BBC Chairs Cultural Diversity Network

This week is an eventful one in the calendar of the BBC Diversity team and I wanted to take a moment to share some updates and information with you.

Tonight we hold our official launch event to mark the BBC’s takeover as Chair of the Cultural Diversity Network (CDN), an association of Britain's leading broadcasters and independent production companies who come together to consider all aspects of diversity ethnic minority representation, disability, sexual orientation, age, gender and social background in the broadcasting industry. Tameka Empson, better known as Kim from EastEnders and one of the 3 Non Blondes, will host the evening – attended by representatives from broadcasters and independent companies from across the UK television industry.

Mark Thompson, as the Chair for the next two years, will talk about some of the upcoming priorities. Over the next year the CDN will be focusing on age,and will seek to understand more about what our audiences really want and expect, as well as exploring the potential barriers or opportunities for women and men of differing ages in broadcasting. In addition, as the sharing of information and research to promote diversity is one of the chief aims of the CDN we’re considering other projects relating to varying diversity areas that could be undertaken.

For the BBC, our intention is to build on the great work done by Channel 4 as previous Chair and further the work of the CDN in promoting diversity in television, on and off-screen. For example, we’re very much looking forward to hosting the CDN Awards later in the year. Established in 2009, these awards are a fantastic celebration of the wealth of diversity and creative talent across the industry both on and off-screen. We’ll keep you updated so watch out for details of the awards.

Another of the big projects for the coming year is the Senior Mentoring Scheme which resumes in May. Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) and disabled groups are under-represented at senior levels in the UK broadcast industry and this mentoring scheme – now in its third year – provides senior industry figures as mentors for talented people from these groups. Between the participating broadcasters we’ve managed to increase the number of places on the scheme from 30 last year to 50 and there’ll be more news to follow on how the participants progress.

This scheme holds real significance for me as everyone working within the industry has a responsibility for promoting diversity and I firmly believe we can achieve the most by working in partnership with industry colleagues. This is just the start of the BBC’s tenure as Chair and I look forward to keeping you updated on our progress throughout the year ahead.

Finally, I wanted to take this opportunity to mark this week’s International Women’s Day - a day when many around the world hold events to inspire women and celebrate their achievements. In celebration, the BBC’s Diversity Centre produced a gallery of images of women from the 1920s to present day who have played a role in the life and development of the BBC. The gallery is displayed on the ground floor of Television Centre and if you visit any BBC buildings up and down the country you will see a selection of the posters displayed. You can visit the official website for further information on International Women’s Day.

Amanda Rice is Head Of Diversity