Creative Access is delighted to announce the launch of their Steering Group; a brand-new initiative bringing together a group of 16 individuals from the Creative Access community. This unique year-long programme will provide a leadership pathway for participants to becoming trustees or non-executive directors of other creative organisations, social enterprises or charities. The group will also provide feedback, input on and steer various Creative Access programmes and areas of development.

Creative Access – a leading diversity and inclusion social enterprise – has selected members of the Steering Group from its own alumni community; candidates from groups that are under-represented in the creative industries in terms of ethnicity, socio-economic background or disability. By the end of the year-long programme, participants will be supported to apply for leadership positions.

Josie Dobrin, Executive Chair, Creative Access said: “We are hugely excited about this new initiative. Our community have a huge amount of skills and energy to offer to leadership teams of commercial and not-for-profit organisations.  All too often, job descriptions require applicants to have experience for non-executive roles, so by creating this leadership pathway, we are removing obstacles for progression. In the long run, we’re creating a pipeline of candidates from communities that are under-represented at non-executive level, who will help organisations to innovate, future-proof decision-making and better reflect the organisations in which they serve. Any organisations interested in hearing from our budding trustees should get in touch!”

The new programme – which will be repeated annually – offers members the opportunity to share perspectives and network with people working cross-sector in the creative industries, gain insight into the responsibilities that come with being a trustee, and give members the chance to meet and be mentored by senior figures in the creative industries. This reflects Creative Access’ wider goal of creating sustainable change across the creative economy.

Lizzy Burden, interned via Creative Access at The Times in 2017 and is now the Europe, Middle East & Africa Economics & Government Correspondent at Bloomberg TV, will act as co-chair of the committee. She said: “Creative Access opened the door to my dream career in journalism so it’s important to me that I pay forward that opportunity. By co-chairing the steering group, I want to learn how the organisation runs — both financially and in terms of strategic decision making — so that I can help to drive its success further.”

Hetty Ashiagbor, who started off as a researcher at Lime Pictures through Creative Access in 2015 and is now a managing producer at BBC Good Food and OLIVE magazine, explained: “I am so excited to be part of the steering group for Creative Access. I am most looking forward to making an impact in the creative industries regarding diversity and inclusion, addressing challenges and evoking positive change. Creative Access played a huge part in kick starting my career in broadcast. It is an honour to be able to give back, share my experiences and knowledge and be part of positive change.” 

Appointments to the Steering Group will last for a one-year term. During the course, the Group will attend workshops with multiple external speakers, covering themes including charity and Community Interest Company status; the role and duties of a trustee; financial literacy and liabilities; principles of good governance and trusteeship; responsibilities of non-executive directors.

The members of the 2022-23 Steering Group are:

• Abs Gandhi, PR Manager, EMEA, Snowflake
• Alex Zepherin-Pinnock Founder / Creative Director, Don Dada Studio
• Amir Amirsolimani, Development Editor, SunnyMarch
• Arshdeep Kaur, Product Lead, Sky Glass, Sky
• Cameron Myers, Commissioning Editor (Penguin Business), Penguin General
• Charlotte Gray, Creative Designer /Partnerships Assistant, Freelance / SafetyWing 
• Cheyney Smith, Marketing Manager (Macmillan Children’s Books), Pan Macmillan
• Hetty Ashiagbor, Producer (multiple platform film/video producer)
• Isabella Silver, Branded Content Editor, Hearst
• Lizzy Burden, Europe, Middle East and Africa Economics and Government Correspondent, Bloomberg TV
• Nikou Asgari, Reporter, Financial Times
• Nitin Rishi, Producer / Director / Cinematographer
• Rabeeah Moeen, Audio Publishing Assistant, Pan Macmillan
• Saphia Abrahamovitch-Venner, Assistant Curator: Artist Development & Engagement, Spike Island
• Shamima Noor, Communications Co-ordinator, Fuel Theatre

Jamie Body reports: “Mask theatre company Vamos Theatre has been awarded funding from the Mo Siewcharran Fund to launch an internship, as part of a drive to increase diversity in the theatre and publishing industries.”

Lauren Brown in The Bookseller reported: “Oneworld is one of four organisations to be awarded grants from the Mo Siewcharran fund in its latest round, the second time the independent publisher has received one of the grants.”

“Oneworld publisher and founder Juliet Mabey said: “We are thrilled to be partnering with Creative Access once again. They have made, and are continuing to make, such an important contribution to the campaign to increase diversity and inclusivity in the creative industries.” 

The next round of funding is now available and closes on 11th November. Organisations interested are invited to email lucy@creativeaccess.org.uk to express interest.

The Mo Siewcharran Fund has announced the latest four grant awards; to charity The Poetry Society, Worcester-based Vamos Theatre, inclusive children’s fiction studio Storymix, and independent publishers, Oneworld. In its fourth year, the Mo Siewcharran Fund continues to support a unique breadth of organisations within the creative industries in its mission to enable young people from Black, Asian and ethnically-diverse backgrounds to break into publishing, theatre and music.

