A key part of this partnership will see the DMA help fund and support Race Equality Matters’ campaign to empower ethnic minority employees and provide individuals, organisations, and networks with the insight, tools and resources to drive effective action for sustainable change.

The DMA joins over 15 UK firms championing diversity that have pledged support to Race Equality Matters in the four months since its inception, including BT, Kick It Out, and Diversity UK.

These organisations will also help fund resources and activities throughout the UK’s first Race Equality Week, to be held between the 1st and 7th February 2021. Race Equality Week aims to unite organisations and individuals across the UK to address issues affecting ethnic minority employees and to develop and implement collaborative solutions.

The DMA spearheads a number of initiatives that help to promote diversity and inclusion across the data and marketing industry, including a leadership programme in partnership with Culture Heroes, a Neurodiversity Initiative and DMA Mentoring Scheme. The new Race Equality Matters collaboration will help the industry body to drive positive societal change in a key industry sector.

“The DMA is committed to creating meaningful change to achieve racial equality in the data and marketing industry and society more broadly. A key motivation behind this partnership is to help continue our work in ensuring that the creative, data and tech industries are both accessible and inclusive from the classroom through to the boardroom,” said Rachel Aldighieri, Managing Director, DMA.

“Diversity and inclusion are key tenets of intelligent marketing that puts people first. In order for our industry to better serve the customer, it is vital that the workforce is truly representative of them - something that’s front and central to the DMA ethos.”

Race Equality Matters was co-founded by Green Park, an executive recruitment and diversity consultancy and a recognised thought leader in workforce diversification.

CEO and Co-founder of Green Park, Raj Tulsiani added: “Following the Black Lives Matter protests and the disparity of impact the COVID pandemic has had on ethnic minority communities, the UK is beginning to face truths about its relationship with race. With organisations and individuals more open to have honest conversations, we have a real opportunity to turn this moment into meaningful change for the future of the workplace and wider society.

"We are grateful to have Data & Marketing Association’s support and look forward to collaborating through Race Equality Matters to empower ethnic minority employees and provide organisations, networks and individuals with the insight, tools and resource to drive effective action for sustainable change.”

The DMA is committed to making meaningful change

Another key area of the DMA’s involvement with Race Equality Matters will be The Big Promise - where organisations make a public and measurable commitment, to which they will be held accountable, to create a positive change. The DMA will be announcing their promise in the coming weeks ahead of Race Equality Week.

In addition to this, the DMA will be hosting a series of Safe Space discussions. Safe Space helps drive meaningful dialogue between ethnic minority employees and their senior leaders and/or board members.

Further information about this new partnership can be found on the DMA website.