Building a case for ED&I that senior leaders cannot ignore
We know many of you in ED&I can find it a challenge to get senior leaders to understand what you do and buy-in to your ED&I work. We know ED&I should not just be seen as a “nice to have” in an organisation; it needs to be purposeful and strategic. But convincing others of the importance and impact can be difficult. That’s why we hosted a webinar on “Building a case for ED&I that senior leaders cannot ignore” to help you do just that.
You can catch up on the recording below and find out more about our ED&I and culture experts who spoke on the panel alongside our host and Finance Director, Ash McDowell.
Our speakers
Matt Foster, Director of DEI at Ogilvy UK
Branded by the creative industry’s The Drum magazine as “adland’s activist” Matt is the Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) at Ogilvy UK, the world’s most awarded advertising agency. He is also a DEI thought leader, frequent public speaker, LGBTQ+ campaigner and multicultural specialist. Matt’s career has spanned 18 years as a Healthcare communications expert, specialising in HIV advocacy.
As a British Diversity Award-winning and founding member of WPP’s LGBTQ+ network UNITE, he has front-line experience of empowering employee networks that drive organisational change. Matt currently sits in the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) Talent Leadership Group, the European Association of Communications Agencies’ (EACA) DEI Task Force and the Brand category judging panel of the British LGBT Awards. As a proudly queer, multi-racial British Filipino, Matt is a patron of Pinxy Creatives UK: an organisation supporting British Filipinos in the media, arts and creative industries.
Vic Bolton, Head of Talent & Culture at VIDA Connected Specialists
Vic Bolton is a dynamic professional with nearly 15 years of experience in talent management and recruitment. Currently, she serves as a driving force behind Talent & Culture at VIDA Connected Specialists. Her passion lies in fostering the perfect balance between people and profit, making her a committed advocate for the B Corp movement.Prior to her current role, Vic held significant positions within the FMCG industry (Nestlé, Molson Coors) as well as a scaling creative tech business (Talenthouse).Her expertise extends to equality, recruitment strategies, diversity hiring, and innovative talent acquisition methodologies.
With a vision to harmonise people-centric values with profitability, Vic is adept at looking at how ED&I needs to remain core to the purpose and priorities of all businesses, advocating for talent management being used as a tool to foster inclusive, impactful workplaces.
Joanne Conway, Head of DEI at EY UK
Joanne is proud to be listed on the Northern Power Womens Future top 50 list, and is the Head of Diversity, Equity(DE&I) & Inclusiveness EY UK. Joanne previously led the Global DE&I strategy for EY. She completed a Masters in HR Management with a dissertation in Psychological Safety in minority groups. Joanne is a school governor and guest lecturer at Salford University. She is studying culture and privilege as a Doctorate student with Cranfield University. When not working or studying Joanne spends her time on the football side-lines supporting her daughter and son who play for local teams. Joanne is an advocate for equality for all and has a particular interest in inclusion in football and levelling the playing field for girls and young women in football.
What we're reading
Latest insights from the front lines of workplace culture.
Why Whistleblowing Protections Are Not Enough
The launch of the CIISA standards marked a significant moment for the creative industries, signalling growing recognition of the need for stronger protections around bullying, harassment and misconduct across film, television and wider media environments. But in a recent article for Broadcast Now, we highlight that whistleblowing protections alone will not solve the deeper cultural issues that have allowed harmful behaviour to persist for years.
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Speaking Up in the Creative Industries – Embedding Standards in Practice
With the CIISA Standards having been in place for a year and with the introduction of the Employment Rights Act, expectations around creating a healthy and effective speak up culture are shifting. Organisations being asked to move beyond policy and demonstrate how they are creating real, effective speak-up cultures.
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From the Conference Floor: Real-World Lessons for HR Leaders
Workplace misconduct is evolving, and many HR processes are struggling to keep up. At this year’s Culture Shift Annual Conference, one thing was clear: what worked even a year ago isn’t enough anymore. In this webinar join Gemma McCall (CEO) and Charlotte Taylor (Training Manager and ED&I Specialist) as they bring the most important conversations from the conference floor into a practical session for HR, People and Compliance leaders. You’ll hear what industry experts and legal professionals are seeing right now, and what it means for how you design, communicate and manage your approach to misconduct.
Feeling inspired?
Take the first step toward preventative misconduct management with a demo of our Report + Support™ platform. We can show you how to breakdown reporting barriers with anonymous 2-way messaging, and how to act before things escalate with name-matching and pattern-spotting across our analytics dashboard.
