We collect data to be able to report on pay gaps as part of the annual survey of trustees and staff, which helps us track progress on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) within Esmée. This report looks at data gathered in 2025.
As a relatively small organisation (at the time of reporting, total staff numbered 46), a small number of individual staff changes can have a significant impact on the findings. For example, the majority of staff at Esmée are female. And as the data shows below, the majority of male staff are in senior roles. The findings also reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of our teams – with more diversity in mid-level roles and less at senior-level roles.
The report covers:
- Gender pay gap: difference in pay between men and women.
- Ethnicity pay gap: difference in pay between people from communities experiencing racial inequity and people identifying as White.
- Disability pay gap: difference in pay between people who are disabled or have a health condition and people who don't.
2025 pay gap
The data shows our gender pay gap is 23.8.%; ethnicity pay gap is 18.7%; and our disability pay gap is 15.7%. In the chart below, you can see how our pay gap compares to the previous year, showing a small decrease in our ethnicity pay gap, and increases for gender and disability.
We used the median average as the measure to understand our pay gap because it is less affected by outliers (values disproportionately higher or lower than the majority). But the mean remains valuable for showing the overall average and highlighting where disproportionately high or low values influence pay differences.
What we’re doing to address the pay gap
We are committed to reducing the gender, ethnicity, and disability pay gaps. As well as continuing to monitor and report on our pay gap, we have identified the following actions:
- Salaries: When setting salaries, we benchmark against what peer foundations are paying for similar roles. As part of our forthcoming strategy review, we will get independent support to review our approach to pay and reward.
- Professional development: We are committed to supporting the professional development of our team. A key focus since we started monitoring our pay gap is to explore opportunities for staff in more junior and mid-level roles to develop their careers internally.
- Recruitment practice: We are currently reviewing our approach and exploring best practice to help us identify actions to improve our practice. This includes a review of our recruitment partners as well as analysis into diversity data of applicants. We expect to complete this work in 2026. Learn more about our current approach to recruitment.
Breaking down the data
To help us understand our pay gaps better, we explored our pay gap by breaking down the data into quartiles. This works by splitting staff into four equal‑sized groups based on pay, from the lowest‑paid 25% (first quartile - Q1) to the highest‑paid 25% (fourth quartile - Q4), and looking at who sits in each quartile by gender, ethnicity, and disability to see where representation is uneven across pay levels.
This highlighted how the overall pay gap can hide important patterns. For example, even if the average difference looks small or large, a quartile view might show that most people from one group are concentrated in lower-paid roles, or that higher-paid senior roles are dominated by another group. That distribution directly influences the pay gap, so quartiles give a clearer picture of what’s driving the difference.
Gender
As with previous years, we have more people identifying as female (76%) than male (22%); 2% chose 'prefer not to say'. No staff member identifying as male is paid within the first quartile (lowest paid 25%); and the majority (90%) are grouped in the third and fourth quartiles which are higher mid-level and senior roles within Esmée.
The findings show an increase in the pay gap compared to the previous year.
Ethnicity
In 2025, 65% of Esmée staff identified as White British and/or other white ethnic background, 35% identified as a category that wasn't White. Whilst there is representation across all quartiles, quartiles 1 and 2 have more Global Majority staff than staff from White British and/or other white ethnic background showing a higher concentration of Global Majority employees in lower‑paid roles.
The findings show the median pay gap reduced in 2025, but there was an increase to the mean pay gap.
Disability
Across the organisation, 28% of our people answered 'yes' to a question about whether they are disabled or have one or more long-term health conditions – with representation across all quartiles, but the majority in the lower-middle quartile (Q2).
The findings show an increase in the pay gap compared to the previous year.
