Less than 10% of #Eventprofs are from Black, ASIAn or underrepresented Minorities.

We aim to change that.

Funded by leading event industry professionals, The REACh Events Scholarship has been established to increase diversity in the Events, MICE & Hospitality sectors.

Who is behind the initiative?

Robert Kenward

Founder

“Only 3.5%* of our industry is from a Black or minority ethnic background, whilst 6%* is from an Asian background, and although I have been a recruiter and eventprof for over 21 years, I can count on two hands the number of Black, Asian, and minority ethnic event people I have worked with and on one hand at a senior level.

The initiative was created because I wanted to take action and actually achieve something that would have a lasting and tangible impact on our industry. The pandemic has already meant we have lost many event professionals who now see our industry as just too risky, so we need to act now to ensure that working in events is an attractive and accessible proposition for all young people."

Gabrielle Austen Browne

Founder

“It’s no secret I’m incredibly passionate about diversity and inclusion in events. My mission when I founded Diversity Alliance was to help the industry become more diverse, inclusive, and accessible and to change the industry for the better, for the next generation of event professionals, leaving a legacy of equality for all. The REACH scholarship initiative will help make the events industry more accessible to Black, Asian, and minority ethnic talent who might not normally have access to enter our sector, directly addressing the issue of the event industry talent pipeline. I’m so excited and very proud to be part of this initiative.”

What Some of our Sponsors Say

Dale Parmenter

CEO of DRPG

“Our people have always been the core of our business model and we pride ourselves on our family culture at DRPG . However, it didn’t take statistics to see the issue in front of us, in our teams, our suppliers and venues across the industry landscape. The lack of ethnic minority representation is obvious, and we need to work together to make a noticeable difference. We are now invested in the REACH programme as part of our diversity and inclusion efforts which will be a fantastic driver for this industry.”

Michael Gietzen

Managing director, Identity

“Not only is the programme a fantastic opportunity for us to ‘give back’ and begin the journey towards evening the playing field, it also gives us the ability to connect with and encourage future talent from a diverse range of backgrounds. At Identity, we believe that to truly deliver meaningful events with impact, we need to work towards our workforce composition which reflects our client base. Our commitment to REACH will not be purely financial; we also intend to give students on the programme the opportunity to work with Identity during and beyond their degree course. We are excited about the relationships we’ll build and the futures we can kick off.”

The REACH (Race, Ethnicity and Cultural Heritage) Events Management scholarship aims to increase the representation of young people from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic backgrounds on BA (Hons) Events Management degree programmes

How you can help

There are many ways for individuals and businesses to support the initiative. A tax deductible gift commitment of £15,000 will fund an Events Management scholarship of £5,000 per annum awarded over three years of the Scholar’s degree programme. Your support would fund activities that directly benefit the students. You maybe able to take advantage of tax-effective giving as a private individual or corporate donor.

While financial support is vital, it cannot on its own deliver the full benefits that disadvantaged students can gain from higher education – we hope that supporters would also play an active role in the recipients’ development.

Companies that are interested in pledging and making a positive, long-term impact to diversity and inclusion in the industry can contact Gabby Austen-Browne at gabby@diversityalliance.co.uk or Robert Kenward at robert@recruitmentprof.com for more information.