Last week, I had a conversation with another member of the PRCA Diversity Commission about how to analyse the representation of diversity in industry media. Clearly, the absence of diversity – in terms of personnel – can be measured: how many ‘different’ faces are depicted in industry publications and web sites? How many career stories [...]

Next week I’m presenting at a conference for the Media, Communications and Cultural Studies Association . There isn’t usually much in there from PR researchers, so I’m always a bit of a fish out of water. But it’s a useful prompt to look at the relationship between the media and PR once a year, and this time [...]

Ignite is seeking support from organisations that share its aim to drive forward the benefits of cultural diversity in the public relations profession. We are currently seeking support in the following areas: Venue – your organisation can be associated with our popular bimonthly networking events by providing a room that can host up to 60 guests. [...]

Networking Events Ignite hosts networking events every two months, providing a forum for PR practitioners to learn from an expert in their field and an opportunity to network in an informal setting. Events during 2009 have included the following: understanding the broadcast media landscape, digital media, and networking within the PR industry.…[Read more]

This month has seen a fair amount of media coverage on the fact that David Lammy MP has discovered more than twenty Oxbridge colleges made no undergraduate offers to black students, last year. There are many reasons why I find this statistic disappointing – although not necessarily surprising. However, what it has really made me [...]

The Works Recruitment asked me three pertinent questions about diversity and the PR industry. Here’s what I had to say. 1. Why is the PR industry lagging behind with ethnic diversity compared to other industries? The PR industry is one of many industries that have a lot of ground to cover to ensure that its workforce is reflective [...]

It really irks me that face and race should still be such an issue in this day and age. However, the reality is that it is still an issue and probably will be for a while. I was brought up to treat people of all races as equals and to equally expect to be treated as [...]

Over the holiday, I’ve been musing on the question of why, even when companies are willing to engage with diversity, generating long lasting change is still extremely difficult. Perhaps one article I’ve read recently could help. It helped me realize that, even when the leadership is keen to make a difference, understanding why diversity is important [...]

PR and journalism are the most difficult professions for ethnic minorities to break into. Fact. I’ve always felt this, and many ethnic minorities have always known it to be true, and a report has recently been published to back it up. Race and the Professions: Aspiration and Frustration found that 31% named the media (PR and [...]

At then end of July we at Ignite were very pleased to hold our birthday party. It was a chance away from our regular format of networking events to celebrate our achievements over our one year of existence and share the joy of making it this far with others. I’m pleased to say the birthday event was [...]

The CIPR has just announced its new Diversity Working Group http://bit.ly/bXMF6s , which will “ concentrate primarily on addressing the major diversity challenges facing the PR profession, particularly the under-representation of people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds at all levels, the gender glass ceiling, and discrimination…[Read more]

Welcome to Ignite’s celebration event to mark our first anniversary. This is a special milestone for our organisation and I would like to thank you all for attending. It is great to see how much Ignite has grown over this past year, from our humble beginnings of three people meeting in a bar, to a huge [...]

Ignite was extremely proud to be part of the Diversity in PR Conference, which took place last week at Edelman in London. The main aim of the conference was to share the initial findings of Dr Lee Edwards’s research , which investigated the experience of 50 Black and Minority Ethnic practitioners working in PR. As well as being [...]

For several years, in the United States, Diversity Inc and Black Enterprise Magazines have published their Top 50 and Top 40 (respectively) Companies for Diversity league tables. http://www.diversityinc.com/pages/DI_50.shtml?id=7617 and http://www.blackenterprise.com/diversity/diversity-list-2009-companies/ . The criteria are high and the process…[Read more]

This July is a big month for diversity in PR. Next week, on Wednesday 7 July, the first conference focused on diversity in the PR profession will take place at Edelman’s offices. Supported by Ignite, the conference focuses on the current state of diversity in PR, the implications of the Equality Act for the profession, and [...]

I was very pleased today to read the story on PR week’s website on the findings of fellow Ignite committee member Dr Lee Edwards research. The article is a welcome piece of promotional coverage on the issue of diversity in the PR industry. This however is only one step in addressing what we at Ignite have come [...]

The PRCA is ‘supporting’ an event on diversity and the Equality Act 2010, hosted by Edelman. This event is being organised by Dr Lee Edwards of Manchester Business School in association with Ignite. It will be taking place on 7 July and is one worth looking into. It is certainly good news to hear that such [...]

The event began with an introduction about the RTS community, given by the President of the RTS, and was followed by a video showing a host of famous and non-famous ethnically-diverse faces of Britain. This video was accompanied by musicians Black Eyed Peas’ ‘I Gotta Feeling’ which I thought worked really well. Among the famous [...]

So in a poll today by Politics Home, Dianne Abbott is favourite to win ther Labour leadership race at 19 per cent, one percentage point above David Miliband. It is worth bearing in mind that this was amongst voters of all parties – the Labour membership puts David Miliband way ahead at 31 per cent. However, I [...]

In just under two weeks, Ignite will host an inaugural event to explore the Equality Act and its implications for the PR industry. This event comes at a time when the PR industry is suffering from an acute lack of diversity, despite the significant changes to the UK’s demographic landscape and the importance of multi-market communication. [...]