LGBTQIA+ representation in advertising; the murder of schoolgirl Brianna Ghey; hateful media content and its connection with adspend; BudLight and Nike…how two brands took completely different approaches and what we can learn from them…and much more.

 Marty Davies (they/she) is a multi-award-winning creative strategist, campaigner, writer, advertising industry thought-leader and a changemaker. She is the joint CEO of Outvertising, the UK ad industry’s foremost LGBTQIA+ advocacy group, the founder of the consultancy Smarty Pants Consultancy, co-founder of grassroots community Trans+ Adlandas and in 2023, was appointed Campaign magazine’s first transgender columnist.

Marty is clever, warm, thoughtful and articulate; they gave me a lot to think about in this episode (which is why it's quite a long one!).  I hope you enjoy it.

Keren Mitchell is the co-founder of SuperKind, an award-winning platform for schools to integrate social action and charity-work within the wider curriculum and their classrooms.  SuperKind works to educate, inspire and empower the next generation of change-makers to make a difference in the world around them.  It could not be a more perfect organisation to feature on this podcast.

SuperKind helps children make sense of a complex and troubling world by explaining some of the big problems of the world today, inspiring them with stories of other young change-makers and giving them the tools of social action to make change.   

Melinda (Mel) McDougall has been raising awareness and working to create change in the understanding and treatment of menopause; she wants to help women have a happy, healthy menopause and feel positive about heading into the next phase of their lives.   What a change from the silence, shame and fear that still surrounds menopause – a time of life that will affect most people on the planet, either because it happens to them directly or to the people they know, love, live and work with.
Mel is a qualified medical herbalist, who treats people with a wide variety of health and well-being issues.  She specialises in women’s health and supporting women through menopause and peri-menopause. 

Jessie Macneil-Brown is the Head of Social Mission and Activism for Ben & Jerry’s Europe. She’s a passionate advocate for using business as a force for good and has masses of experience delivering successful initiatives to inspire the public and drive long term sustainable change.  She’s led global campaigns teams at IKEA, Amnesty International and The Body Shop.  Ben & Jerry’s corporate activism is brave and bold.  But also informed and considered.  Find out how they do it in this episode with Jessie.

In this episode, the wonderful Gabby Jahanshahi-Edlin talks to us about the charity she founded, Bloody Good Period.  From collecting period products in her flat, to running a national charity that became an impactful, influential powerhouse in less than six years. 

We talk about getting started and keeping going, we talk about the highs and lows, about the power of great art and design in getting your message across, about the influence of Judaism on Gabby’s life and work and about that all-too-familiar subject for activists: dealing with burnout.

Shaista is an outstanding campaigner, activist, commentator, journalist and more.  She's one of The Three Hijabis, three football-loving Muslim women who campaign to raise awareness about racism in sport and bring an end to it.  In this episode, we talk about racism, misogyny, power imbalances, the critical issue of consent...we talk about burnout and the process of healing.

Jayne Butler is the outgoing CEO of Rape Crisis England and Wales, the national charity working to end sexual violence and abuse. Its work includes support, education, influencing and making long-term change.  In her 2.5 years at the helm of RCEW, Jayne has overseen a real transformation of the organisation: launching a new website, the national 24/7 Rape and Sexual Abuse support line, several hard-hitting reports and campaigns and a huge increase in awareness and engagement. As anyone working in this sector knows, it can be very tough.

Bryn, an anti-trafficking campaigner, set up social enterprise Blue Bear Coffee to sell delicious, ethically-sourced coffee that helps fight trafficking and support its survivors. In this podcast, he describes his background in the UK Police Services and volunteering in the Dominican Republic, investigating the trafficking of children, all of which helped lead to the founding of Blue Bear Coffee. Listen to this fascinating journey here.

Elizabeth Wathuti is an incredibly inspiring Kenyan environmentalist and climate activist.  Having been a recipient of the Wangari Mathai scholarship award, she is now head of campaigns at the Wangari Mathai Foundation, keeping her role model's legacy alive in many ways, including in her work connecting young people with nature and climate activism.  Elizabeth spoke powerfully at COP26 in Glasgow in November 2021 and in this episode, recorded just before COP26, you can hear her passion, conviction and clarity.

I’d bet that most parents would be familiar with Ella’s Kitchen’s distinctive, brightly-coloured little food packs – but this great company is about more than just providing healthy and good-tasting (well, I can’t personally vouch for it but my kids loved it!) food for children and babies.  CEO Mark Cuddigan believes fervently in running the company according to purposeful, value-driven principles.  He talks passionately about becoming a B-Corporation and its impact on the business and him personally: “it just means everything…it has transformed our business on any measure you would wish to look at”.  He talks about the challenges and difficult decisions alongside the joy of making a difference and being fulfilled at work.  And if you want to hear some great sustainability news about those little brightly-coloured food packs…listen right to the end for an example of brilliant collaborative working.