WPP supports launch of The Black Equity Organisation
24 May 2022
WPP and its agencies have partnered with The Black Equity Organisation (BEO) – an organisation founded to advance justice and equity for Black people in Britain – as it launches today.
WPP’s collaboration with the new national and independent civil-rights organisation includes a range of pro bono support, with Landor & Fitch developing BEO’s brand, narrative and visual identity; H+K Strategies providing communications and PR support; GroupM and Mindshare advising on media strategy, planning and investment; and Ogilvy providing creative direction and development for BEO’s launch film along with a forthcoming campaign and activation.
The partnership follows WPP’s set of anti-racism commitments and actions made in 2020, which aim to advance racial equity and support Black and minority ethnic talent. BEO also received funding from the first round of successful applicants to WPP’s Racial Equity Programme which forms part of the three-year $30 million commitment to fund inclusion programmes within the company and to support external organisations.
WPP UK Country Manager and GroupM UK CEO Karen Blackett OBE is a founding trustee of BEO, alongside some of the UK’s most influential Black leaders from across business, the arts, law, and social justice organisations, including McKinsey & Company’s Dame Vivian Hunt, Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy MP, historian and presenter Professor David Olusoga, and artistic director Kwame Kwei-Armah OBE.
Karen Blackett OBE, WPP UK Country Manager, said: “To advance racial justice we need strong partnerships, allies and programmes that reach across business and all sectors of British society. I’m incredibly proud to be a founding trustee of The Black Equity Organisation which will act as a national, strategic voice for Black people in Britain, and of WPP’s pro bono support and funding that will help BEO to drive real change.”
BEO will focus on six key areas where Black people face greatest inequity:
- Driving economic empowerment and equity of opportunity
- Addressing unequal education outcomes
- Combating sources of racial discrimination within justice, immigration and human rights
- Driving representation and respect across all sectors of society
- Working to improve health and care outcomes for Black people
- Ensuring that Black families can access good quality housing and our communities have access to good quality public services
Further information:
Niken Wresniwiro, WPP
+44 (0)20 7282 4600 / +44 (0)7876 005 489
[email protected]
Ashkii Taylor, BEO
+44 (0) 74321 24321
[email protected]
About WPP
WPP is the creative transformation company. We use the power of creativity to build better futures for our people, planet, clients and communities. For more information, visit www.wpp.com.
About Black Equity Organisation (BEO)
The Black Equity Organisation (BEO), launched in 2022, is an independent civil rights charitable organisation aimed at advancing justice and equity for Black people and communities in Britain. Its Board of Trustees comprises of: Dame Vivian Hunt (Chair), Siobhan Aarons, Athian Akec, Marc Boisson, Karen Blackett OBE, Michelle Daley, Yvonne Field, Kwame Kwei-Armah OBE, David Lammy MP, Ric Lewis, Professor David Olusoga and Marcia Willis Stewart QC.
At launch, the organisation has received support from Sky, WPP, Lankelly Chase and Open Society Foundations, as well as leading law firms Allen & Overy, Ashurst, Clifford Chance, Freshfields, Herbert Smith Freehills and Slaughter and May.