Creative Access development director, Elonka Soros, reflects on our work over the past year and what key diversity and inclusion concepts employers need to know for going into 2023…

As I start the year prepping new projects for 2023, I’ve been reflecting on a busy 2022 Creative Access year of activity.

It’s been a pleasure to meet so many engaged creative industry colleagues over all the training sessions I led last year. In those sessions, I have noticed a shift in levels of understanding about matters of race, sex (and gender identities) social class and disability. That’s not so surprising because these discussions have been at the fore of political and world events, but what is interesting is that perhaps because of the often-polarising nature of the narratives, in many cases, I’ve also noted an increasing sense of urgency to take actions to confront and eliminate exclusions often aligned with these identity characteristics.

Regardless of sector, company size or the level of seniority of those participating in our Creative Access workshops, the key themes emerging out of these discussions have been very similar.

I’ve collated the top five matters that were exercising the minds of creative colleagues in 2022 – I wonder, how do these match your experience and what are you prioritising for 2023?

It’s been refreshing to be part of DE&I conversations that acknowledge that just because someone is included in the team it does not mean that they feel that they belong. Creating equitable and inclusive workplaces with belonging cultures requires action that goes beyond the diversity numbers and the inclusion policies. It takes each one of us to understand the individual roles that we play to create company cultures that are welcoming, respectful, where people feel valued and can thrive. When people thrive, businesses thrive too.

We’ve been working with a global publishing company on their Equity and Belonging programme for line managers. They’ve built strong ERGs (employee resource groups). These safe spaces, celebrating difference have provided a forum for individuals to engage in meaningful dialogue with colleagues. When people feel they belong they are more likely to speak up, be creative and to innovate.

This year Creative Access research has fuelled some insightful discussion with and within our wider creative industries community. Data from our 2022 Thrive Report showed that disabled people who also identify as Black, Asian or from other ethnically diverse backgrounds, are feeling less confident about their careers and progression in the creative sector than any other group. The more ways that a person is minoritised in their workplace – the greater the levels of concern. These more nuanced conversations about disability, race, accent, and social class have brought greater awareness and understanding of the ‘emotional tax’ of people who are minoritised in multiple ways at work. Hence the focus as above, on creating belonging cultures where people don’t have to mask their identity, or “pass” to survive. 

While Creative Access’s industry leading positive action apprenticeships and internships programmes have delivered increased racial, socio-economic, and disabled representation at entry level across the sector, our research and community feedback show it’s still far from a level playing field and there is a lot of work to be done. In all areas of the creative sector, disabled people are seriously underrepresented. Steps to address systemic structural barriers are needed throughout the career cycle and you can read more about these and see the data from our Creative Access Disability Survey 2022 here.

While the Covid19 pandemic is not over yet the forecast is not so bleak as it was back in 2020 when the UK went into lockdown. The toll on our individual and collective national mental health as we adjusted to a new reality is well documented, as is how many workplaces responded by putting in place measures to support employee wellbeing. Creative Access’ team of clinical psychologists, beamed into our homes via zoom and provided our team with tools to support ourselves, our families, and wider communities during the crisis, and many of our employer partners have been accessing these resources too.

Before the pandemic in many people spoke to me about their fears of sharing their mental health status at work, but the psychologists’ sessions have provided a space for people to share and learn that mental health is not static and that we are all always somewhere on a scale. More open conversation about feelings and the impact of day to day working life on our wellbeing has also resulted in a motivation for people to be alert to behaviours and language that could negatively impact their mental health and those of their colleagues. As we get back into more normal routines, the next steps will be to maintain the good practices we have acquired and build them into our new ways of working. 

The 2022 Creative Access Thrive research threw up an interesting aspect that may account for the slower progress towards DE&I aspirations than many creative companies would have hoped – they have no data upon which to build the actions required for change. Increasingly there is a realisation that measuring the diversity numbers is not enough, we also need data on our inclusion impact, and even fewer companies are doing that.

