WPP leaders have been acknowledged for championing diversity, with a total of 15 leaders from across the big six agency been named in the global Empower Role Model Lists 2022 for driving inclusion for people of colour in business.
Created by INvolve and Yahoo Finance UK, the lists champion 100 ‘future leaders’, 100 executives and 50 ‘advocate role models’ from across all business sectors for their work in promoting diversity and driving change within their organisations.
Ten senior WPP employees were included in the 100 executives list, including GroupM North America CEO Kirk McDonald, and Kantar chief marketing officer Dionne Aiken.
Other names include Debbie Ellison, Traci Dinkins, Demet Ikiler, Akama Davies, Shelina Janmohamed, Dorothy Burwell, Sabrina Natasha Browne and Apoorva Bapna.
VMLY&R’s group director of client engagement, Nikeisha Beckford and senior talent development manager Francis Carrero-Green were both recognised as ‘future leaders’.
The ‘advocates list’, which recognises leaders who are creating diverse and inclusive business environments, is topped by WPP CEO Mark Read, with Jessica Walsh, managing director of health at H+K Strategies and Jennifer Remling, WPP’s chief of people officer, also recognised.
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Headquartered in London, WPP is the largest advertising agency group in the world.
“For WPP, a diverse and inclusive culture is a business opportunity as well as an imperative,” WPP CEO Mark Read said.
“Building teams from different backgrounds and experiences helps us to understand our audiences better, deliver innovation and produce the best work for our clients. Ultimately, our success is driven by our people and I’m proud of what we’re doing together across WPP to create a culture where people feel they belong and want to be a part of.”
The array of leaders recognised for championing diversity comes as a direct result of the big six agency’s £30 million investment in supporting Black and minority talent and combating racial injustice.
INvolve CEO and founder, Suki Sandhu OBE, added: “I’m so thrilled to be celebrating this global group of trailblazing Executives, Future Leaders and Advocates for people of colour in business.
“All the individuals within these lists are championing inclusion and, most importantly, leveraging their expertise and knowledge to drive inclusion initiatives and strategic change within their organisations.”
Sandhu added: It’s vital that people of colour within our global businesses can succeed and achieve authentically, and these role models are essentials drivers of change and are smashing barriers to progress to create organisations where people of colour can thrive.”
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