Led by Chief Executive Jim Mullen, the company’s commitments include:
- A focus on diversity and inclusion at Board level, including a disability agenda
- The creation of a new colleague network focussed on supporting and raising awareness of visible and invisible disabilities, sponsored by an Executive Committee member dedicated to help identify priorities and target change
- A data collection campaign across the group to gather self-identification data about Reach colleagues, the outcome of which will inform future Inclusion work
- The establishment of partnerships with external organisations to recruit and support people with disabilities
Mullen said: “I’m proud to be making this commitment with The Valuable 500 - an important step in holding ourselves accountable as we lay the foundations for change.
“Our strategy at Reach comes to life when people feel empowered to make big ideas happen, so anything we can do to help all our colleagues realise their full potential will put us in an even stronger position going forward.”
Dr Julie Humphreys, Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Reach, added: “The Valuable 500 is leading the way for organisations to embrace disability and we are thrilled to be working with them to bring our disability agenda to the fore.
“Crucially, we have already begun to make these commitments a reality, with the official launch of our colleague Networks last week, including the ReachAbility network sponsored by our Chief Operating Officer Alan Edmunds.
“We have also kicked off our data collection campaign which will not only inform our Inclusion strategy, but help us to robustly measure our progress as we continue to make Reach a place where everyone can thrive.”
Caroline Casey, Founder of the Valuable 500 said: “Recent research from The Valuable 500 found only 3% of media articles on diversity in 2020 referenced Disability. Representation in the media and advertising is essential if we want to create a fully inclusive world. When discussing diversity, we must not pick and choose, but ensure everyone is involved. We are thrilled therefore that Reach plc have signed up to The Valuable 500. Their reach and influence is so important in our journey to ensure everyone has an equal place in society.”
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