Emmanuel Ofosu-Appiah has been named Vice Chair for the Race and Ethnicity Equity Board of the UK’s communications industry body. Ofosu-Appiah is the public relations lead for global consultancy Mercer’s British operations.
Founded in 1969, the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) is a trade association for the public relations sector in the UK. The association lobbies on behalf of its member companies and also provides a forum for sharing information.
With the industry striving to become more inclusive, in 2020, the PRCA founded its Race and Ethnicity Board (REEB) to create both immediate, and long-term proportional racial equity, within the PR and communications industry.
The REEB’s Standing Committee has since worked to ensure the PRCA – as well as the broader PR industry – adopts a best practice approach to ethnic and racial inclusion.
In January 2021, Emmanuel Ofosu-Appiah joined REEB, and took on the leadership of its ethnic men in PR and social mobility work stream. He works to create long-term change for diverse talent in public relations and comms and has mentored professionals from diverse backgrounds throughout his career to help them in their own journeys in the comms industry. After a successful first year assisting REEB, Ofosu-Appiah has now been named Vice Chair of the Board – working alongside Chair Barbara Phillips.
Commenting on his new challenge, Ofosu-Appiah stated, “We want to see visible, equitable representation among senior decision makers. I am personally committed to ensuring that more black men like myself can occupy senior roles and thrive. I look forward to working with Barbara and the REEB members to create meaningful change.”
He will carry out the role alongside his current position with international consulting giant Mercer – where he is Acting UK PR Lead. Ofosu-Appiah also serves as a Board Member for the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Black Business Association, is part of the UK Black Comms Network, and is a Board Member of South Quay College. He also holds qualification from the University of South Florida Muma Business College, focusing on Diversity and Inclusion within the workplace.
The appointment coincided with Race Equality Week, which began on February 7th. According to Barbara Phillips, Chair of REEB, “Emmanuel exemplifies why we need an annual reminder that racial equality along with gender and social mobility can’t be taken for granted.”
She added, “We should never forget that most of us intersect across at least three protected characteristics where race is the foundation. Appointing Emmanuel as Vice Chair of REEB sends a message to Black, Asian, Mixed Race and ethnically diverse men that your voice is as important as anyone else’s especially in the ongoing battle to achieve greater racial equality in our industry.”
Source www.consultancy.uk
