Never before has diversity and inclusion been more under the microscope when it comes to the creative industry.
In this session we’ll speak to those making real change about how we can encourage greater diversity and inclusivity within creative roles by creating a safe space for amazing talent to thrive. To share their expertise and experience we have the wonderful Kim Allain, Cat Wildman and Sereena Abbassi .
Meet the guests:
Kim Allain, Creative at MSL UK
Kim Allain is a creative at MSL UK, named as PR WEEK's 30 UNDER 30 and the Drum’s 50 Under 30: outstanding women in creative and digital. She established her career within the New Business and PR team at Havas Sport and Entertainment Cake. She was recruited to help generate creative and innovative ideas for clients such as EE and it’s premier sponsorship of Wembley, BAFTA, and Glastonbury as well as Virgin Atlantic, Barclays, and Coca Cola.
Kim continued her PR career joining Talker Tailor Trouble Maker from its inception where she was quickly inaugurated as Creative Lead, making her the youngest black female creative leader in the industry. She was later listed as one of the Drums 50 Under 30 Top Female Creatives and became a PR Week Mentor.
Her role at Talker Tailor saw her heading up the creative of clients including Deliveroo, Mastercard, Tastecard, Poundland and Pernod Ricard as well as winning culturally significant and challenger brands for the agency such as Vice and Deezer.
Now at MSL Group, Kim’s most recent accolades is being listed as one of PR Week’s 30 Under 30 as well as representing the UK as one of ten ‘future leaders’ selected from Publicis’ global 80,000 strong workforce. Kim has helped multiple brands achieve award-winning success, now adding PUMA’s Cali Star Challenge viral hit to the trophy cabinet with 4+billion views as we write, with it becoming MSL’s first “billion viewed” piece of content. Other brand successes include her work with Mondelez, Rimmel and Operation Black Vote.
Kim has written multiple thought pieces for PR Week title as well as being a top contributor for Creative Moment in 2019 (PR Moment) and is a panel regular, featuring on BAME panels such as People Like Us and the Black Comms Network; and has judged for Cannes Lions, Creative Moment, PRWeek’s Purpose Awards.
Cat Wildman, Co-Founder at Global Equality Collective
Cat Wildman is a Digital Product Creator, Co-Founder of Global Equality Collective, Trustee, BIMA100 and WHRD's Diversity & Inclusion Leader 2020. Co-founder of The Global Equality Collective, an app which gives leaders all the data, information and education they need to break their own new ground in gender equality and inclusion.
When she’s not founding companies she builds and leads best-in-class global product teams to create digital products which solve real-world problems, disrupt industries and lock in customer attention. She specialises in creating game-changing product visions and developing visionary leaders.
Sereena Abbassi, Independent Equity, Inclusion & Diversity Consultant
Taking activism into the corporate space, Sereena Abbassi is committed to creating organisational transformation that is grounded in a deep-seated belief that all our liberations are tied to each other; her approach is both creative and strategic. Sereena is an Independent Equity, Inclusion & Diversity Consultant, Researcher, Facilitator, Coach Public Speaker and Writer, and was formerly the Worldwide Head of Culture & Inclusion at M&C Saatchi Group.
Some of the organisations Sereena has worked with are Sony Music, Airbnb, Coca-Cola, Facebook, Soho House Group, English National Ballet, LEGO, Hanover Comms and The Mill. She has spoken on CNCB and BBC Radio and has spoken at The Guardian, European Parliament, D&AD, Google, UCL, LSE, Clear Channel, Viacom and Monzo, to name but a few. She has written for Campaign Live, Communication Arts, The Drum and has been featured in The Observer and Stylist Magazine. Sereena has contributed to titles such as Biracial Britain by Remo Adekoya, F*ck Being Humble by Stefanie Sword-Williams and The Reset by Elizabeth Uviebinene.
She currently sits on the Advisory Board for Hidden, Hudson Bec Group and OK Mentor and had previously been an Advisory Board Member for The Other Box and a Board of Trustee for the charity Sour Lemons.
Sereena is British, Persian-Iranian, Jamaican –– and has lived and worked in the U.S., the Netherlands, Iran and Spain. Sereena has a B.A. in Visual Art, Performance and Music from The University of Brighton and an M.A. in Postcolonial Culture & Global Policy from Goldsmiths University, London. She lives in Bristol with her partner Pete.
We are very excited for this month's OK Hustle! Look forward to seeing you there!