#ChangeNeedsAllOfUs – non-executive director Rokaiya Khan reflects in Race Equality Week

Race Equality Week 2026 takes place from 2 – 8 February, aiming to inspire progress and address race

inequality through collective action and awareness. The theme is #ChangeNeedsAllOfUs, emphasising that real progress requires participation from everyone.

After 6 months with the Trust, non-executive director Rokaiya Khan reflects on why race equality matters in our organisation, and what we can do to ensure we continue to make progress.

I joined the board of the Trust in August last year. In that time, I have been struck by the depth of commitment here to improving lives and reducing inequality. I have also seen the care and professionalism that staff bring to their work every day, often in very challenging circumstances. I’ve heard directly from staff about their experiences too, about what works well and about where things still need to change.

That is why race equality and anti-racism matter here, not only because of the communities we serve, but because of the people who work in this organisation.

I do not see this as a task for one person, one role, or one committee. I see it as something that must be part of how we lead, how we make decisions, and how we listen to people, both in our services and in our workforce.

At our Trust we are working with the Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework, the NHS’s first anti-racism framework for mental health providers. It is designed to embed anti-racism in leadership, culture, and in how services are experienced and improved. It pushes us beyond good intentions and into real, systemic change.

As a non-executive director, that means asking tough questions. About outcomes. About experience. About whose voices are shaping our services. It means looking at our data through an equity lens. It means being honest about where systems have failed people, and where change still needs to happen. And it means holding ourselves to account not just for plans, but for progress.

This year’s Race Equality Week theme, #ChangeNeedsAllOfUs, really resonates with me. It recognises that race equality is not the job of one team or one strategy. It requires participation across every part of our organisation. It means listening deeply to staff and communities from racially minoritised backgrounds and responding with visible action that improves both staff experience and the care people receive.

In my role, I want to help ensure that anti-racism here is about more than strategy documents. It is about accountability. It is about visible change. And it is about leadership that holds itself to the same standards we ask of others. It means asking ourselves how our decisions affect access, equity, dignity, and belonging.

So this Race Equality Week, I want to invite colleagues across the Trust to take one meaningful step.

Learn one thing.
Change one thing.
Say one thing.

Small actions matter. They shape culture. They shape trust. And they shape whether people, both staff and those who use our services, truly feel safe, heard, and valued here.

Let’s use this week as a starting point and then keep this work alive in how we lead, how we work, and how we treat each other every day.