Empowering Diversity, Excellence & Transformation in the Workplace: New ‘Trailblazer’ partner The Orchard joins the MOBOLISE movement alongside Burberry, NBCUniversal, PPL, Superdry & HSBC

MOBO Group, which celebrates the 25th anniversary of the MOBO Awards this year, launched its ground-breaking recruitment and mentoring platform MOBOLISE in beta in 2020, and following a successful launch phase MOBOLISE now welcomes The Orchard, a full-service music distribution and artist and label services company, who join other world leading, progressive ‘Trailblazer’ partners across the creative and financial industries such as Burberry, NBCUniversal, PPL, HSBC and Superdry.

Every company on the MOBOLISE platform commits to addressing racial imbalance in the workplace and together MOBOLISE and its partners are a movement for change.

MOBOLISE is the vision of MOBO Group and MOBO Awards inspirational founder and CEO Kanya King CBE, who said “The early success of the MOBO Awards required the support of leading stars in the music industry, that’s why we are delighted that the stars of the corporate world have partnered with MOBOLISE to accelerate our impact.”

MOBOLISE https://mobolise.co/ supports and connects career opportunities to empower diversity, excellence and transformation in the workplace via a jobs board, mentoring and career development events and learning resources. MOBOLISE aims to create a more equitable industry by overcoming systemic barriers faced by Black professionals, which has seen them 15.4% more likely to be unemployed and nearly twice less likely to work in managerial positions, with only 1.4% of creative industry jobs being held by Black talent.

MOBOLISE was created especially, but not exclusively, for Black professionals and is designed to work with a broad range of partners to provide a community for Black talent to thrive professionally, connect with each other through specially curated partner events, learn through industry leading mentoring and training resources, and directly access career opportunities.

MOBOLISE CEO Kanya King CBE continues “The systemic inequalities experienced by Black talent has been all pervasive and enduring and a shift has long been needed. MOBOLISE aims to affect real, lasting, positive change one job at a time and it's exciting to get such engagement across industries. MOBOLISE is more than a recruitment and mentoring platform, working together with its ‘Trailblazer partners MOBOLISE is a movement for change and we welcome the pivotal addition of our new ‘Trailblazer’ partner The Orchard. Today’s announcement is made all the more special ahead of the 25th MOBO Awards on 30th November which will be our biggest celebration yet. MOBOLISE will help to build an inclusive culture within companies and further embed DE&I into partners’ brand DNA. It’s time to MOBOLISE and join the movement.”

Naledi Nyahuma Seck, VP, Diversity & Inclusion, The Orchard said “MOBOLISE directly supports The Orchard’s goal to attract diverse talent by providing resources and information to the MOBOLISE community as well as direct recruitment opportunities to add to our workforce.  The Orchard’s DEI strategy aims to provide access to resources and opportunities to historically excluded groups through strategic programs and partnerships with companies like MOBOLISE. One of The Orchard’s DEI principles is mobility; we are committed to investing in our current and future employees as they advance in their careers and create lasting change.”

Peter Leathem, Chief Executive Officer, PPL, said “PPL is proud to support MOBOLISE. For years we have worked closely with various organisations to make the music industry a place where anyone, regardless of any protected characteristic, can build a career. While there is progress still to be made, working with MOBOLISE will further support PPL’s ambition to continue to hire from an equitable, diverse and inclusive pool of talent, offering an entry point into the creative industries for individuals from currently underrepresented groups. By doing so our workforce will better reflect wider society and our business will benefit as a result.”

Craig Robinson, Chief Diversity Officer, NBCUniversal, said: “It is important that our global workforce reflects our valued global audiences and park guests. We’re proud of the work already being done by MOBOLISE to support the underrepresented workforce in the UK and are very pleased to see more partners join the effort.  While we still have more work to do, this is an exciting day for the UK creative industry as we work to drive sustainable progress.”
 
Ian Stuart, Chief Executive, HSBC UK said: “We value difference, and are partnering with MOBOLISE to empower and connect top talent from the Black community with new opportunities at HSBC UK and beyond.  Our focus is on improving diverse representation – particularly in senior roles – and ensuring HSBC UK is an inclusive place where everyone has the opportunity to grow.  We are making good progress, but we know there is more we can do. Put simply, our workforce should reflect the communities we serve; when we get this right, we will be better placed to truly open up a world of opportunity for our customers and colleagues.” 

Geoffrey Williams, VP of DE&I, Burberry said “Diversity of experiences and perspectives are crucial to enabling creativity to thrive and pushing the boundaries of possibility. At Burberry, we are committed to championing a culture of inclusion as part of our overarching DE&I strategy, which also includes increasing education and awareness, implementing a global approach and most importantly attracting and retaining diverse talent across our organisation. Through platforms such as MOBOLISE, we have a real opportunity to connect with and nurture emerging Black talent, providing pathways to enter the luxury industry, mentorship and meaningful support throughout their career journeys. We look forward to working with MOBOLISE and partners across the network to empower the next generation of leaders and changemakers.”

Catheryn Petchey, People Director, who oversees Superdry’s Diversity & Inclusion strategy, said “Building a diverse and inclusive culture is crucial to the success of Superdry, both now and in the future. We are very excited to partner with MOBOLISE on its mission to “empower diversity, excellence and transformation in the workplace”. This partnership is an amazing opportunity to connect with incredible Black talent and create opportunities, whilst building awareness and gaining diverse perspectives.”

The MOBOLISE platform is now open for registrations, the jobs board is live and partnership opportunities are available to all businesses. Click here for more detail on how the MOBOLISE platform works.