorities for the next 12 months.

Progress 

DEI is regularly discussed by SIS colleagues, leadership team and the board. A cross-team working group leads these efforts by researching best practices, listening and learning, developing annual action plans and responding to emerging needs as they arise. Our goal is to create an environment where everyone feels comfortable and confident in bringing their full selves to the workplace and in their interactions with SIS.

We have made strides in both internal and external work streams with more actions planned for the coming year. For further details, please refer to the table below.  

Potential 

Potential areas for improvement remain and include creating more opportunities for peer support, discussion and sharing of good practices, raising awareness and eliminating unconscious bias, improving diversity, especially for boards and leadership teams by embracing all protected characteristics as well as socio-economic backgrounds and using participatory approaches as the norm.

Questions, comments and feedback

If you have any questions or would like to talk to us about any aspect of our DEI practice please contact Lindsay Wake, SIS Head of Impact at -

lindsay@socialinvestmentscotland.com

Read the full Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Progress Report for November 2024 here.

At Social Investment Scotland, we value and celebrate diversity of people and ideas.  

Our mission is to connect capital with communities, to make a real, measurable, and sustainable impact on people’s lives.

Our vision is for an Impact Economy, when social entrepreneurs, businesses, consumers, investors, and government are aligned and focused on delivering impactful actions and meaningful outcomes.

Through our 10-year strategy 2020 - 2030 ‘Building an Impact Economy’, we seek to minimise harm, maximise positive impacts for people and planet, and contribute solutions to some of society’s biggest challenges. This vision encompasses equity of access for all and places DEI as a core element of our work. 

We published our DEI statement in November 2022 and laid out our general approach to DEI including our approach to partnership working and how we collect, monitor and understand data.

In this progress report we summarise the key milestones reached in 2022/23 and our key priorities for the next 12 months in line with the seven principles of the Social Investment Diversity Forum Manifesto 2.0.

Progress 

DEI is regularly discussed by SIS colleagues, leadership team and board. Activities are led by a cross-team working group that research best practice, listen and learn, develop and deliver annual action plans, and respond to emerging needs on a more ad hoc basis. We continually strive to find new ways for people to feel comfortable and confident in bringing their full selves to the workplace, and their relationship and interactions with SIS.

We have made considerable progress in our DEI journey and our cross-team working group has doubled in numbers indicating an increased interest and confidence in DEI matters across teams. We have progressed internal and external work streams with further actions being considered during the coming year – for further details please see the full update linked below.

Potential 

Areas for improvement include creating more opportunities for peer support, discussion and sharing of good practice, raising awareness and minimising unconscious bias, improving diversity especially for boards and leadership teams embracing all protected characteristics as well as socio-economic backgrounds, and using participatory approaches as the norm.   

Questions, comments and feedback

If you have any questions or would like to talk to us about any aspect of our DEI practice please contact Lindsay Wake, SIS Head of Impact at -

lindsay@socialinvestmentscotland.com

Read the full Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Progress Report for November 2023 here.