The Government Economic Service (GES) is the professional body for economists in the UK public sector, a community of over 1,500 economists across more than 30 organisations.

A number of TBEN members are members of the GES or planning to enter through one of their various recruitment schemes. Within TBEN, we have a community of Black GES members to connect economists and encourage mentorship. Directly with the GES Team, TBEN has supported a refresh of their Diversity & Inclusion strategy. This is with the aim of improving inclusion, progression and retention in the GES for under-represented groups, and TBEN has particularly focused on amplifying the lived experiences of Black economists in the GES.

The Office for Budget Responsibility was created in 2010 to provide independent and authoritative analysis of the UK’s public finances. It is one of a growing number of official independent fiscal watchdogs around the world.

TBEN presented to the OBR’s Budget Responsibility Committee and staff in late 2020 on the origins of the TBEN and why ethnic diversity and inclusion in the field of economics is essential for progress.

The OBR regularly share their job vacancies with our network.

The RES is a society and membership organisation founded in 1980 to promote economics. They work to represent the interests of all economists in all areas of the discipline throughout the world.

TBEN worked with their Diversity Champion Stefania Paredes Fuentes to host the event ‘Exploring a PhD in Economics’. The webinar will span 2 days and delve into all aspects of undertaking a PhD from careers, available support and funding, balancing the lifestyle and everything in between. There will be the opportunity to hear from universities, employers and current PhD students. We hope this will be the first step in a long-lasting partnership.

The CMA is the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and they aim to ensure that markets work to the benefit of all consumers.

TBEN and the CMA co-hosted an online event allowing TBEN members to find out about what it was like to work for an organisation at the forefront of understanding markets. Attendees were taken through the recruitment process as well as given insights into the variety of cases the CMA have worked on - from investigating major retailers and tech firms to tackling business misbehaviour during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Free Word was an arts organisation focused on the power and politics of words. The organisation placed an emphasis on fresh perspectives from voices that are often underrepresented and sought to spark critical conversations about society, culture and politics.

Elmyra Chinje from TBEN penned an article that was published as part of their ‘Kindness Season’. The article explored what it might mean for an economy to be kind with a focus on the intellectual origins of modern economic thinking and the scope for a change in the policy landscape following the pandemic.