The following text is a chronological review of the process that lead to the first MIA award ceremony in Copenhagen. From the very beginning, the MIA award has been co-funded by the European Unions Action Program against Discrimination.

Study tour

The first step was taken in December 2002, with a study tour serving as inspiration for the designing of the campaign. During the tour, the project team met with a number of experts in the fields of diversity and discrimination e.g. British Council, Commission for Racial Equality, European Federation of Black Women Business Owners, Choice, FM Radio Station, Hersay Communications Worldwide, Audit Commission, The Cabinet Office, EMMA (Ethnic Multicultural Media Awards) and Runnymede Trust etc. Furthermore the project team participated in the Muslim Awards Ceremony.


Startup Seminar, April 7th 2003

In April 2003 the campaign held its first seminar, with the title: "Diversity in Working Life". The Danish acronym for the project title: Mangfoldighed I Arbejdslivet - MIA, was chosen to give name to the campaign, as well as the award itself.


At the seminar, the MIA-campaigns approach to diversity management was presented as a way of implementing the EU-directives and working with horizontal perspectives to combat discrimination. The methods and perspectives were further discussed by the minority organizations and the European guests and keynote speakers from England and Ireland.

There were representatives among the Danish participants from all Danish NGOs (minority organizations) affected by the EU directives as well as employer and employee organizations, The State Employer Authority, The ministry of Employment and The Ministry of Integration.

The goal of the seminar was to receive inputs and reactions from the participants on the set up and approach of the MIA campaign.

As a result of the seminar it was decided to work out principles for diversity leadership and let the evaluations of the candidates for the MIA-award have its starting point based on these principles.

The six NGOs that represent the equal treatment grounds, respectively gender, ethnicity, religion, age, disability and sexual orientation each contributed with articles to the homepage of the general MIA-campaign (seewww.mangfoldighed.dk). In the articles, they described what kind of accommodations are necessary for their ‘identity group’ to enjoy equal opportunities in the workplace.



The MIA concept and elements


3 Categories

It was decided to present the MIA-award in more than one category, in order to make sure that it was possible and realistic for companies to compare and benchmark themselves with the other candidates in their category. For the award ceremony in 2004 the three categories were as follows: Small companies (less than 80 employees), medium size companies (between 80 and 500 employees) and big companies (more than 500 employees). In 2006 the categories were modified to: Small and medium sized companies (up to 500 employees), large public companies and large private companies.


The three principles for diversity in the workplace



As a result of the discussion at the seminar April 7th 2003, it was decided to come up with principles for diversity management - the three principles for diversity in the workplace - and announce these principles as the foundation of the competition on the MIA-award. The principles were presented at seminars, conferences and educational days; held by the Danish Institute for Human Rights as well as seminars held by The Danish Confederation of Trade Unions, the school for shop stewards and The State Employer Authority.

Read more about the three principles.


The network behind MIA

The MIA-network was established to engage different actors in the field of anti-discrimination in the design and development of the MIA-campaign and process. The MIA-network meets every six months and consists of representatives from:

Danish Confederation of Trade Unions 
The Danish Association of Managers and Executives 
Confederation of Danish Industries 
Danish Chamber of Commerce 
State Employer Authority 
Employer organization for Integration of immigrants on the labor market (in danish: Foreningen Nydansker) 
Women’s Council in Denmark 
Umbrella Organization for Ethnic Minorities (POEM) 
Islamic-Christian Study Center (IKS) 
The Danish Council of Organizations of Disabled People (DSI) 
The Danish Association of Senior Citizens 
Danish Association of Gays & Lesbians (LBL)


The Jury



The members of the jury were selected amongst high profiles in the area of anti-discrimination and diversity leadership and the members represent different competencies and perspectives in the field of diversity and anti-discrimination. In 2007-2008 the jury members are:

The three principles for diversity in the workplace were translated into an evaluation scheme that served as a tool for the jury when they evaluated the candidates for the MIA-award. The jury nominated two companies in each category and afterwards found the three winners - one in each category. All six nominated companies received a MIA Diploma. The three winners each received the MIA-award sculpture.


The MIA Award Sculpture

The beautiful award made of bronze shows three persons with different expressions, all in the same boat. The sculpture was made by the sculptress Ms. Vibeke Glarbo. The profile of the sculpture serves as the logo of the MIA-award. The sculpture design is a reference to the saying "we're all in the same boat". At the same time it is used to express, that if we don’t actively ensure equal opportunities we will tip the balance and harmony of the boat (our society) as well as hinder its energy (propulsion). 



MIA-award process and schedule

The MIA-award competition was prepared thoroughly, months before the MIA-award event took place on March 30th 2004. Here you find some of the ‘highlights’ of the process of first MIA-award competition.

    • In December 2002 the study tour to England was - as mentioned above - carried out, in order to gather inspiration for the campaign and award. And in April 2003 a seminar with European guests and relevant actors at the Danish labor market scene was held.
    • Later, in the beginning of November 2003 the MIA postcard announcing the MIA-award and competition was disseminated to 15.000 companies, public employers, the MIA network etc.
    • The website www.miapris.dk was launched in the end of November 2003. 
    • On December 3rd 2003 a press release was send out, calling on companies to participate in the first MIA-award competition. 
    • A number of business magazines and newspaper business editions also announced the MIA-award competition.
    • In the beginning of January 2004, a meeting was held with the members of the MIA-Network. Each member organization was invited to point out five companies as role models in the work against discrimination and for diversity. Afterwards the MIA staff contacted the suggested companies to inform them on the MIA-award and to encourage them to take part in the competition. This procedure was chosen to make sure that all relevant companies were informed about the MIA-award competition and also because there is not yet a tradition in Denmark for companies to nominate themselves for awards.
    • January 30th 2004 was the deadline for registration in the MIA-award competition.
    • In February 2004 invitations for the MIA-Conference and award ceremony was distributed. The program was balanced between entertainment and professional inputs on anti-discrimination and diversity. The target group was the same as for the MIA-postcards.
    • In the beginning of March 2004 the meeting of the jury was held. Two weeks earlier, all jury members received a folder with the complete applications, the evaluation scheme, and a selected number of companies to focus on when evaluating the applications.
    • In late March films of the six nominated companies were produced. Also the conference material and program folders were produced. These contained a program, an information brochure, notebooks and pens. Information material from the European "For Diversity. Against Discrimination" info-campaign formed part of the conference material.
    • Then finally on March 30th the MIA Conference and award ceremony took place.

Read about the ceremonies from 2004 – 2007 here.

In Conclusion

The MIA-award competition has proved to be an effective way to inform companies on the anti-discrimination legislation and what it means for the everyday practice in companies. This has been facilitated by the postcards, letters to the companies, the MIA-award homepage and follow-up meetings with companies that had a candidature for the MIA-award, but did not win. We, the team behind MIA, have stressed the importance of working actively with equal opportunities and taking active steps in order to remove structural barriers for persons/groups covered by the new legislation. Furthermore, we have tried to inspire and motivate companies to focus on the benefits that one harvests   from the resources of diversity.