Never Not Creative tackles lack of diversity in creative industry
Never Not Creative has expanded its support group Circles and launched two new groups, Allies and Here Now, to tackle the lack of diversity in the creative industry.
The announcement:
Never Not Creative, a non-profit organisation dedicated to making the creative industry a better, more inclusive, and healthier place to work, is excited to announce the expansion of its successful mental well-being support groups, Circles. The organisation is also launching two new groups, Allies and Here Now, to tackle the unconscious bias against women and to provide better opportunities for Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) in the creative industry.
After a successful pilot program, Allies is now open to all male leaders and managers in the creative, media, and marketing industries to help bring awareness to the unconscious bias that restricts opportunities and support given to women and other gender identities. The program aims to do this through education and a supportive space where men can speak, make mistakes, and practice their support for women without fear of ‘getting it wrong’.
Here Now is a new, industry-led mentorship program created by Never Not Creative to help tackle the creative industry’s lack of diversity. The program addresses this by supporting and connecting a small group of BIPOC students in their final year of study or first-year of graduation with director and mid-senior level creatives.
“The reality is that career advancement is often propelled by who you know, how wealthy you are, where you live, and what school you went to. As such, BIPOC work twice as hard to get their foot in the door” says Sumita Maharaj, board member of Never Not Creative.
Never Not Creative will also continue to run its signature mental well-being support groups, Circles, following the results of the Mentally-healthy survey 2022. The survey found that more than 40% of people in the industry won’t tell someone if they need mental health support, and if they did tell someone, almost 50% were just as likely to rely on their peers and colleagues as a GP. Circles provide such support by bringing together small groups of people, united by industry experience and a passion for creativity, and through discussion around mental well-being and areas such as relationships, career, money, and personal growth.
“Our industry is in need of a safe space for individuals to connect with and learn from others with a similar experience. I’m really looking forward to bringing back Circles, expanding Allies, and launching Here Now, so as our industry can be a more inclusive, equitable, and mentally healthy place,” says Andy Wright, creator of Never Not Creative.
Registration for Circles, Allies, and Here Now is free and is now open. Registrations will close on Wednesday 1st February, with new groups scheduled to start shortly after.
For more information and to register, visit:
Circles: https://www.nevernotcreative.org/circles
Allies: https://www.nevernotcreative.org/allies
Here Now: https://www.nevernotcreative.org/herenow
To read the Mentally-Healthy 2022 results in full visit: https://www.nevernotcreative.org/mentally-healthy-2022-results
Source: Never Not Creative
