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Young Londoners Fund

Workforce Integration Design Lab

About the programme

The Design Lab is a 10-month advanced equity and innovation programme supporting employers to build more inclusive workplaces. It offers tailored support to explore and address the underrepresentation of Black, Asian, and racially minoritised Londoners in the workforce using evidence-based approaches. 

Employers receive a bespoke package of support to employers to identify the causes of underrepresentation in an evidence-driven way and to design and test solutions, embedding equity into organisational culture. The programme feeds into wider strategic work at the GLA, such as the London Growth Plan and Inclusive Talent Strategy, which aims to improve access to quality jobs and diversify key industries.

Priority groups

The Design Lab prioritises the following groups, as they have significantly higher than average unemployment and insecure employment rates, while a large proportion are paid below the London living wage compared to other ethnic groups:

  • Black men   
  • Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Black women.

The Design Lab programme has worked with 56 employers across the Mayor’s key priority sectors, including Health, Creative, Green, Digital, and Construction and Infrastructure.

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Celebrating the graduation of 10 NHS Trusts from the programme, completing projects to improve recruitment, progression and retention. This Health Cohort Mayoral Symposium showcases the achievements of the Trusts, sharing powerful learnings and sector-wide impact.

Programme activities

  • sector induction: online workshop to explore shared diversity challenges 
  • company immersion: full-day session using ethnographic data to assess progress and co-design interventions 
  • one-to-one coaching to refine and implement the pilot projects with your HR and project teams  
  • sector development workshop: peer learning and collaborative solution design 
  • access to research and toolkits: ethnographic insights and EDI resources 
  • mayoral symposium: share learnings and recognise success. 

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Collaborating for impact, watch as health professionals and system leaders come together to co-create solutions for a more integrated and equitable workforce in the Health Cohort Co-Creation Event.

Benefits to employers

Design Lab Programme 

Participation offers strategic and operational advantages: 

  • free expert support in equity and design thinking 
  • recognition as a leader in inclusive growth 
  • access to GLA programmes like the Good Work Standard, Inclusive Talent Brokerage, and Employer Boards 
  • peer learning with leading employers. 

Workforce diversity 

  • enhanced innovation and creativity 
  • improving long-term market performance    
  • stronger talent pipelines and customer insight 
  • alignment with public sector client requirements.

Eligibility

The Design Lab is for employers who want to accelerate their workforce equity and diversity plans and become sector champions.

Requirements to join the programme include:  

  • Your organisation is a large employer with 250+ London-based employees or a fast-growing SME.
  • Your organisation is part of the NHS.
  • Your organisation has existing EDI plans and commitments, and recruitment plans in the next two years.
  • You can commit C-Suite sponsorship to champion participation, communication and action.
  • You can dedicate a core team of two HR/Operations managers with EDI experience to participate in the Design Lab activities.  

Applications open: Design Lab NHS Cohort

The NHS faces unique challenges in building a diverse, future-ready workforce and improving health outcomes.

The Design Lab’s health cohort, launched in 2024, supported 11 NHS Trusts with a combined workforce of over 100,000. 

In partnership with NHSE, the programme helps NHS employers dismantle systemic barriers and drive inclusive change. 

Health cohort activities and benefits 

Using equity-centred design and expert facilitation, NHS organisations will: 

  • tackle underrepresentation and reduce ethnicity pay gaps 
  • co-design new workforce and community engagement models 
  • strengthen cross-trust collaboration 
  • build innovation and equity-design capability.

Guided by experienced facilitators and coaches, working alongside peers from across the health and care system, your organisation will leave the programme with new ideas, tested solutions, and the skills to continue innovating. 

As a Design Lab employer, not only will you be joining a cohort of 10 NHS Trusts, but upon graduation from the programme, you will become part of a growing alumni network of organisations across sectors leading on inclusive practices in London.

How to apply

To be considered for the next health cohort, please express your interest by completing our short form.

The deadline for all expressions of interest is Saturday 15 November at 5pm.

Past participants and testimonials

The best evidence of the Design Lab’s success is found in the organisations that have completed the programme.

Below, you will find a list of past participants from previous years, followed by testimonials that showcase the real-world impact and valuable outcomes these leading employers have achieved through their commitment to equity-centered design.

Design Lab 2023-25 participants

Design Lab 2021-22 participants

Testimonials

'The Design Lab has been a catalyst for GOSH in our journey towards becoming anti-racist. The innovative element of the Lab, which uses a design approach to anti-racism, was a highlight for us. Guidance from the coaches to support them in identifying factors for the sponsorship programme to have an impact was very beneficial. They shared knowledge around best practice and how to minimise risk.  

I have been involved with several initiatives regarding anti-racism at different organisations. There is a tendency to rely on a few members of a team, usually within HR or EDI functions, to produce initiatives that will generate system-wide cultural change. The Design Lab offered a new approach, by bringing together people from across the organisation to co-create anti-racism initiatives based on varying experiences. 

It is important to take a human-centred approach to tackling inequalities, and I would urge other organisations to prioritise the experiences of their staff and to be strategic yet compassionate in their efforts. 

It is good to look at the data, but you need to realise that behind the data there is people. To investigate the root cause of inequalities, you need to talk with people who are most impacted by your policies and initiatives.'

‘We had some excellent sessions with the Design Lab’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion coaches! I gained a much deeper understanding of how to engage more directly with those based at our sites all over the country, to enable them to translate the purpose of our company and our high standards through to the site supervisors who deliver work on the ground. This has helped us develop particular strategies around raising more interest in cultural activities from people across different locations.'

If you want to learn more about Enable Team's experience with the programme, read this C40 Cities article.

'As an organisation we understand the importance of the industry having a more inclusive and diverse workforce. Young black men account for 18% of London’s population, yet only account for 4% of the construction workforce. We would like to tackle this under representation head on by showing our commitment to this programme. We are looking forward to learning more about a structured and comprehensive approach to forge change within our business and supply chains.'

'The GLA Win Design Lab programme aligns to social outcomes which is key to our purpose. We feel that coming together with other organisations and professionals will be beneficial to addressing an important issue.' 

Applications are now open for the Design Lab NHS Cohort

Express your interest

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