DE&I: Accelerating Change with Camilla Bruggen

Camilla has been leading Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Wavemaker since 2020. During this time, she has commissioned employee research and conducted a systemic review of industry data to inform Wavemaker’s approach to DEI. In 2020 she led a global team to develop a Global Diversity and Inclusion vision, framework and KPIs. The framework was adapted by the local markets to be culturally relevant, whilst remaining consistent and accountable. Camilla worked with senior leadership and employee stakeholders to ensure that the framework was delivered and the KPIs are met.​

She has worked across the network to connect the Diversity Groups (for example Roots and Pridemakers) and local DEI champions globally as well as with WPP and the wider industry. 

Camilla has worked with senior leadership teams to drive ‘Inclusive Leadership’, with a specific focus on accountability and behavioural change. 

With three degrees in psychology and a background in data insight and strategy, Camilla has honed her skills understanding consumer behaviour and applying data insights to communication strategies for blue-chip clients. Camilla is now applying these skills to build an inclusive culture at Wavemaker. 

LBB> What drew you to the field of DE&I? 

Camilla> My frustration about discrimination in the industry, initially gender inequality. The path to success was so much smoother for men, and it annoyed me. As the years went by, I wondered what had happened to all the amazing women I had started my career with. One by one they seemed to disappear, whilst I saw my male peers going from strength to strength. A female colleague and I set up Women at Wavemaker, pretty quickly we realised that intersectional discrimination was a huge issue and looked to what we could do more broadly. 

LBB> Before it became your job role, what was your specialism? And how did you get involved?

Camilla> I built my career in market research, data insight and communications strategy - hugely transferable skills. Understanding data to identify insights and build a compelling strategy to address barriers and enablers. After going on ‘Walk the Talk’, WPP’s brilliant female professional and personal development programme, I managed to build a case to get some of time allocated to DEI. I offered my skills to create and manage a multi-market employee experience research project, from which I created insights and strategic recommendations to improve inclusion at Wavemaker. 

LBB> There’s a lot of frustration around the industry’s glacial pace when it comes to improving DE&I across all sorts of axes. What’s getting in the way?

Camilla> It’s a complex, often uncomfortable topic, and there isn’t an easy fix. We need systemic long-term changes that are embedded in the way that we work and are supported by leadership. For example, inclusive recruitment and progression practices, as well as an inclusive culture that supports and nurtures talent from marginalised communities. 

We could have inspirational DEI panels every day of the week, but without senior sponsorship, transparency, budget and accountability change won’t happen.

LBB> Outside of the advertising industry, where do you see examples of large-scale meaningful progress (if at all), and what should our industry learn from it?

Camilla> UK Civil service – they have been effective at embedding systemic changes in recruitment practices. They have a transparent job architecture and pay grades. Although our industry is moving towards this, it seems to be harder to achieve. 

Education – The current cohort of young people joining to industry have been educated in a more inclusive way. They have grown up being more accepting of peers with different needs, for example, having neurodivergent classmates, who are open about and even celebrate their differences. As an industry we need to acknowledge this and be able to offer the same inclusive environment where difference is accepted, supported and valued. 

LBB> The dimensions of DE&I can differ somewhat according to geographic/cultural context - I’m curious, where you’re based, what are the big issues or most urgent elements of DE&I that you need to address? (And if your role covers more than one market/territory, how do you and your team navigate the local nuances while having a cohesive and consistent set of values?)

Camilla> I am based in the UK and have a global role. Inequity is a global phenomenon that plays out differently in different geographies. As part of our Positive Provocation ethos, one of our values is ‘Belonging’, the ideal that all Wavemakers can bring their authentic self to work. By building an inclusive environment we aim to create a space where colleagues are given the freedom to positively provoke growth for themselves and their clients. The biggest issue is probably around mental health and making sure that colleagues feel looked after, valued, respected and that they belong, whatever their background or demographic characteristics. 

LBB> In your role, what have been some of the most meaningful projects or policies you’ve been involved in regarding DE&I?

