ITV confirms Cultural Advisory Council

ITV in the UK has confirmed the members of the group of independent external advisers who will advise, challenge and counsel the commercial public broadcaster on its inclusion and diversity activities.

Priscilla Baffour

The council members are: Priscilla Baffour, head of diversity and inclusion, TikTok EMEA; Dr Halima Begum, chief executive of the Runnymede Trust; Sinéad Burke, founder and CEO of accessibility consultancy Tilting the Lens; Shani Dhanda, disability specialist, entrepreneur and founder of Asian Woman Festival and Asian Disability Network; Sam Friedman, professor of sociology, sociologist of class and inequality; Christopher Kenna, founder and CEO of diversity media network Brand Advance; and Keli Lee, senior media executive.

The council will meet quarterly, with ITV’s director of inclusion and diversity, Ade Rawcliffe, and other senior members of ITV, including chief executive Carolyn McCall, managing director of media and entertainment, Kevin Lygo and managing director of ITV Studios, Julian Bellamy.

It comes a year after ITV launched its diversity acceleration plan, a series of actions to accelerate change in diversity and inclusion on-screen, and across ITV, by creating more opportunities for those from black, Asian, minority ethnic and other underrepresented groups.

The plan highlighted ITV’s intention to appoint a Cultural Advisory Council made up of independent external advisers from a range of different industries and specialisms.

As ITV extends the diversity acceleration plan in future, it has said it will expand its efforts to include a focus on disability and socioeconomic diversity.

Rawcliffe said: “I am looking forward to the range of challenges, insights and advice they can offer us, as we continue work to build an inclusive, creative culture where we authentically represent the lives of our diverse viewers on screen and we attract the best people from the widest range of backgrounds. We want ITV to be a place where everyone can do their very best work and progress and thrive based on merit, regardless of their background.”