Blueprinted

It’s obvious to us that diversity problems won’t be solved by panel discussions or in echo chambers. And so we designed The Blueprint mark. Its purpose is simple: to help talented Black, Asian, Mixed Race and Ethnic Minority pros get the careers they deserve, and to help organisations genuinely committed to diversity to benefit from their talent. In 2018 and 2019 we brought together two genuinely diverse groups to work together to come up with solutions to the PR industry’s diversity problem. They included rising stars and powerhouses with incredible careers. They included in-house pros and agency heads, crisis comms specialists and an award-winning creative. There was a Mum of twins, an ex-soldier, a counsellor and a councillor. A D&I specialist, a healthcare policy expert, a disability campaigner (with great hair!) and a kick-ass HR director. There was a born and bred Mancunian, a Scot, Nigerians, a Jamaican and even someone from the exotic land of Leamington Spa. In mixed groups they were introduced to a number of harrowing case studies based on the experiences of people working in PR and comms and ran through a series of exercises. They leaned into the uncomfortable, they laughed, they listened and they worked. Through those workshops, The Blueprint was born. And those incredible individuals? They serve as advisory board members (meeting three times a year and shaping our work) and consultants (on hand to provide an additional steer). As for day-to-day? The Blueprint is delivered by Blueprinted, a company with purpose led by founder Elizabeth Bananuka and Project Manager Olivia Danso, with the support of NEDS Anouchka Burton and Daljit Bhurji. Profits from The Blueprint are used to support the work of BME PR Pros.