ITV launches program to create opportunities for employees from diverse backgrounds
A range of ITV employees identified as high-potential senior leaders have been chosen for a bespoke program led by ITV’s creative diversity partner Nahrein Kemp.
The program forms part of ITV’s Diversity Acceleration Plan / Image via ITV
Called Amplify, the program aims to create more opportunities for senior leaders from ethnically diverse backgrounds as part of its Diversity Acceleration Plan.
The news follows the broadcaster’s second annual Diversity Action Plan Report, which was published last year and revealed that, year-on-year, it has seen 33% increase of available lead roles filled by Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) talent.
Amplify will run from March to July, and aims to supercharge their leadership skills and match them with board-level sponsors to champion their development.
It will consist of sessions on leadership development and coaching with industry coach Tracy Forsyth PCC, and panels with internal and external speakers.
Each colleague gets a Management Board or PLC sponsor, with Carolyn McCall, Sir Peter Bazalgette, Salman Amin and Sharmila Nebhrajani amongst those signed up as sponsors for the program.
The 17 selected leaders come from a wide range of different areas across ITV including commissioning, production management, business affairs, finance, HR, content supply and distribution, legal and news.
Ade Rawcliffe, ITV’s group director of diversity and inclusion, said the broadcaster is “committed to delivering on our Diversity Acceleration Plan commitments to nurture a diverse and inclusive workforce at ITV.
“Our senior leaders play a key role in our culture. This tailored program is designed to ensure they thrive. Not only will they enhance their leadership skills, but this will help build their profile both internally and externally, with their Management Board/PLC Sponsors actively championing them.
“We also recognize the part these senior leaders play in guiding the next generation, so we are delighted that they themselves will be sponsors to those on our Kickstart scheme and new to ITV.”
To put their new skills into practice, colleagues taking part in the program will themselves be sponsors to ITV’s newly-joined Kickstarters.
The government-backed Kickstart scheme is designed for 16-24-year-olds on Universal Credit and aims to address the lack of job opportunities for young people, giving them the opportunity to kickstart their careers with their first jobs.
In March 2022,17 Kickstarters joined ITV for a sixth-month placement (with ITV working with Creative Access as their Kickstart Gateway) for experience and training across a range of roles, including daytime programming, commercial, production, sport, diversity and inclusion and with ITV-backed Studio 55’s new venture Woo.
ITV’s Diversity Acceleration Plan commits to improving representation at entry level and middle and senior leadership levels, as well as improving diversity and career progression in TV production.
ITV has launched initiatives such as ‘ITV Rise’ and ‘StepUp 60’ – creating opportunities for internal staff and creatives from ethnically diverse and underrepresented backgrounds to progress to their next-level roles – as well as its £80m diversity commissioning fund, driving change toward racial equity and disability equity.