An update from our President
Our mission has always been clear: to advocate for greater diversity and numbers of women in leadership roles in our industry.
While we’ve made progress over the years, the complexity of working towards this goal is becoming even more apparent.
Because each and every woman in PR is unique.
We each have our own experiences, choices and intersectional identity. We each have our own story to tell.
Standing for women in PR must mean standing for EVERY woman.
And that means truly understanding and reflecting the diversity of women across our industry today – and the different journeys we may take.
We’ve been on our own journey to listen, learn and invite input from the broadest spectrum of women working in PR today.
We heard there was no appetite to change WIPR’s core mission.
In fact, feedback points to our mission being more important than ever.
Every day the news is a reminder that women still need to constantly challenge gender-based societal norms and expectations.
“It’s important to keep ‘banging the drum’ because even now you still hear men in particular questioning whether gender equality is a problem in the workplace with remarks along the lines of ‘surely that’s not still an issue’.” Anonymous WiPR member
However, we need to better deliver what we do through an intersectional lens – taking into account both the diversity we can see and the diversity we can’t – and the collective impact this has on women.
It’s through embracing a more intersectional, real-life understanding of the challenges that women in our industry face that we’ll build and maintain the best version of Women in PR for all our members.
“The experience of women across our industry isn’t the same – women of colour are dealing with all of the same issues but then layered and compounded with the additional experience of being an ethnic minority in the workplace also. It’s more complex and nuanced than just dealing with gender bias alone.” Anonymous WiPR member
“It feels like the definition of success, or what it takes to reach leadership is more about a look and a collective culture. If you don’t fit that mould, then progression to leadership is blocked for you.” Anonymous WiPR member
Dismantling barriers means banging the drum on issues, that are often linked, which stand in the way of our goal to see more diverse women in leadership roles.
Ageism. Race. Caring responsibilities. Women’s health. Pay Gaps. Sexual harassment. Bias.
This is not a responsibility we take lightly. Nor a goal we can achieve all on our own.
We need to foster connections with others who share our goal as well as with those who may have different perspectives to us to build effective allyship that drives change.
Supporting success for women in PR, by women working in PR. Together we can make a lasting impact on our industry.
We invite you to join us.
So, what does this mean for WiPR in 2025 and beyond?
We are striving to be an inclusive force for good with even more focus on embedding diversity in all we do.
We intentionally do not have a standalone DEI plan, instead it is the golden thread that runs through our 2025 strategy and action plan – the driving force underpinning every effort.
This means you can expect us to continue to seek out the voices of women who are currently marginalised and under-represented in our industry (neurodiverse, ethnic minorities, those with different religious beliefs, those based in the regions, and those from working class backgrounds) to ensure our work better reflects the society we live in and the needs of all women.
And we will also be collaborative, courageous and compassionate in how we approach our work, our community – and in how WiPR show up for our industry:
1. COLLABORATIVE – fostering inclusive and open cross-industry connection and community.
[networking, events and partnerships]
What we will do: We will collaborate with corporate partners, and other diversity-focused organisations and influencers to help us recognise the intersectionality of women. Achieving a more diverse and inclusive PR industry isn’t a zero-sum game and we are not in competition with others who share the same goal. There will be times when WiPR leads, times where we follow, and times where we come together to achieve the greatest impact.
We will seek out perspectives and partners that bring varied and diverse insights – whether that’s by virtue of their lived experiences or their organisational objectives.
Some issues around gender representation are bigger than us; we recognise that we are part of the solution and commit to maintaining close relationships with employers and other influencers.
2. COMPASSIONATE – helping women accelerate their careers, break barriers and achieve whatever success looks like for them and support keeping them in communications.
[mentoring and shadowing]
What we will do: We are consciously inclusive when it comes to building meaningful connections and community within our membership. This means designing everything – from events to our mentoring programme – with diversity, inclusion and accessibility
as a core objective.
It means creating a welcoming environment where women help women, whether that is through listening to different experiences, sharing our true stories or giving time to support careers. We will deliver initiatives – our mentoring programme, shadow board and events – that enable these things to happen.
There is strength in the number of women in the PR industry, and in the depth of our collective networks and experiences. Regardless of your lived experience or career challenge, within the WiPR sisterhood, there is a connection to support you.
We will nurture the future generation of female leaders in our industry until they are experienced enough to join our ranks.
3. COURAGEOUS – Using our platform and voices to call for greater diversity and numbers of women in leadership roles by holding the industry’s feet to the fire on the issues that stand in the way of that goal (e.g. ageism, caring support, closing the gender/ethnicity pay gaps, women’s health etc).
[campaigning and advocacy]
What we will do: We have chosen to be allies to the underrepresented women within our membership and industry. This means being bold in recognising where privilege exists, leveraging it for the greater good, and being loud and visible in amplifying the voices of women at the margins.
We will collect and analyse the right data so we have the insights we need to understand a diverse range of perspectives.
WiPR will aim to authentically reflect the viewpoint and lived experiences of all of our members, in the media, in their organisations, and in public policy making conversations.
We own the impact that we make and open ourselves up to feedback and conversations that might feel challenging or uncomfortable
along the way.
