WPP's Karen Blackett Named Race Equality 'Champion'

UK Prime Minister Theresa May has named WPP's Karen Blackett OBE 'Race Equality Business Champion', as part of the government's charter setting out steps for private sector businesses to drive forward race equality in the workplace.

Blackett (pictured) currently serves as WPP UK Country Manager and Chairwoman of MediaCom UK & Ireland. In her WPP role, Blackett has established an Inclusion Board to look at how apprenticeships and programmes focused on reverse mentoring can encourage a more diverse workforce. A joint initiative between WPP and Rare Recruitment, the WPP Micro Fellowship, encourages BAME (black, Asian, and minority ethnic) candidates to consider a career in marketing communications, by placing participants in three different WPP agencies over the period of a month. WPP has also created WPP Roots, a network which aims to change the way in which we talk, discuss and approach ethnicity, race, culture and religion within the broader advertising media and creative industry, the company and its work.

Commenting on her appointment, Blackett said: 'Embracing diversity and inclusion is not a choice, it's a business necessity. As the UK Government's Race at Work Champion, I'm committed to helping businesses address inequality at all levels by taking practical steps such as introducing apprenticeships, offering mentorships and capturing ethnicity data to create a more inclusive and representative workforce'.

Web site: www.wpp.com .