15 May 2025 | Central London

RISE2025: The marketing conference for inclusive,
sustainable brands

A stellar one-day summit delivering essential skills, insights and tools for marketers to build inclusive, sustainable brands.

RISE2025: For Good and for Growth

Thursday 15 May 9.45am - 5pm
The Royal Horticultural Halls, Lindley Hall

Join best-in-class leaders at the UK's marketing summit dedicated to creating inclusive, sustainable brands that drive both social impact and business growth. After last year's sold-out event with 80+ industry brands, we're raising the bar again.

Hear from a stand-out lineup of game-changing leaders, experts and CMOs who will transform your approach to marketing excellence. Dive into cutting-edge sessions on inclusive AI deployment, taboo-breaking advertising, sustainability integration, responsible media for 2025, and the critical intersection of inclusion with creative effectiveness (with Effie UK) and creative excellence (with Cannes Lion).

You'll gain actionable skills, powerful tools, and growth levers to build not just a brand, but a legacy in London's most beautiful venues. Tickets sell out , so secure yours today to position your organisation at the forefront of marketing that delivers - for good and for growth. Comedy included.


* Please note this is for brand-side marketers and our talent programme partners and tickets are limited.

RISE SPEAKERS

Hear from:

  • Headliner: Sir Lenny Henry, comedian, author, broadcaster

  • John Amaechi OBE, Organisational psychologist and Founder of APS Intelligence

  • Tati Lindenberg, VP, Marketing at Unilever, Dirt is Good [OMO, Persil, Surf Excel, Breeze]

  • Vanessa Kingori OBE, Managing Director, Technology, Media, Telecoms at Google

  • Ruben Schreurs, Group CEO, Ebiquity, PLC

  • Grainne Wafer, Global Category Director, Beer, Vodka, Liqueurs, Convenience, Diageo

  • Jon Evans, CMO, Uncensored

  • Fiona Spooner, Managing Director, Consumer Revenue, Financial Times

  • Eleanor Thorton-Firkin, Head of Creative Excellence, IPSOS

  • Megan Crabbe, author Body Positive Power, broadcaster

  • Riyadh Khalaf, broadcaster, author, podcast host, and LGBTQ+ advocate

  • Frank Starling, Cannes Lions

  • Sophie Devonshire, CEO, The Marketing Society

  • Gemma Greaves, co-founder Nurture, Cabal

  • Richard Robinson, Executive Director, Ingenuity+

    And more to come!

The Agenda

8:45am

9:20am

9:25am

9:40am

10:15am

10:20am

10:40am

11:00am

11:15am

11:35am

12:05pm

12:30pm

12:35pm

1:00pm

1:40pm

1:45pm

2:30pm

2:35pm

2:50pm

3:00pm

3:10pm

3:25pm

3:45pm

4:00pm

4:10pm

4:25pm

4:55pm

5:15pm

6:30pm

Breakfast and Registration

A sneak peek to kick of the day!
Tamryn Kerr, Founder, Hijinks Collective

Welcome
Ali Hanan, Founder, Creative Equals

Purpose, creativity, inclusion: why they matter to every leader
Sir Lenny Henry, comedian, author, broadcaster;
Vanessa Kingori OBE, Managing Director, Technology, Media, Telecoms, Google

Introducing the Ad Accessibility Network
Vanessa Vidad, Inclusion Hub Co-Lead, ISBA

Everyone’s invited to the celebration: how to innovate for inclusion
Gráinne Wafer, Global Category Director, Beer, Vodka, Liqueurs, Convenience, Diageo
Lucy Edwards, Blind broadcaster, journalist, author, content creator, and disability activist

Don’t Retreat, Reframe: playing the sustainability long game
Eleanor Thorton-Firkin, Head of Creative Excellence, IPSOS;
Samira Brophy, Senior Director, Creative Excellence UK, IPSOS

What no one is talking about: the bias in AI
Claire McHardy, Commercial Partner, Creative Equals

BREAK (20 minutes)

Harnessing Influence: Reaching New Audiences Through Representation
Host: Helen O'Donnell, Director of Development, BBC Studios;
Riyadh Khalaf, broadcaster, author, podcast host, and LGBTQ+ advocate;
Megan Crabbe, author ‘Body Positive Power’, broadcaster

What's keeping CMOs awake at night?
Richard Robinson, Executive Director, Ingenuity+
Claudia Nicholls, Chief Customer Officer, Simply Health
Ritchie Mehta, School of Marketing, ‘Places you’ll go’ podcast

Through the barricades: the impact of the paywall on consumer connection
Sara Denby, Former Head Unstereotype Alliance, UN Women

Facts, truth, trust: why responsible media matters
Ruben Schreurs, Group CEO, Ebiquity, PLC;
Fiona Spooner, Managing Director, Consumer Revenue, Financial Times

LUNCH (40 minutes)

