Imperial College London’s Communications Division Becomes First Blueprinted In-House Team
Imperial College London’s Communications Division Becomes First Blueprinted In-House Team
Wednesday 21 February 2024; London, UK: Imperial College London’s Communications Division has become the first in-house team to become Blueprinted securing Ally status in the latest round of applications.
The Blueprint for in-house teams and comms organisations was launched in May 2022, nearly two years after the diversity mark was launched for PR and comms agencies.
The Blueprint diversity mark aims to promote racial diversity in PR and communications. Awarded agencies sign up to a series of commitments aimed at encouraging diversity from entry level to boardroom, from staff culture to recruitment and retention.
Imperial College London’s Communications Division secured Ally status after completing a 40-question application form detailing their strategy to promote racial diversity and inclusion. The submissions were marked by an independent panel of judges: Nyree Connell (education policy manager and Blueprint strategy advisor); Sasha Daly (advocacy and influencing consultant) and Henry Rowling (founder, Flying Cars innovation agency).
The Communications Division’s application showed a diversity, equality, and inclusion strategy spanning recruitment policies, widening participation, internal training, social opportunities, and campaigning. Furthermore the team have rolled out a number of initiatives, including the Imperial As One Media Academy, a training program offering expert media training for minority ethnic staff and students, a style guide for writing about ethnicity, and a tailored internship program for underrepresented groups.
Elizabeth Bananuka, Founder, BME PR Pros; Founder/CEO Blueprinted, said: “Nearly two years after launching The Blueprint for in-house teams and comms organisations it is an absolute pleasure to award Imperial College London’s comms division The Blueprint Ally status. Their robust application detailed a thorough, thoughtful and committed approach to equality, diversity, and inclusion, and highlighted the significant role in-house pros, who make up more than two thirds of our industry, can play in creating a more racially diverse and inclusive sector. The Blueprint judges and I cannot thank Hayley Dunning and her colleagues at Imperial College London’s comms division enough for their inspiring commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, and we congratulate them for becoming the first ever Blueprinted in-house team. It is a remarkable and well-deserved achievement.”
Hayley Dunning, member of the Communications Division’s EDI Working Group, Imperial College London, said: “We are proud that the Blueprint Ally mark recognises the progress we have made and the initiatives we have put in place to ensure that the Communications Division is a welcoming, nurturing and energising place for everyone. Attaining the mark is not the end. We are looking forward to creating a roadmap for future developments and improvements in our work. We feel we’re in an excellent position to lead by example, and in making further improvements we hope to inspire others in Imperial and the education sector to commit to improving diversity and the working environment for all.”
The Blueprint diversity mark has four application rounds a year and applications are judged by an independent panel who have taken part in a Blueprint diversity training workshop. The deadline for the next round of agency applications is midday on Thursday 7 March 2024. To request an application pack email apply@thisistheblueprint.co.uk.
About Imperial College London
Imperial College London is a global top ten university with a world-class reputation. Imperial’s 22,000 students and 8,000 staff are working to solve the biggest challenges in science, medicine, engineering and business.
Imperial ranks sixth in the 2024 QS World University Rankings and eighth in the 2024 Times Higher Education World University Rankings. The 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF) found that it has a greater proportion of world-leading research than any other UK university. It also received a Gold Award in the 2023 Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). Imperial was named University of the Year in the Daily Mail University Guide 2024, University of the Year for Graduate Employment in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024, and awarded a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for its COVID-19 response.
