As the year draws to a close, we want to express our gratitude for having you with us this year. Together, we’ve seen sustainable change within brands, cultures and communities, thanks to YOU. This matters with DE&I under threat, with the likes of Elon Musk 'X-ing' recently 'DEI must DIE'. We've seen so much 'fear' gather around this space, starting with the US Supreme Court rolling back decades of hard-won civil rights. The Bud Light Dylan Mulvaney backlash highlighted the palpable threat facing the LGBTQIA+ community, with many brands scaling back their Pride campaigns. We are all bearing witness to the Gaza/Israel conflict, slashing division through communities and generations with Muslims and Jews facing growing hate crimes and rising discrimination. Right now, we centre on who is most impacted as we give back. That's why…

PLUS CreativeComeback NYC is now live, AND we take a look at those Christmas ads, because Ho-ho-ho-homogenous?

The 2023 Christmas ads are out, and while they lean into festive cheer, family traditions and kindness via gift-giving, we've gone backwards on representation. The UK is made up of many intersections across age, ethnicity, ability, gender, LGBTQIA+, family compositions, faiths, cultures and socio-economic levels... and few ads reflected that. On a quick view of System 1's top 12 ads, there is little ethnic diversity and majority male voiceovers. What's happened? Is it the 'fear of getting it 'wrong'?

A Game-changer with Google. Our North Star? To leave a legacy through driving a diverse, equitable and inclusive society. Google's North Star? To significantly improve the lives of as many people as possible. So we came together to create the Creative Equals x Google Career Certificate Scholarship Programme, aimed at those from underrepresented, vulnerable and other marginalised group. The goal: to equip people with tools, knowledge and mentor support to help them find employment. The partnership has resulted in…

Could it be… AI? Yes, it is, but it didn't stop this image exploding over Twitter in a bomb of presidential glitter, placing Barbie on the frontline of the US 'culture wars'. While in the US conservative figures like podcaster Matt Walsh have condemned 'Barbie' as 'the most aggressively anti-man, feminist propaganda fest ever put to film', Barbie will finish Sunday with well more than $700 million in worldwide box office sales after serving up the biggest week in history for Warner Bros with $578.5 million. The fact is…

Was Cannes LION inclusive? Here's our POV in Campaign... ‘Inside Palais itself, it's a yes. As our team were chosen as part of the official line up, from end-to-end of the speaker experience, a requirement for DEI was baked into the curation of the content into the onsite delivery. Over the years, the jury line-up has improved to become .

DEI shapes award-winning work that leaves a legacy. Cannes Lions, 19 - 23 June, Cannes France. Are you in Cannes this award season? If so, come and skill up with our workshop series across the week. Come learn, meet new people and discuss why DE&I is a driver for creative excellence, has powerful social impact and, wins awards at Cannes LION.

Are you in Cannes this creative award season? If so, come and skill up with our workshop series across the week the the famous Embassy of Dutch Creativity, just one minute from the Croissette. Yes, there are so many panels, so we decided we'd run workshops where you participate. Come learn, meet new people and discuss why DE&I is a driver for creative excellence, has powerful social impact and, well, it wins big at Cannes LION.

If you're not at Cannes, we don't want you to miss out. We're running a virtual session on 'Why DE&I is smashing it at Cannes LION 2023' on July 19, 4pm.

OFFICIAL: we're speaking at Cannes Lion! Workshop: Unlocking Creative Excellence with Powerful DE&I Strategies. DE&I shapes creative excellence. Across all Cannes Lions 2022 Award Winners, creative work with a DE&I heartland proved inclusion powers creativity. For this to have a meaningful impact it must go beyond representation and into brand strategy. In this Cannes Lions workshop…

Yes, after the success of our London workshop, we're going stateside with our signature workshop 'Rewiring the Creative Process for Inclusion' to NYC with Henry Stewart's 'Creative Operations' conference (yes, DEI IS a key part of operations).

To begin the event, we're holding a dynamic three-hour DEI workshop on Wednesday, May 24, 9.30-12.30pm that focuses on understanding the creative process and embedding inclusion-first thinking into it. Through interactive discussions, you'll explore how to rewire the creative process to produce authentic content that deeply resonates with our audiences. We'll interrogate work, and co-design a better, more inclusive system.

