Anti-Racist Leadership: What It Actually Means in Practice

This blog series follows our recent webinar 'Driving Change: Anti-Racist Leadership Strategies' with Lou Chiu and Sohini Petrie. Lou and Sohini shared incredible insights into what anti-racist leadership actually looks like in practice.

We’ve broken down their insights into three practical blogs that cover what anti-racist leadership actually means, how to embed it when resources are tight, and how to sustain yourself in the work. 

If you work in the voluntary or social impact sector, you've probably been in meetings where someone says, "We need to do more on anti-racism." Maybe your organisation has drafted statements, updated policies, or added EDI to the agenda. But then what? 

Here's the reality: having an anti-racism policy statement doesn't make you an anti-racist organisation. And if your organisation claims to be values-driven or working towards social justice, anti-racist leadership isn't optional—it's foundational.  

We Can’t Look Away  

We're seeing the rise of right-wing populist politics globally. Anti-immigrant rhetoric is everywhere. And as Sohini Petrie powerfully put it, "the burden is too heavy now, we can't look away." 

For those of us in the non-profit sector, we need to be better at this. How can we claim to be creating social change if we're not grounded in anti-racist and anti-oppressive practice? 

The Always-Learning Approach 

Here's something that might make you uncomfortable: you're not going to know everything. You're going to get it wrong. Multiple times. And that's actually okay. 

Effective anti-racist leadership isn't about having all the answers. It's about creating conditions for success in your teams and organisation. It's less about what you know and more about your presence and approach. 

This means leaning into vulnerability, not in a "spill your emotional guts in every meeting" way, but in a way that helps you work skilfully across difference. It means understanding your own social identity and those of the people in your team. 

As Lou pointed out in the webinar, knowledge in this space is relational, dynamic, and fluid. Communities evolve, language changes, and people are on their own existential journeys. Approach this work with genuine curiosity and the expectation that you'll keep learning. 

The Most Practical Advice: Ask Better Questions 

Want to know one of the most practical things you can do right now? Be better at asking questions. 

Lou encourages us to be the person who asks: 

• Why do we do it this way? 

• How can we do it differently? 

• Who is missing from this data? 

• Who isn't being represented by the information we have? 

If you say your values are inclusive, can you confidently explain what that looks like in practice? Not just in your policies, but in your recruitment processes, pay and reward systems, recognition practices, and in what you consider "normal" or "acceptable." 

Challenging established patterns starts with being willing to ask uncomfortable questions and shine a light on subjects we've avoided. 

What Anti-Racist Policy Actually Looks Like 

Yes, you need an anti-racist policy. But what you really need is an anti-racist policy framework. Anti-racism should be embedded in every single one of your policies and practices. It should be the foundation that everything else is built on, not a separate tick-box exercise. 

Think about your recruitment, performance management, L&D, and change processes. Are anti-racist principles woven through all of them? That's what makes the difference. 

Where to Start 

Anti-racist leadership isn't about perfection or never making mistakes. It's about: 

• Building trust through consistent action 

• Being accountable and doing this work regardless 

• Creating conditions for success in your teams 

• Being braver when you have the resources 

• Recognising this is community work none of us can do alone 

You'll get things wrong. It will be disheartening. But knowing that can actually be comforting as it takes some of the pressure off being perfect. 

The question isn't whether this aligns with your values. It's how quickly you can align your practices with your principles. 

At Atkinson HR, we help organisations reduce workplace harm and build psychologically safe, inclusive environments. If you'd like to explore how to embed anti-racist leadership in your organisation, we'd love to talk. 

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