Earlier in this reflection I shared some of the discussion on the concept of belonging and the importance of understanding how now only how colleagues are accessing roles in our teams but also how they are experiencing working with us. It’s not always easy for people to speak up about matters that are concerning them or even articulate some of the impacts of workplace culture on mental health and wellbeing or productivity and ability to innovate. Even giving positive feedback about the things that we love about the places we work and the people we work with can get overlooked as we move form project to project, across time zones and in hybrid spaces. But we do need the information if we are to make the best use of our time and resources.

I think I may have said this before but it’s true, so I’ll say it again… when people thrive, businesses thrive too (and there is a big body of research to back that up).

If you’re interested in discussing what’s at the top of your DE&I agenda for 2023 or finding out more about how we support and partner with organisations, please contact us here.

I look forward to hearing from you.

The Mo Siewcharran Fund has awarded its latest round of grants to four dynamic, creative organisations across publishing, theatre and music: Good Chance Theatre,  Mark Rubinstein Ltd, Sound and Music and Edinburgh International Book Festival.   

The Fund was set up five years ago in memory of Nielsen Books’ former director of marketing and communications, Mo Siewcharran, by her husband, John Seaton and is administered by leading diversity and inclusion social enterprise, Creative Access.

Mo Siewcharran was passionate about ensuring theatre and publishing were accessible to all and the grants fund internships for talent from Black, Asian and other ethnically diverse backgrounds to improve accessibility and representation in the creative industries.   

Since the Fund started in 2018, it has supported 32 Black, Asian and ethnically-diverse trainees in publishing, theatre and music across the UK. Its impact can be clearly seen across each sector: last year Creative Access found that two-thirds (63%) of interns supported by the Fund stayed on at their host organisation at the end of their traineeship, whilst 9 out of 10 (89%) trainees continued to work in the same sector.  

On this latest round of recipients, founder of the Fund, John Seaton said:  

“The Mo Siewcharran Fund, now in its fifth year and having already supported over thirty interns in the creative industries, is delighted to welcome these four companies who share the same urgency in wanting to improve diversity. It is pleased, also, to extend its reach to include young people from refugee backgrounds. The quest for greater fairness continues.”  

The grants contribute to the salary of an intern for a six-month traineeship, and trainees benefit from a full programme of support from Creative Access to ensure that they thrive in their new role.   

London-based theatre Good Chance is an arts charity, bringing diverse people and communities together through theatre and art. Good Chance is seeking a production and communications assistant trainee from a refugee background to help the company get its international theatre and art projects out into the world through marketing, events production and social media content creation.   

On being awarded the Fund, Good Chance said:  

“We are absolutely thrilled to be working with Creative Access on our Stage Door programme, an opportunity for young people from refugee backgrounds to gain paid work experience in the arts industry. With the support of the Mo Siewcharran Fund, we will not only be able to reach further in our efforts to change the negative narrative around people seeking sanctuary in the UK, but we can also embed deeper the employment practices championed by Creative Access to create an industry more reflective of our beautifully diverse country. Thank you so much to Creative Access and the Mo Siewcharran fund, we can’t wait for all that’s to come!”  

Mark Rubinstein Ltd, a theatrical production management company, providing general management services in London’s West End is another recipient of the grant. It will be hiring a production assistant trainee to work on the opening of Alice’s Adventures Underground, as well as the recast of TINA – The Tina Turner Musical, and overall, understand the role of a general manager.   

Dave McNeilly, head of production, explained:   

“This grant will enable us to offer a production assistant internship to a young person from an under-represented community and introduce them to the commercial theatre management sector. It is key that we open a door to a wider range of individuals to ensure that theatre, and the stories told on our stages, represents our society as a whole. We are excited by this opportunity to continue making positive change in diversifying and strengthening the industry.”  

The national organisation for new music – Sound and Music – supports a diverse range of composers and aims to help audiences discover new music, as well as enable young people to explore their musical creativity. It will also be hiring an education and communications trainee through the Fund to help with the delivery of its programmes and learn about communications and music participation.   