INTRODUCING DISABLED CREATIVES: an industry first

Yes, 2023. We are here and we're doing what we always do: making real, meaningful change where it counts. That's why we've launched Disabled Creatives.

This is a FREE three-week creative leadership programme open to creative talent who are disabled and/or neurodivergent, who are working, or have previously worked as a creative or studied in the field of advertising, marketing and design with best-in-class training from D&AD.

The last couple of months has been crazy busy at Creative Equals. We're just coming up for air, and suddenly it's December this week (can someone press pause please?). We've welcomed several new clients ready for change, built out our team and celebrated four years of what 'returning' means with our Creative Comeback Alumni. In the spirit of knowing equity and inclusion are the legacies we bring, here's a round-up of things we're watching and doing to make a difference…

CALLING ALL BUSINESS LEADERS

What will it take to get to 50:50 at the C-suite? This programme is a game-changer. Applications are now open for our 4th CE Business leadership programme. This programme and community is built to give women, non-binary and gender non-conforming people, the skills and network to take their next step in leadership. In the past we've had …

RISE2022: 'This day moved me in a profound way' Wow. Thank you for THAT feedback, 5* all the way. If you missed out, you can download Creativebrief’s thorough RISE Trends Report. To amplify those voices for change for the second year running, Managing Editor, Nicky Kemp, and her team created a report sharing the key insights from the day. ‘Who makes the work, shapes the work’ was a key theme of the conference, so we bring you actionable insights and articles to help you to shape both the work and the workplace itself in progressive and inclusive ways. Oh, and #RISE2022 made it into Forbes.

In todays newsletter, we’re putting the call out for all women, GNC or nonbinary creatives who have taken a break and want to return to work. We look at RISE and the six C’s of inclusive leadership, and we also review another faux pas from Samsung and how we can fly the flag for Ukraine’s Creative Community.

Why the cost of living crisis is an inclusion crisis... Last week, we meet West Yorkshire Paralympic Gold Medalist Hannah Cockcroft to talk content for RISE2022. While we focused on representation (and she regrets starring in Channel4's award-winning 'Superhumans' ad), our conversations moved to the inequity of the cost of living crisis for disabled people, who are facing rising costs of up to £1,000 a month. Many are being forced into making impossible…

Future Leaders is back for its fifth year and it’s clear that making the cut matters. Every year, we shine the spotlight on up-and-coming female, non-binary and gender non-conforming leaders in the ad industry in order to eradicate barriers and bias and drive progress. Being on the list is more than recognition, in many cases – it’s a chance to be…

TO #BREAKTHEBIAS, YOU HAVE TO KNOW YOUR BIAS. In order to challenge unconscious biases we must first confront them. An all-female team that works for Helen James, Managing Director of Crispin, Porter & Bogusky and lead of Creative Equals' Women's Business Leaders Programme, came up with this campaign for #IWD2022. This tracks into one of our bias exercises (just Google CEO: what do you see?). Now imagine a world where genders make no difference. At RISE2022, you'll get one of their #BreakTheBias colouring-in books - a great way to explain bias in all its forms to children. After all, biases are often in play by the age of five.

Over the coming months, we believe standing together as part of a culture-shaping, change-making community matters. We stand for equity in our workplaces and our work.

This year, RISE 2022 (our first in-person conference since 2019) will bring you the inspiration and know-how to impact what we can in our working lives as we step into our own leadership. We'll tackle the important topics: what inclusive leadership looks like, how to create fearless work, what pay equity looks like, how to drive equitable representation and what's keeping marketing leaders awake at night. Plus, we'll take on a brief for the Women's Equality Party, with leader Mandu Reid.

It’s happening! 12th May 2022 at the Royal Horticultural Hall, London. We are back and we are bigger! And in REAL life! And, over the next few weeks, we'll be announcing the line-up of line-ups. For now, we're releasing the name of our first speaker…

#CREATIVECOMEBACK INDIA 2022 LAUNCHES. In a first for India's advertising industry, this International Women's Month, we are calling for all female creatives in India who want to restart their career to join Creative Comeback. Partnered with D&AD and Diageo, we help #BreakTheBias by changing perceptions of the CV gaps women have due to a career break, often for caring responsibilities.

CMO of Diageo India, Deepika Warrier says: "Women are 11 times more likely to not work after a COVID job loss (Times of India, 2021). We know when women take a career break, their life experiences bring them a deeper, richer perspective'.