Is social making us... social?
Shahnaz Ahmed, Director, Creative and Innovation, The Social Element

The Fishbowl: Let's talk about Adolescence...
Gemma Greaves, co-Founder Nurture&Partners

Inclusion Works: How inclusion can spark creativity, fuel creative excellence, and drive marketing effectiveness.
Debbie Tembo, Client Partner, Creative Equals

The Inclusion Imperative in Creativity: why diversity drives creativity and cultivates a thriving creative ecosystem.
Frank Starling, Chief DEI Officer, Cannes Lions

The Inclusive Advantage: how inclusion is more than just the right thing to do, but can drive marketing effectiveness and brand growth.
Rachel Emms, Managing Director, Effie UK

Inclusive Creativity that Wins: how embracing inclusion fuels creative excellence, insights straight from Cannes Lions
James Robinson, Global Head of Customer Success, LIONS, WARC & Contagious

Beyond Buzzwords: How to Harness Creative Excellence for Measurable Marketing Effectiveness & Meaningful Impact
Tati Lindenberg, VP, Marketing at Unilever, Dirt is Good [OMO, Persil, Surf Excel, Breeze]
Debbie Tembo, Client Partner, Creative Equals

BREAK (20 minutes)

Does age bias cut short our lives by seven years?
Louise Cohen, Global Marketing Lead, Haleon

“If they don't give you a seat, bring a folding chair “ - Tackling returnship bias for creatives
Emma Murphy, Communities Director, Creative Equals

Q&A: Inclusion for innovation: how to reach all of your audience
Sophie Devonshire, CEO, The Marketing Society

Feeling Seen: changing how we advertise to build resonance and relevance, through tackling harmful stereotypes
Jon Evan, Uncensored CMO
John Amaechi OBE, Organisational psychologist and Founder of APS Intelligence

Why It's Time to Balance the Mix in Music and Media
Nishma Robb, Founder, CEO, Glittersphere;
Becky Wixon, Founder, Balance The Mix, Creative Music Producer;
DJ Jamz Supernova; UNPLUGGED
AK Patterson, singer/songwriter

Wrap Up, and Drinks

FIN

the 2025 focus

Hear from inspiring keynote speakers, learn practical tools to apply tomorrow and gain insights on ‘how it’s done’ from our stellar line up.

We’ll look at leveraging inclusive AI, tackling taboos in advertising, the intersection of sustainability and inclusion, responsible media in 2025, the role of inclusion with creative effectiveness (Effie UK) and creative excellence (Cannes Lion), and to how to apply inclusion, sustainability and social impact along the entire value chain as a way to unlock growth within our talent, brands, products and all the audiences we serve within today’s marketing climate.

Why the marketing ‘Return on Inclusion’, sustainability and social impact is integral
Inclusive marketing is an economic and strategic pillar, woven into risk management, brand equity, consumer psychology, and workforce retention. Brands that integrate it well don’t just “do inclusion” - they're building a competitive advantage. How can you build inclusion into your businesses and brands to drive growth in innovation, creativity and profitability ? Hear from the experts.

Building a sustainable future

Sustainability is reshaping marketing as consumers demand genuine environmental and social responsibility. Businesses must go beyond greenwashing, integrating ethical sourcing, carbon reduction, and circular economy models into their strategies. Younger generations favour brands with transparent ESG commitments, making sustainability a key driver of trust and loyalty. What’s your strategy?

Shaping social impact through marketing strategies
Social impact strategies in marketing build trust, loyalty, and relevance by integrating diversity, equity, inclusion, and ethical practices. Consumers expect transparency, with brands showcasing real impact through data-driven storytelling and community engagement. Authenticity is key - so hear from brands who bring meaningful causes and diverse voices to strengthen brand identity, driving both positive change and competitive advantage in an increasingly values-driven marketplace.

Mitigating marketing backlash
Navigating polarisation has been named as one of the top challenges facing marketers. How should a brand respond in a moment of post-campaign controversy? In the world of cancel culture, we bring you a framework, learnings and takeaways to figure out which voices matter - and which ones don’t.

Inclusive AI
As we bring in AI into the marketing chain, how do we make sure it meets our business goals for inclusion? We explore this emerging topic along with a trailblazers in the AI space.

themes include

  • How to lead inclusion-first strategies for social impact and growth

  • Building smarter, safer more responsible media ecosystems

  • How to diffuse backlash in a divided world

  • Inclusion as a springboard for creativity

  • AI deployment: how is this built with sustainabilty and inclusion

  • Emerging dimensions of inclusion: accessibility, women's health and economic equity

  • Growing sustainably, the long-term strategy

thank you to our sponsors, industry, community and media partners

accessibility

Our London venue is wheelchair accessible and has a disabled bathroom. If you need further information, or require other accommodations, please let us know! emma@creativeequals.org

See what we did in…
RISE 2024
RISE 2022
RISE 2021