Its head of education, Beatrice Hubble said:   

“Sound and Music are so delighted to receive a Mo Siewcharran Grant and are excited to meet our intern! We are committed to improving access and representation within the arts and look forward to learning from our engagement on this scheme to further develop our own skills as diverse recruiters across our team and the artists we support.”  

The final grant has been awarded to the largest public celebration of the written word in the world, the Edinburgh International Book Festival. It will be recruiting a festival intern to support for the festival’s programming team with planning and delivering events.   

On receiving the grant, the festival’s creative learning manager Catherine Jones stated:  

“At the Edinburgh International Book Festival, we seek to be an open and inclusive festival that aims to showcase a diverse range of voices, from all backgrounds and ethnicities in our events. In 2023, thanks to the generous support of the Mo Siewcharran Fund, we are excited to welcome an intern into our team. We are looking forward to sharing with them our knowledge of events in the literary sector and look forward to supporting them in their career.”  

The Fund is once again open for other theatre, publishing or music organisations wishing to support internships for those from under-represented communities.  

Those interested in applying should contact recruit@creativeaccess.org.uk. The deadline for the next round of applications is 30^th June 2023.   

Edinburgh Book Festival is one of four organisations to have been awarded a grant from the Mo Siewcharran Fund in its latest round, Lauren Brown writes in The Bookseller.

What a year 2022 was! From celebrating our 10 year anniversary to launching our first career development bursary and steering group, there were lots of reasons to celebrate.

We’re so proud to have recruited new candidates, matched more mentoring partnerships, worked with existing and new employer partners, and continued supporting our ever-growing community in our mission to create a more inclusive and diverse creative economy. But, we know that there’s still so much more to do in 2023.

Here’s some of our highlights from the past year…

• Placed 285 people from under-represented backgrounds in the creative industries in permanent roles or internships
• Trained 4,625 employers in 185 workshops
• 300+ mentoring placements
• 980 people from marginalised groups supported with employability skills
• 2,500 young people and students aspiring to work in the creative industries reached at university and college fairs and community and youth organisation events
• 850 people inspired at 12 masterclasses ranging from how to get into journalism at the Financial Times to working in the TV industry at ITV Leeds (featuring a special tour of the Emmerdale set!)

Creative Access undertook more research into how under-represented communities in the creative industries fare in the workplace this year. See our findings…

• Thrive report
• Covid-19 impact research with University of Manchester)
• Young carers in the workplace
• “Generation post-pandemic”
• Creative Access disability report 2022

This year also marked our 10^th anniversary. Together with our friends at CPL Productions and with director Andrea Speziale-Bagliacca, we made a film highlighting our alumni’s stories and career progression. We hosted three events across the year with our community of interns, alumni and employer partners to thank them for being a part of our journey so far.

For our birthday, our longstanding employer partners across journalism, TV, publishing, music, theatre, art and marketing kindly shared with us the impact that Creative Access has had on their organisations over the past 10 years…

Tom Weldon, CEO at Penguin Random House UK:

Julian Bellamy, MD at ITV Studios:

Alison Phillips, editor at The Mirror:

Jay Jopling, founder of White Cube:

Rufus Norris, artistic director & joint CEO at National Theatre:

Are you an employer looking to create a more inclusive workplace? Find out more about our training and recruitment services.

Candidate searching for your dream role in the creative industires? See our opportunities board and how we can support you.

Anna Bonet writing in i News has listed Creative Access as one of the ’50 reasons to be optimistic about 2023′ amongst organisations such as Arts Council and Greenpeace UK, as well as the upcoming Eurovision and the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Bonet states:

Read the full article here.

Lauren Brown in The Bookseller has reported on Creative Access’ new appointments to its programmes team including Yasmin Hemmings as acting head of programmes and Bhavini Goyate and Jolie Hockings as programme managers to “enhance ongoing support and training for its interns and alumni from groups under-represented in the creative economy.”

Read the article here.

