Edelman Adopts the UK's First Black Hair Code

Edelman, the global communications firm, has announced the adoption of The Halo Code, the UK’s first Black Hair code, across its EMEA network. The code aims to explicitly protect employees who come to work with natural hair and protective hairstyles associated with their racial, ethnic, and cultural identities. A recent Dove LinkedIn survey revealed that 54% of Black women felt like they had to wear their hair straight to a job interview to be successful, illustrating that hair discrimination remains an ongoing issue.

The Halo Code has been developed by The Halo Collective, founded by young Black organisers from The Advocacy Academy, with the aim of creating a future without hair discrimination and hair inequality. Kaisha-Wade Speid, a founder of The Halo Collective, recently participated in Edelman London’s summer internship programme through the 10k Black Interns Foundation and introduced the Social Justice Foundation to the business.

Edelman is proud to have worked on several groundbreaking campaigns addressing hair inequality., Edelman supported the creation of The CROWN Coalition in the US – co-founded by Dove alongside several expert organisations – with the objective of making hair discrimination illegal through the passing of the Crown Act. 

This partnership, involving organisations like the National Urban League, led to the passing of the CROWN Act in 27 US states, ensuring legal protection for natural hair.

Building on this, Edelman UK recently partnered with Dove on the award-winning 'Code My Crown' campaign. This initiative focused on increasing the authentic representation of Black hairstyles in video games, resulting in the world’s first guide for developers on coding protective Black hairstyles and textures, empowering players to represent themselves authentically in the digital space.

Morenike Onajobi, Senior Business Partner & Head of DEI, EMEA, said “With the expertise we provide our clients, it’s important we always turn the lens and educate ourselves. As we continue to diversify our workforce, and win awards for amazing projects, it’s imperative we turn judgement into curiosity and authentically embrace the learnings of our work – particularly where it creates an inclusive environment where everyone actually belongs.”

At a recent EMEA-wide event to mark the adoption of The Halo Code, Edelman partnered with academic and author Emma Dabiri, known for her bestselling works Don't Touch My Hair and What White People Can Do Next, to further deepen employee understanding.

Katy Evans, Global Client Lead for Unilever, said “We are proud to not only push against hair discrimination and judgement through our work but now, and importantly, through our workplace. We encourage all organisations to adopt The Halo Code to help create a future without hair discrimination and foster an environment of inclusivity.”

You can learn more about The Halo Code, and how to sign up, here.