Sweetshop Partners with R-LDN for Inaugural UK Masterclass

Sweetshop announces it will be partnering with R-LDN, the leadership masterclass for creative minorities in partnership with D&AD originally the brainchild of Australian founders Stefanie DiGianvincenzo, CD of Cotton On Group' and Tara McKenty CD at Google. 

Taking place in London on April 21-23, the event is designed to combat the challenges that diverse creative talent face in the workplace, by arming them with tangible tips and skills from industry leaders who've overcome these challenges over the course of their careers. 

Wilf Sweetland, CEO of Sweetshop said, “There’s been so much talk about increasing diversity through different means and measures, but we’re still fundamentally missing out on the most important driver of change in all of this – the diverse talent themselves. RARE is the first initiative that’s genuinely taking this issue head on and their values very much mirror Sweetshop’s own. We’re proud to be partnering with them.”

Sweetshop’s Managing Director of UK & Europe Spencer Dodd will be speaking and partnering with Just Runners at the event. The company supplies runners for film shoots. They are pro-diversity and believe gender, race, class and disability do not hinder talent, lack of opportunity does. 

Spencer added, “When our association with R-LDN came to light, the opportunity to help raise awareness and the profile of Just Runners felt like the perfect partnership. It offers the us the chance to help not just those that have established themselves within the industry, but those who are looking to make a start and whose obstacles are not in terms of their ability, but their circumstance. In that way, we can have a direct impact upon the present and the future.”

Sweetshop will create a scholarship by sponsoring Just Runners offering opportunities to individuals at grass roots level, equipping them with the tools and skills to enter the industry. The idea is to help new comers get kitted out for work – keep warm, keep dry, keep organised and have transport.

Stefanie said, “It's partnerships that allow us to drive real, tangible change in the industry, beyond the masterclasses. Which is why partners like Sweetshop are so important to us."

To equip April’s cohort with know-how, networks and tools, the R-LDN has cherry-picked the industry’s top diverse creative talent who understand the challenges first-hand. The teaching line-up includes Oliver Pericovich, founder and Executive Director, Skateistan, Jenn Nkiru, award-winning visionary artist and director, from Peckham, London, Sulaiman Khan, CEO, ThisAbilityClub, and Nishma Robb, Head of Marketing at Google, plus Tea Uglow, Creative Director, Google’s Creative Lab, Sydney. 

All proceeds from the event will be put towards grants and initiatives that further deliver on RARE’s objective to boost diversity.

For more information contact crew@r-ldn.com