The FA’s Inclusion Advisory Board (IAB) has convened for its second meeting and chair Heather Rabbatts confirmed positive progress has been made.
The Board met for the first time in January 2014, and Rabbatts said the diverse makeup of the 10-strong panel is proving highly beneficial in The FA's quest to bring football to all.
"The IAB consists of a great group of people who come from so many different backgrounds - but who also share knowledge, experience, and passion for the game - as well as being committed to driving forward the 'Football for Everyone' agenda," she said.
The group reflected on a number of recent FA-backed equality initiatives - including the Muslim Women’s Sports Foundation Futsal event at St. George's Park and the Get on Board graduation - an initiative which promotes the presence of black and Asian ethnic minority people at boardroom level.
Inclusion Advisory Board
- Ten-strong group and reflects all areas of football’s diverse nature
- Part of The FA’s commitment to its Inclusion and Anti-Discrimination Action Plan
- Rabbatts is one of two independent non-executive directors on The FA Board and has been an active campaigner for equality and in particular race and gender equality
The group also heard from The Football Supporters' Federation and Kick It Out on how fans groups can make a difference.
“These events show the breadth of work taking place in this field," added Rabbatts.
"The release of The FA Reporting Discrimination films and their reach so far, was also discussed and we spent some time looking at the data it spawned and how we ensure we follow this up and monitor trends.
“This is key if we are to build greater confidence across both the national and professional game.
"While still early days there is a significant growth in the use of the Kick It Out app, as well as The FA’s own reporting structures. It’s encouraging to see more cases now being investigated.
“As we all know bringing about change is a collective effort across all of football.
"The idea of the group is not to be a talking shop, but to go out there and make a difference and feed that experience back to help us all learn and drive the agenda forward.”
The IAB meets on a quarterly basis and will next convene in July 2014.
