Nina Bhagwat
Off-screen Diversity Executive, Channel 4
“Creating an inclusive culture that recruits, retains and progresses a diverse workforce has to be underpinned by intelligent data and a commitment to diversity that is baked into every level of an organisation.
Nina is a respected authority on how, by changing recruitment methods and supporting career progression, organisations can cultivate a diverse ‘internal’ workforce that delivers diversity in creative output. Through provocations that explore current and new practice, and innovative ways of interpreting data to identify where the real needs lie, her keynote will draw on her experience in delivering Channel 4’s 2015 Diversity Charter and as a trainer in the film and broadcast sector, as well as her knowledge of how the health and banking sectors are stepping up to the challenge
Professor of Arts and Literacy, Manchester Metropolitan University
“Understanding diversity through collaborative action research is a key to building pathways from the community to employment in the cultural sector. Re-imagine your workplace as a co-produced space. What would it look like? Whose voices would we hear? How can we listen differently, and come up with inclusive visions of what ‘could be’? Attuning to hopeful practice and recognising alternative ways of knowing, including knowledge produced outside universities and cultural institutions is a vital starting point for valuing diversity in the professional context.”
Kate is acclaimed for her work in bringing researchers and cultural practitioners together to explore issues in contemporary society, including co-creating new knowledge and cultural material with diverse ethnic and socio-economic groups. Her keynote will draw on over ten years of collaborative research in Rotherham, through the AHRC’s Connected Communities programme, which involved co-producing cultural material with diverse groups, including young people from Roma, British Asian, and white British backgrounds, with a particular focus on a large ESRC funded project called ‘Imagine’ on the cultural context of civic engagement. How might we stretch this learning into the workplace?