Recruitment firm Daniel Marks creates new role of head of diversity and inclusion

In this video interview we ask Gaby a few questions about why diversity and inclusion is so important, what the key issues are and what she’s looking to achieve in this new position. She said, “Working in diversity sparks creative thinking and creativity. If a team is more diverse and inclusive and people are happier in their work they should be more productive.”

Daniel Marks has successfully run a number of market leading initiatives that are specifically designed to provide opportunities for young people and from diverse backgrounds to return to work as well as getting a start in the industry. With a focus on diverse talent that would not normally be aware of, or have the opportunity, to gain employment within the creative and marketing industries.

“Our new initiative The Panel will help us ascertain what the talent challenges are in the industry. I’ll be meeting with industry leaders and HR leaders to have an open conversation around this, we will then identify the trends and bring a select group of industry leaders together to take action on the challenges,” she added.

Having partnered with The Prince’s Trust back in 2014, Daniel Marks launched the Big Bang Creative Internship Scheme that ran again in 2016 with 100 Judges from 75 companies. This resulted in dozens of young people from the 50 finalists being selected for paid internships and jobs in creative and marketing departments.

This was followed in 2018 by the Planning Academy, which saw 40 Judges offer paid internships and full-time jobs to a dozen of the 20 finalists looking to get a start in planning and strategy.

Dutton-Williams will also be overseeing The Panel - a select group of the industry’s leaders looking to assess and action current industry-wide talent issues, whilst providing a Q&A for young people to attract a wider diverse audience to the creative and marcomms world. She added, “We are looking to offer opportunities to people who might fall outside of our typical talent pool, by providing them opportunities to join the industry and in turn providing diverse candidates to our clients.”

By having a dedicated specialist with Dutton-Williams’ experience to oversee the Daniel Marks initiatives, 2020 looks to be an exciting year ahead. Most importantly, making a real difference to the industry using the springboard of the previous programs that have been so successfully already.

“I’m really excited to have joined the team at Daniel Marks and am impressed with the success and impact The Big Bang and The Planning Academy initiatives have had in the past. It’s great to be working with a team that are committed to driving diversity and inclusion, and I’m looking forward to what we can achieve together, especially with our new initiative The Panel,” she explained.

Daniel Marks founder, Dan Matthews, said of the new appointment, “We’re delighted to be welcoming Gaby to the team here at Daniel Marks as head of diversity & inclusion. Gaby is as passionate as we are to provide opportunities for the people that need it most, and importantly this is what our clients also need – a more diverse talent pool. To take the initiatives that Daniel Marks been running successfully for a number of years to the next level is really exciting.”