Creative Access, a leading diversity, equity and inclusion social enterprise, is today announcing the promotion of Yasmin Hemmings, to acting head of programmes and the appointment of Bhavini Goyate and Jolie Hockings as programmes managers to enhance ongoing support and training for its interns and alumni from groups under-represented in the creative economy. 

Hemmings is a Creative Access alumna herself and originally joined in March 2021 to lead its gateway for the Government’s Kickstart scheme, successfully securing funding to create 400 creative jobs for 16-24 year-olds on Universal Credit. She has a proven track record of crafting successful career programmes for entry level to senior professionals at arts organisations, including English National Opera, Philharmonia Orchestra and the Barbican Centre. As acting head of programmes, Hemmings joins the senior management team and will own and amplify vital support & training programmes, outreach events and mentor matching for early career candidates, through to alumni as part of Creative Access’ broader mission to make the creative industries more representative of our society.  

Overall, 92% of Creative Access alumni continue working in the creative industries after completing a Creative Access programme, proving how the confidence and skills gained in the schemes directly result in industry retention.  

Bhavini Goyate, another Creative Access alumna, joins as programmes manager, alumni. Goyate brings seven years arts administration experience from prestigious theatre organisations such as Paines Plough, tiata fahodzi and the Young Vic Theatre, and most recently, Clore Leadership Programme. With 90% of Creative Access alumni stating that the organisation has had a significant impact on their career progression, Goyate will personally drive relationship management with its alumni. She will also champion the Creative Access development programme of leadership training designed for line managers and freelancers, and mentor matching.  

Jolie Hockings joins as programmes manager, interns. Hockings has spent four years engineering youth programmes for The Photographers’ Gallery, which culminated in the launch of a creative careers programme supporting emerging talent.   

Bibi Hilton, CEO, Creative Access:  

“These appointments are testament to the impact of our Creative Access candidate programmes with both Yasmin and Bhavini being Creative Access alumni. Yasmin has been instrumental in opening up creative industry careers through the kickstart programme and in the development of our new Steering Group initiative and I’m thrilled to now have her join our management team. I’m looking forward to working with her, Bhavini and Jolie to continue to develop and strengthen our unique, progressive support for people from under-represented groups aspiring to enter and progress in the creative economy.”  

Creative Access has proudly placed over 250 people from under-represented groups in roles and internships in the creative industries this year alone. Our unique programme of monthly masterclasses, mental health training, regular safeguarding check-ins throughout placements, as well as our personalised pathways and community building, demonstrates the huge effort we put into hiring and ongoing support that builds career success, confidence and retention for under-represented talent.”  

Ellie Khan has reported on Creative Access’ disability report 2022, highlighting the finding that “career-building networks are closed to 75% of disabled creatives”.

Read the article in full.

The global title read by presidents and entrepreneurs, the Financial Times hosted the last Creative Access masterclass of the year at its London offices yesterday. Likeminded individuals, hungry to learn about the world of journalism, gathered to hear from our esteemed panel spanning editorial, diversity and inclusion, photography, and technology.  

John Kundert, chief product and technology officer, welcomed our audience, speaking of the Financial Times’ mission to “hold power to account” and his appreciation of working for a company where he can bring his real, authentic self to work every day. This was a theme that reoccurred many times during our masterclass, leaving us with the takeaway that our unique experiences can often be the key to being noticed.  

When asked for their top tips on making the often-difficult step into journalism, our panel had lots to share. Nikou Asgari, who joined the Financial Times as an intern in 2018 via Creative Access after studying economics, advised getting as much experience as possible for portfolios. This might involve volunteering for smaller local newspapers or joining your university club but “if you want to be a journalist, do the journalism”.  

Murad Ahmed, technology news editor, spoke of post-graduate degrees and training, especially legal training, as saying the wrong thing can land you in hot water in journalism. He added that these qualifications often add a degree of seriousness, rather than writing just being an interest. If this isn’t feasible, smaller, more accessible steps might be taking a closer look at your Linkedin and making improvements there. Yasir Mirza, head of diversity and inclusion at the FT, said “connect with those in places you’d like to be in”. If you’re not sure where to begin with making your LinkedIn profile stand out, we’ve written a blog post on the best way to get ahead. 