The Fund was set up in memory of Nielsen Books’ former Director of Marketing and Communications, Mo Siewcharran by her husband, John Seaton and is administered by Creative Access – a leading social enterprise specialising in diversity and inclusion. The grants contribute to the salary of an intern for a six-month traineeship and a full programme of support from Creative Access to ensure the trainee thrives in their new role.

Since the Mo Siewcharran Fund started in 2018, it has supported 27 ethnically-diverse trainees in publishing, theatre and music across the UK. A recent report into the impact of the Fund by 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 and 9 out of 10 (89%) trainees continued to work in the same sector where they did their traineeship.

Speaking on the Fund’s impact and the latest round of recipients, John Seaton said:

“In its fourth year the Mo Siewcharran Fund continues to do its bit to make workforces in the arts more ethnically diverse, representative and fairer.  It is thrilling to be associated with four such vibrant and en rapport companies as these. I am sure the interns will all have a wonderful and beneficial experience and will be supported via Creative Access to thrive in their careers”.

The Poetry Society is a charitable organisation which champions poetry for all ages. It is looking for a publishing & participation trainee to join the team. On receiving the Fund, Judith Palmer, Director at The Poetry Society says: “With the support of the Mo Siewcharran Fund, The Poetry Society is delighted to be able to work with Creative Access to offer a new dedicated publishing and participation trainee. The Poetry Society has a long history of working with young poets to transform their confidence and creative skills, and of widening access to poetry. We’re excited by the new opportunity this presents to make positive change to strength and diversify the arts sector workforce.”

The second recipient, Vamos Theatre is the UK’s leading full-mask theatre company. Vamos is seeking a learning and participation trainee to learn about the power and connection of mask theatre based on real life stories. Executive Producer at Vamos, Claire Morton comments: “We are thrilled to have been awarded funding from the Mo Siewcharran Fund. The grant will enable us to offer an internship within our Learning & Participation department to a young person from an under-represented community and we are delighted by the prospect of positive change this will bring to us as a company and to the young person’s future career. Support from Creative Access will help us take important steps in developing Vamos Theatre as a more representative arts organisation, impacting on our planning, our processes and working towards a more diverse future workforce. We look forward to offering our intern the best possible experience and a valuable stepping stone to the next stage of their career”

Storymix Studio – a fiction production company focusing on Black, Asian and ethnically-diverse voices in children’s fiction – have also been awarded the Fund. Jasmine Richards, Founder of Storymix states: “Finding and supporting BME talent is fundamental to Storymix’s mission of improving representation in the children’s book industry – both on the page and behind the scenes. We are a relatively new venture. The Mo Siewcharran grant from Creative Access will give us a much-needed intern to support our ever-growing book list and an opportunity to share our knowledge and expertise with a BME professional at the start of what we hope will be a long career in publishing.”

Finally, this is the second time that London-based independent publishers, Oneworld Publications, have received a grant from the Mo Siewcharran Fund. On receiving funding again Publisher and founder Juliet Mabey says: “We are thrilled to be partnering with Creative Access once again. They have made, and are continuing to make, such an important contribution to the campaign to increase diversity and inclusivity in the creative industries. We are especially grateful to the Mo Siewcharran Fund for their financial support in this work, which is facilitating publishers in their efforts to transform our industry so that it more truly represents the readers we serve.”

Hachette UK has announced its 2022 traineeship programme, partnering for the second year with literary agency Curtis Brown and booksellers Waterstones. It will open for applications today, with 10 trainees joining Hachette UK at the end of October for the year-long programme. Hachette UK will again be working with Creative Access, the leading social enterprise in progressive career development and support, to recruit exceptional talent from under-represented groups, with all applications for the traineeship being made via the Creative Access website.

The trainees will spend the year within one of Hachette UK’s publishing divisions, the central function teams or the education business, specialising in either editorial, digital marketing, publicity, audio, operations, sales, communications, production or rights. Those specialising in editorial will spend a month of their traineeship at Curtis Brown to learn how to represent authors and matchmake them with publishers. All the trainees will spend a month at Waterstones to learn the art of bookselling and to understand consumer buying behaviour and will also participate in a bespoke learning and development programme, with the opportunity to learn about the journey of publishing a book from pitch to production.

This will be Hachette UK’s fifth intake of trainees and the programme will continue to focus on making publishing more accessible to under-represented groups, as part of the publisher’s ‘Changing the Story’ vision for diversity and inclusion. It is actively seeking applications from candidates from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, applicants from lower socio-economic backgrounds and particularly men from both of these backgrounds, to improve the representation of these groups in Hachette UK’s staff base.

Lisa Waterman, Group HR Director at Hachette UK, commented: “Our traineeship in partnership with Curtis Brown and Waterstones has been such a successful initiative as part of our Changing the Story programme and further strengthens our ongoing commitment to inclusion. This innovative scheme, originally conceived by Sharmaine Lovegrove, patron of Changing the Story, gives our trainees direct contact with our publishers, authors, agents and ultimately our readers to give them an incredible introduction to the industry. Our 2021-22 cohort of trainees have been such a success and we hope this experience has given them the broad knowledge to build brilliant careers in publishing. It demonstrates that when we work together as an industry, we can make a lasting and positive change.”

