In 2020, Mercedes launched a new 5-year program, Accelerate 25, aimed at improving the representation of minority ethnic backgrounds and women within their team and across the grid. Accelerate 25 is a program designed to support Mercedes in achieving their goal of hiring at least 25% of new employees from under-represented groups until 2025. As part of this program, Mercedes has partnered with the Association for Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers UK (AFBE-UK), Mulberry Schools Trust, and social enterprise the Stemettes.
AFBE-UK aims to inspire Black people and people from other ethnic minority backgrounds to pursue a career in engineering, including providing these individuals with the necessary tools and support to ensure a long and successful career. Mercedes and AFBE-UK have worked to develop several formal programs and events to help reach and connect to members of Black and ethnic minority communities. In addition, Mercedes has undergone an audit to identify and eradicate any potential obstacles in the way of recruiting more employees from ethnic minority backgrounds.
Mulberry Schools Trust has partnered with Mercedes to help launch the Mulberry STEM Academy. The Mulberry STEM Academy is an extra-curricular program designed to provide vocational training and specialized classes for young students ages 7-18 in areas such as science, technology, engineering, and math. One of Mulberry STEM Academy’s priorities is increasing diversity and representation in STEM and they have taken the necessary steps to help enroll more students from ethnic minority and disadvantaged backgrounds into the program. The program helps provide students with the knowledge and experience required to make them desirable employees in the world of STEM and the Mercedes F1 team.
Mercedes has also committed to inspiring and supporting young women on their journey in STEM, and in 2021, announced its partnership with Stemettes. Stemettes is a social enterprise within the UK designed to support young girls and women, as well as young non-binary individuals into careers in STEM. As part of the partnership, a 4-month mentoring program was developed where young students from the Stemettes (primarily students from ethnic minority backgrounds and low socio-economic backgrounds) were paired with Mercedes F1 engineers to support and encourage their involvement in STEM.
As part of the Accelerate 25 program, the Mercedes F1 team also introduced unconscious bias awareness training for their recruiters, as well as a program for management called “Inclusive Excellence.” Diversity and Inclusion training was also implemented and is required to be completed by every Mercedes employee.
Mercedes has been incredibly vocal regarding their stance on diversity and inclusion for numerous years. However, the implementation of the Accelerate 25 program shows that Mercedes is willing to put a tangible effort into creating real and sustainable change regarding diversity and representation in Formula 1. Accelerate 25 should serve as an inspiration to all Formula 1 teams and illustrates the importance of not only speaking up but of putting in the physical work to support real and necessary change.