Racism, discrimination and inequality have no place in our world, or our industry.

The AOI is committed to challenging ourselves and others to ensure an equal, diverse industry that we can all be proud of.

We must remove barriers, unleash potential and celebrate diversity.

We will not tolerate discrimination in any form, be that overt, subtle or enabled through silence.

All illustrators should feel welcome in our industry, and our organisation, and we want to address our blind spots. There is some good work that is happening, but we need more.

We recognise the massive challenge we face, and the industry faces, in terms of diversity and equality and the imperative need to address it.

There is a lot we need to do, to hear and to learn.

To help this process, we are asking illustrators, commissioners and educators, both members and non-members to tell us about their experiences.

From here we will convene a group to help direct our language, policy and action plan which will be embedded into our long term commitment as an organisation keen to foster and reflect more diverse voices and talents.

Image: Adrianna bellet, aka Jeez Vanilla