Awards Covers Six Categories, Winners to be Announced on November 21, 2023
Media For All Diversity & Inclusion Awards 2023
Media For All (MEFA) has revealed a shortlist of 34 prospective winners of its inaugural awards.
The MEFA Diversity & Inclusion Awards for 2023 – held in partnership with Campaign – celebrates advertisers, media owners and individuals who champion DEI in their work.
The shortlisted entries are:
Unsung Hero
- Fiona Cameron, senior learning and development business partner, Group M
- Gerry Anyanwu – client development director, global and co-founder, Join Our Table
- Mikaela Dragon, freelance brand creative director
- Mike Thomas, group business director, Acast
- San Sharma, creative director, Wunderman Thompson
- Sangeetha Mahadevan, managing partner, OMG Unite at OMG UK
Inclusive Media Planning & Buying
(National)
- OMG Unite: NSPCC Childline “We feel it all”
- Manning Gottlieb OMD, OMG Unite and OmniGov: NHS Blood and Transplant
- Mindshare: Dove “Turn your back”
- Mindshare: M&S “M&S bra fit”
- EssenceMediacom with Claire McAlpine, Inclusive Planning: Maltesers
(Regional)
- Mediareach: NHS South East London
- The7stars : KA “Be the noise”
- Mediareach: NHS Royal Voluntary Service
- Brand Advance Groups with Deca Consultancy: V&A Museum DEI strategy
Creative Excellence
- Channel 4: Diversity in Advertising Award
- Here and Now 365: Vatika Natural’s UK, #UnbreakableBonds, UK Father’s Day x Pride campaign
- OmniGov at MG OMD with OMG Unite: RAF Careers targeting 16- to 24-year-olds
- VCCP: Cadbury’s Dairy Milk Fingers, “BSL fingers”
Change Maker
- Ally Owen, founder, Brixton Finishing School
- Annika Allen, head of diversity, equity and inclusion, All3Media
- Caroline Forbes, head of sales OOH agencies, Clear Channel
- Debarshi Pandit, senior vice-president, international business, head of multicultural business and co-chair of multiculture at Sky Network, Sky
- Marty Davies, joint chief executive officer, Outvertsing
- Shez Iqbal, director of publishing partnerships, Criteo
Hammer
- Davina Barker, sales director, Digital Cinema Media
- Liam Mullins, managing partner, the7stars
- Nishma Patel Robb, (former) senior director, marketing, Google UK and president of Wacl
- Serhat Ekinci, managing director, OMG Unite
- Tobi Asare, managing partner, head of growth, OMD UK
All in Champion
- EssenceMediacom
- IPG Mediabrands
- Omnicom Media Group
- The7stars
- VCCP DE&I Collective
Winners to be announced at an awards breakfast ceremony on 21 November, 2023
Entries closed on 23 October and since then the panel of judges (pictured below), chaired by Karen Blackett, president of WPP UK, whittled down the list to the above contenders. Winners will be announced at an awards breakfast ceremony on 21 November, 2023.
Blackett said: “I love this industry and I want to future-proof this industry. In order to do that, we need to ensure we are connecting with the wonderful fruit salad that is the UK population. That means recognising, building an affinity with, and connecting with all of the people in the UK. We really need diversity of thought.”
Meanwhile, Sky has joined the awards as a sponsor, and its director of media planning and investment, Bhavesh Patel, joined the jury.
MEFA founder Naren Patel said MEFA was “thrilled and grateful” in welcoming the media owner’s support. He added: “Their support underscores the significance of collaboration and reflects a shared commitment to recognising and celebrating excellence in DE&I in the media and advertising industry.”