Sandra Wallace: “Diverse teams make business better”

Sandra Wallace is an employment law specialist and partner at DLA Piper global law firm. Passionate about advancing equality, Sandra is also co-chair of the Social Mobility Commission. Born in Birmingham, Sandra spoke Patois at home, and had her first glimpse of discrimination at the age of 5, when she was told to “stop speaking like you do”. Despite the negativity she experienced because of her decision to study law at Wolverhampton polytechnic, Sandra quickly found a job and began to rise through the ranks. That’s why she’s keen to tell her story - to serve as a role model to others who’ve been told they can’t succeed. In this episode Sandra explores how her socioeconomic status has been the biggest hurdle in her life, more so than her gender or race - though she does explain how tiring it is that she still needs to address the issue of racism in this day and age. She explains how business can benefit from greater diversity, what the Social Mobility Commission is doing to push the agenda, and why it’s important for companies to readdress their recruitment practices.

Your host is Tunde Banjoko OBE, founder of Making The Leap.