Diversity and inclusion have received much attention in the Amsterdam media and communications industry over the past two weeks. Recruitment agency Resulten the Include Now Foundation have joined Amsterdam – Divers & Inclusive and want to contribute to the initiative with their expertise and sense of social issues. The Association of Leading Communications Agencies in the Netherlands (VEA) also feels responsible and has presented a plan of action.
Arno Peperkoorn, director/partner of Result Recruitment and co-founder of Include Now spoke in a video about bottlenecks related to inclusion and diversity in the Dutch advertising industry. He advocates self-criticism within the industry. Stereotyping, (unconscious) prejudices and workforce that is not diverse enough are the industry’s biggest problems, according to him. He and his colleagues at Include Now strive to help people move from unconsciously incompetent to consciously competent. They do this through knowledge sharing, research and providing training and presentations.
Meanwhile, Include Now started a petition advocating for an inclusive advertising and media industry.
That there is movement in the industry regarding diversity and inclusion also shows the open letter from the Association of Leading Communications Agencies (VEA) in the Netherlands. The VEA is calling for an industry turnaround and has proposed an action plan that commits it to examine diversity within its members’ agencies and seeks to provide members with tools to actively promote diversity and inclusion.
VEA board member and co-founder of Hammerfest (affiliated with Amsterdam – Diverse & Inclusive), Baba Touré, called on his industry colleagues to take action.ie actively promote in a column. Following the piece, he was also a guest on the podcast “The brief” in which he elaborates on racism in the Netherlands and the role of advertising in it.
Want to learn more about Baba Touré, his company and his story? Keep an eye on our website, for the July edition of our Good Employer column.