Camilla> Building a global community of almost 100 DEI Champions from 25 countries. This incredible group of people are a united force to embedding Belonging at Wavemaker and have created an internal site to ensure that all 7000 employees can access information about Wavemaker’s Employee Communities, inspirational events, DEI strategy and programmes. 

We’ve also been working with Wavemaker’s global ExCo to create their DEI pledges, these are shared and tracked across the year to drive accountability for leadership. There has also been numerous DEI events that I have loved being a part of, for example a party our Pride Group hosted last summer for LGBTQ+ asylum seekers, a Disability awareness event in Italy and contributing to an International Women’s Day talk in Indonesia.   

LBB> What role are clients playing in holding agencies accountable and driving better DE&I (e.g. via RFPs)? Is this something you are seeing or would like to see more of?

Camilla> Almost all pitches with multi-market clients now contain a DEI element. We have hosted a range of events in collaboration with clients across the globe. My observation is that individual clients are increasingly pushing the DEI agenda is their organisations and when they connect with their counterparts in agencies magic can happen! I would say we hold each other accountable, rather than it being a one-way street.

We are seeing increasing focus on responsible investment and inclusive planning. And yes, I would like to see more of this, as it can drive systemic change in the way we do business as an industry. 

LBB> We often see DE&I siloed or pigeonholed as an HR issue - what’s the key to ensure that it’s embraced as an agency-wide or industry-wide responsibility?

Camilla> DEI needs to work across the whole business. To move it out of HR, it needs senior sponsorship to be visible and relevant to the whole agency, it needs project management to ensure programmes are delivered, and change practitioners to ensure that inclusive behaviours become embedded ways of working. 

As clients focus more on DEI, we see involvement from investment and planning teams to ensure that campaigns are delivered in an inclusive way. The key to success is accountability from leadership to reflect DEI’s importance as a wider business issue. 

LBB> What are your thoughts about where accessibility fits in the DE&I agenda?

Camilla> We can’t have inclusion without accessibility. Every colleague needs to be able to have equal access to Wavemaker’s offices and technology. In the UK we are a ‘Disability Confident Employer’. We work with our Enable Community to enhance accessibility wherever possible. For example, we have ‘Quiet Zones’ that have been specially designed by and for our neurodivergent colleagues, with soft lighting, sound proofing and no meetings, food or drinks to ensure that we provide an environment to meet the needs of people who may have sensory sensitivity. 

Microsoft have an amazing array of inclusive products and technology, developed by people within the disabled or neurodiverse communities. The training for these programmes are available to our employees. 

LBB> Covid-19 changed things up across the industry. On the one hand it opened up remote working opening up opportunities to those who can’t afford city living, but on the other hand it’s had a notably negative impact on other groups, notably mothers. Now that some time has passed since the extremes of lockdowns in most territories, what’s your assessment of the positives and negatives to come out of that time of disruption?

Camilla> As a global business we are more connected to colleagues around the world. Flexible working has allowed carers and parents more freedom to work around their caring responsibilities.

On the flipside, although technology brings many benefits, the ‘always on’ mentality can inflict a heavy toll on mental health. People / teams / managers need to have clear boundaries to ensure they respect personal time and the mental health of colleagues. I worry about the ‘epidemic of loneliness’, most of us are social creatures at heart, and losing human contact with too much remote working means people miss out on those every day social experiences which are a positive and important part of the human condition. 

LBB> What resources/platforms/programmes have you found useful on your DE&I journey and would recommend to our readers?

Camilla> There are great people to discover on LinkedIn and organisations that are doing pioneering work; my top three would be Fearless Futures, Pearnkandola and John Amaechi.

The scale of the change needed is so massive that individuals can often feel powerless without the levers to move huge structures. What's a more personal act of positivity that you've seen recently that others could look to as inspiration for change on the human scale

Jamie Lee Curtis’ reaction to Michelle Yeoh’s win at the Golden Globes. If you have a platform (or even if you don’t) elevate the successes of others – especially those from typically marginalised communities. Change happens one person at a time. 

LBB> If you’d like our readers to take one thing away from this interview what would it be?

Camilla> This quote from the wonderful Lily Tomlin:

‘I always wondered why somebody doesn't do something about that. Then I realised I was somebody’.