And what if you have experience, as well as a strong LinkedIn profile, but you’re still dealing with lots of rejections? Our panel sympathised. Esan Swan, Creative Access alum and now picture editor at the FT, admitted to taking a hiatus from applications, before returning with a clearer head and renewed energy. “Sometimes you need a break” he said. It can be gruelling to hear no’s, but it’s part of the process, and it’s important to make sure you don’t take it personally. Abbie Scott, our chair and deputy managing editor at FT, revealed that after being involved in Nikou’s interview process, she was one of 1400 applicants for the role. Competition is tough – but if you are often not getting to the interview stage, there are a few things you can do to increase your chances.  

Murad and Abbie spoke of countless times where candidates had clearly not done their research on the newspaper, or even worse – mistakenly referred competitor newspapers in applications instead. Vital advice would be to triple check your cover letter and CV, as well as making sure each one is personalised to the role you are applying for, as sometimes it can be obvious when someone has used one for several roles. The message here is that although rejection is difficult, it’s important to recognise that with each no, you’re closer to cracking the formula.  

Part of that formula, is the word that many fear and even one that CEOs often admit they don’t enjoy… Networking. As someone who utilised going for a coffee with experienced peers and reaching out to those he admired on LinkedIn, Murad believes in the significance in paying it forward. “Use the people who believe in you”, Abbie continued. Think not just about connecting with those above you, but with your peers, who might also be struggling with networking.  

For those who find it particularly difficult, Yasir shared his personal experience. As an introvert, he found himself dreading having to go to events and introduce himself. “Go with a specific ask” he advised our audience, “have 1-2 people you need to speak to, and once you’ve done that, feel free to get out!”. Esan added that it doesn’t always have to be a serious big thing; it can be as simple as asking someone for a quick coffee, or a virtual call. Creating these simple targets for yourself can make a nerve-wracking task a lot easier to get through, and can also give you a sense of achievement for completing them. With practise, networking does get easier. 

Our audience was eager to know about any mistakes our panel made, and how they learnt from them, and this question provoked lots of interesting responses. Esan warned us to make sure we do our research, brush up on your knowledge of the details used by a newspaper, how they edit, and “take risks, do things you’re not always sure about”. The panel all agreed on the benefit of proactivity. You are the best person to prioritise your career, and you must be striving to know more, on a journey to satisfy a curious mind, Yasir added.  

Murad told us not to “tell yourself you’re lucky to be anywhere” tell yourself, “I got here on merit and worked hard”. Often, coming from an underrepresented background can provoke feelings of imposter syndrome, and a lack of confidence in your abilities, but Murad is a testament to the power we hold when we simply believe in ourselves.    

You are in charge of your career. To make your first steps, think about not only what you want, but how you want to get there, and who can help. Being your authentic self is just one component of this formula, but after last night, we’ve learnt that it’s in fact, the most important one.  

We’d like to extend a special thanks to the team at the Financial Times, and our varied and experienced panel for their time. Please keep an eye out for our next masterclass in January 2023, and if you missed this one, the recordings are available to watch here.

Gus Alexiou has discussed Creative Access’ latest research on disabled workers in his article for Forbes about the importance of disabled job seekers knowing their legal rights.

Alexiou mentions that the research shows that:

Read the article in full here.

Jamie Body has reported that “Two thirds of disabled workers in the creative industries do not feel they have the confidence to progress in their careers, according to a new report into the barriers faced by those who identify as disabled”, following Creative Access’ research.

Read The Stage article here.

In PRWeek, Elizabeth Wiredu has stated that marcomms “lags behind” other sectors when it comes to welcoming disabled, deaf and neurodivergent employees, following on from Creative Access’ recent research.

Read the article here.