Josie Dobrin, CEO at Creative Access, commented: “We are delighted to once again be partnering with Hachette UK to offer 10 incredible paid traineeships across its divisions for talent from groups under-represented in the creative industries. The placements will give the successful applicants a year of experience working in publishing across different areas of the industry, providing them with the ideal foundation to thrive in a long-term publishing career.”

Kate Skipper, Chief Operating Officer at Waterstones, commented: “We are thrilled to be partnering with Hachette UK for the second intake of their industry-leading trainee programme, which provides such a vital new route into the industry. We can’t wait to welcome this year’s trainees into our shops, with the aim of providing a behind-the-scenes look at what makes a bookshop tick and allowing trainees to experience the thrill of putting a book into a customer’s hands. We hope the experience will prove invaluable for those at the start of exciting publishing careers, offering a glimpse of bookshop magic and some understanding of the passion which drives booksellers.”

Felicity Blunt, Literary Agent at Curtis Brown, commented: “It is an honour to get to continue to work with Hachette UK for the second year of their traineeship scheme. The candidates they placed with us in year one were singularly impressive and dynamic, with so much to offer the industry. Curtis Brown places each candidate with an agent and office that is aligned with their reading interests. The trainees are exposed to a variety of deal-making, client care and editorial process. As this element sits alongside the experience of working for a publishing house and a bookseller, we believe the Hachette UK traineeship scheme offers individuals a deep understanding of the publishing ecosystem as a whole, allowing them to zero in on the facet that most appeals to them.”

Lauren Brown in the Bookseller has reported: “Creative Access and Penguin Random House have opened applications for the second year of their joint mentoring programme for those aspiring to work, or currently working, in publishing and the wider creative industries.”

The mentoring programme will help 500 people from under-represented backgrounds in the creative industries connect with and gain support from publishing professionals by 2025.

Read here.

2022 programme is open for applications from those aspiring to work in or currently working in publishing or the wider creative industries

Penguin Random House UK and Creative Access, the leading social enterprise in progressive career development and support, are today announcing year 2 of their long-term programme to provide mentoring to over 500 people aspiring to work in or at entry-level in publishing by 2025. The aim is to break down barriers and myths and showcase the rich mix of roles and opportunities on offer within publishing. 

The programme’s focus will be on reaching career talent from communities currently under-represented in publishing, for example in terms of ethnicity, socio-economic background or disability. It is open to people over the age of 18, including students at college or university or those who have some professional experience (in publishing or wider industries). Also welcomed are applications from those not currently in education, employment or training.

Successful applicants will be mentored by individuals who have at least two years of experience in the industry from across the different teams at Penguin Random House, including editorial, marketing, HR, design, digital, legal, technology and finance. The senior leadership team will also be participating again. There are 90 places available on this year’s programme which is open for applications from today until July 11^th (2022). 

This programme is designed to be an equal partnership between mentors and mentees and mutually beneficial to both. Mentees will have the chance to gain insights and expertise, develop skills and confidence, and build new connections and networks. And mentors will have the opportunity to learn from the fresh perspectives of their mentees and challenge their existing ways of thinking. To help set the new relationships up for success, Creative Access will offer training to both mentors and mentees. 

Over the last year, Penguin Random House and Creative Access have partnered to offer 250 under-represented people in publishing mentorships. The impact has been significant, with 90% of mentees sharing they’d been supported by their mentor to apply for roles in publishing and 84% that their industry contacts and networks had expanded. Fifteen mentees have gone on to secure roles in publishing, five with Penguin Random House.

Josie Dobrin, CEO, Creative Access:

Val Garside, HR Director, Penguin Random House:

In the latest episode of the Independent Publishers Guild podcast, Josie Dobrin – CEO of Creative Access – discusses diversity and inclusion in the publishing industry and how Creative Access supports people from under-represented backgrounds get into publishing. Listen here.

Our head of intern recruitment Anoushka Dossa spoke to Jordan Page for their recent article on the rise of ‘OTT’ job applications, discussing whether or not they are ‘worth it’, in VICE.

Speaking on how branded CVs and cover letters, and even gifts, can affect under-represented groups when applying to jobs, Anoushka said:

Read the article.

Evie Barrett has written about Creative Access’ new research regarding ‘Generation Post-Pandemic’ and their career expectations.

“An employer’s values, commitment to staff wellbeing, and reputation as a good place to work are more important to PR newcomers than a good salary, according to new research.”

Read here.

BookBrunch have highlighted Creative Access’ recent findings that “new grads” are “looking for inclusive work culture, an organisation’s values, and commitment to employee wellbeing”.

Read here.

Creative Access’ recent research into the career expectations of school leavers, students and graduates has been featured in Lauren Brown’s article for The Bookseller. The research found specifically that “salary and diversity among publishing hopefuls’ top employer concerns”.

Read here.