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Senior Practitioner Forum: Representation in PR

Senior Practitioner Forum: Representation in PR

Senior Practitioner Forum: Representation in PR
Inclusion, Representation, DEI, Diversity
CIPR Cymru Senior Practitioners’ Forum
Thursday 7 July 2022, 12.15-2.45pm

Representation in PR – as a workforce and in the way we design and deliver campaigns (CIPR Cymru – Senior Practitioners’ Forum 2022)

About this event

Continuing our 2022 programme looking at current themes and memes in PR practice, we are turning our attention to Representation. 

The recent CIPR State of the Profession report identified that the gender pay gap is widening again and that, despite being a predominantly female workforce, men continue to occupy a disproportionate number of higher paid and senior roles. Also, ethnic diversity among PR practitioners is out of kilter with the 2019 census data and the 2022 report makes no reference to disability and LGBTQ+ demographics in PR.

As a profession, there is a lot being said about the barriers to inclusion, equity and diversity, and there is some good work being done to educate and address those. But is it enough? Are the right audiences being engaged? What more can and should we all be doing?

But this issue is not just about our workforce. It is very much about the work we do. If we are not intrinsically diverse, inclusive, and equitable as a workforce, how can we claim to properly understand, speak to and speak for the entirety of the society we serve. 

A 2½ hour workshop is going to be enough to tackle this mammoth subject, but we are going to have a go at unpicking, exploring and understanding the scale and scope of the challenges we must face head-on if, as ethical strategic leaders, we are going to represent our publics effectively.

Keynote:
To help us, CIPR Chief Executive ALASTAIR McCAPRA is going to dig into the data and take us through the state of the profession and the Chartered Institute’s plans to help us be more diverse, equitable and inclusive.

Case-study:
An extra segment for this forum will be a case study presentation from Cardiff Community Housing Association’s Head of Communication and Marketing, NIA ROLFE. She will talk about the work CCHA has been doing to improve diversity among board members and to ensure communication activity ‘lands’ effectively by better understanding communities and making the language, imagery, and tone more nuanced and inclusive.

Discussion Panel:
Our popular discussion panel for this one is going to be slightly different, firstly because it will be chaired by event host, JOHN WILKINSON. John believes more should be done to educate and help people like him – white, male, middle-class, raised in multi-cultural South London and taught to be ‘colour-blind’ and treat everyone the same by a mum who worked in a day centre for people with physical disabilities. 

He says: “I try to be inherently fair and kind, but I know I have biases, and I believe I should be the target audience for so much DEI work. The black-lives-matter movement hit me like a thunder bolt, and caused me to evaluate and rethink my approach, which is way too passive. So, I’m here to listen, learn and take action where I can, not just where I feel comfortable.”

To help John explore what ‘doing more’ and allyship looks like, we have a fantastic panel: SUE VINCENT-JONES from Welsh Government; CORNELIUS ALEXANDER, CIPR Board member and co-chair of its Diversity and Inclusion Panel; SARA THORNHURST, a prominent member of the CIPR volunteer community, and prolific speaker and blogger on inclusion; WILL HENSON, policy and external affairs manager at independent Welsh think-tank, the Institute of Welsh Affairs. Alastair McCapra and Nia Rolfe will also join the panel. 

Agenda

12pm – Event opens
12.15pm - Welcome and intro by John Wilkinson

12.30pm – Keynote by Alastair McCapra, chief executive at the Chartered Institute of Public Relations
> State of the Profession report – “gender pay widening again, workforce demographics out of step with the population, could try harder.”
12.55pm – Q&A with Alastair

1.10pm – Case Study presentation by Nia Rolfe, head of communication and marketing at Cardiff Community Housing Association.
> Pathway to Board – breaking down barriers to creating a diverse and inclusive board

1.30pm – Panel debate (chaired by John Wilkinson, CIPR Global Council and Cymru committee, and owner and principal consultant at Scruffy Dog PR
> Allies, Bias and Conversations – an ABC for better diversity education
Panellists: Sue Vincent-Jones, Cornelius Alexander, Sara Thornhurst, Will Henton, Alastair McCapra and Nia Rolfe.
Discussion and questions from delegates via the chat and on-camera

2.30pm – Round-up, conclusions and future events
2.45pm Finish

5 CIPR CPD points
 
Contact: John Wilkinson
Email: [email protected]
When
07/07/2022 12:15 - 14:45
GMT Daylight Time
Where
Online

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