U.K. public service broadcaster ITV has upped current director of creative diversity Ade Rawcliffe to the position of group director of diversity and inclusion.
Rawcliffe will report to the group CEO, Carolyn McCall, and will be a member of the management board. With this appointment, ITV becomes the first Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) 100 company with a dedicated diversity director on its executive board.
Rawcliffe’s role will be to develop and grow ITV’s diversity and inclusion strategy to deliver its diversity acceleration plan that include on and off-screen aims of supporting those from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, and also disability and social mobility amelioration targets.
ITV’s diversity acceleration plan that was announced in July had five components – increasing diversity on ITV’s management board and senior leadership teams; commissioning to ensure ITV better represents contemporary British life on screen within the next 12 months; improving diversity and career progression in TV production; in recruitment, taking positive action at entry level as well as middle and senior leadership; and educating and developing internally so everyone understands racism and their role in creating an inclusive culture.
“The creation of this new role demonstrates the commitment of the management board towards accelerating diversity and inclusion at ITV,” Rawcliffe said. “I feel passionately that all our viewers should see their lives and experiences authentically represented onscreen. I believe that talent is all around us and that opportunities behind the camera and more generally within ITV itself should be equally accessible to all. This is the right thing to do, but there is also a proven business case for greater diversity and better representation.”
Rawcliffe started her career as a freelance producer working across BBC, ITV and Channel 4 on a variety of shows ranging from “Sport Relief” to “Big Brother.” During four years at BBC Sport she produced “The Olympic Games,” “The Winter Olympics” and “The Commonwealth Games.” She spent more than a decade at Channel 4, latterly as creative diversity manager. Rawcliffe moved to ITV in 2017 and improved representation both on and off-screen within ITV’s output, including “Loose Women,” “Tonight,” “Dancing on Ice,” “Emmerdale” and “Coronation Street.”
“Ade brings fantastic experience – in both commissioning and production as well as in diversity and inclusion – and great passion to this role and we will support her to ensure she helps accelerate change in diversity across ITV by creating more opportunities,” said McCall. “She will give focus, coordination and leadership to our plans to create a culture where absolutely everyone, whatever their race, disability, pronoun they use or whoever they love, feels comfortable being themselves.”
