Social Impact: Accelerating Change with Lameya Chaudhury

Lameya (La-mee-ya) has been a driving force in linking social impact with business success for world-renowned brands like Google, the Premier League, and Rolls-Royce for over 15 years. Her journey began at the British Council, followed by a role at Blackbaud, a global tech company powering social good, as head of marketing and communications. In 2023, Lameya joined Lucky Generals as their head of social impact, furthering their commitment to meaningful change. 

LBB> What drew you to the field of Social Impact? 

Lameya> It might be my immigrant mindset but I’ve always had a fire in my belly and wanted a job that made a positive difference. My parents lived through the Bangladesh Independence war, were freedom fighters and survived a genocide before settling down on the other side of the world in Scotland to work for the NHS. I grew up knowing I already won the sweepstakes with luck, appreciated that privilege and had strong values instilled in me. 

Growing up in Scotland incubated the ideal living conditions for an identity crisis. I found myself navigating through west vs east; north vs south; traditional vs modernity and trying to make sense of why people presumed I should be wearing a bindi instead of a kilt.

I grew up realising the world around me liked to put whole colours, races and religions into little boxes that didn’t reflect me. As a result, I’ve always been passionate about confronting stereotypes – especially within women’s rights and diversity.

I knew early on that medicine wasn’t for me (my parents were devastated) and I was curious about the world so ended up doing stints in Human Rights and International Law, Government and Cultural Relations and Global Tech, working on a mixed bag of causes I believed in. From working in Sharia Courts to protect women's rights, empowering Active Citizens globally to make a difference in their local community with the British Council, or inspiring the nation to get moving with Sport England and the Olympics. 

Coming up the ranks you also don’t see a lot of people that look like me so I’m also super passionate about representation. I discovered the best community, thanks to Elizabeth Bananuka, who flipped the script when it comes to inclusion in our industry when I took part in PR Week’s BMEPRPros mentorship in 2017. More recently, I’ve become a trustee at Lyric Hammersmith Theatre which has given me valuable insight into how to get young people and the community involved in the creative arts. 

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

Lameya> I’ve led Marketing and Communications teams both creative agency side and in global tech, specialising in consulting brands on their social impact before moving to Lucky Generals. It was quite a broad gambit - one day I’d be working with elite sports brands like the Premier League on how to tackle racism or a femcare brand on breaking the taboo in period education - the next I’d be raising awareness of creativity using STEAM in the world of gamification with Electronic Arts. 

I’ve ended up working with brands for more than 15+ years now across commercial, sports and government sectors, helping them to drive lasting positive change in society. 

Whether you call it CSR, Social Purpose, ESG, Social Impact or Corporate Impact or tomorrow’s buzzword of what is essentially business giving back, what makes me excited is understanding what makes brands tick and supporting them on their journey to make an authentic difference to people, planet or community.

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

Lameya> Social impact is a tricky concept to articulate. Culturally we need to shift from it being perceived as a ‘D&I issue’ to a much broader conversation. There are many challenges we face as a society now more than ever: from the cost of living crisis, mental health, the climate crisis, social mobility and much more… there is a better appreciation of this complexity but there is more to do. 

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?

Lameya> Coming from big tech, I know the value of the intersection of scalable and accessible technology in driving and measuring social impact. I think where we add value is the creative output. The advent of AI has opened a treasure trove of innovative tools. These advancements are really exciting in supercharging how we reach our social impact goals more efficiently and effectively.

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

Lameya> At Lucky Generals, I’m building up our social impact service. It's clear: people resonate with brands that positively influence the community and own their actions. There's so much untapped potential in our industry to be a force of good for the lasting impact they want to achieve. Internally, we want to walk the talk and are launching our own framework to track our own social impact and hopefully develop as a product. 

I’ve started our path to becoming a B-Corp and we’ve joined Clean Creatives, a network of professionals addressing the impact of fossil fuel advertising and we’re hosting their next London event in March. 

Our collaboration with Speakers for Schools spotlighted that ⅔ of young people leave school with no work experience. It seemed only right that we practised what we preached and gave young people a taster and it was a real joy to be a part of hosting young people at our London office. We also combined our 10th Birthday and Grand Effie win by announcing #Lucky10Grand - I was proud to be part of the team which launched this initiative, a partnership with the Effies and long-term partners Commercial Break to fund £10K worth of effectiveness training for working-class talent. 

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

Lameya> I’ve done a fair few social value statements over the years. Clients are at different stages of their social impact journey but what is positive is seeing a much more concerted effort for agencies to be asked how they are accountable and calling out for our receipts.

LBB> We often see Social Impact 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?

Lameya> To break the mould of seeing social impact as just an HR issue, we need to treat it as a creative opportunity, not a tick-box exercise. It's about baking these values into your agency’s DNA from pitch to production. When every department - creative, accounts, or production - champions social impact, it becomes more than a policy; it turns into a narrative we all live and tell. It's about creating work that doesn't just sell but also imagines a better future. That's how we evolve it from an HR agenda to a collective mission and hopefully shift the dial-in culture.

LBB> What are your thoughts about where accessibility fits in the Social Impact agenda?

Lameya> Representation matters. I spent a decade working with brands like the British Paralympic Association and the International Paralympic Committee on their inclusion work. We need to change the narrative so that nearly a quarter of the people in the UK are valued, recognised, and heard. 

For me, it's about bringing everyone into the conversation, breaking down barriers and sparking innovation along the way. When we weave accessibility into our campaigns, we're not just reaching a wider audience, we're building a society that values inclusivity. It's a win-win – our messages hit home, and we help shape a more equitable society.

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

Lameya> Honestly, I get my inspo from lots of weird and wonderful places:

The Conduit is a fantastic hub of global changemakers and has a whip-smart thought leadership and speaker series (Greta and Mahala included) and training available in this space. 

Our founder Andy Nairn’s book, ‘Go Luck Yourself’, is an excellent read on how to find your luck with 40 thought-provoking strategies that will help anyone responsible for building a brand. All the royalties go to Commercial Break: an organisation that helps working-class kids get a lucky break into our industry.

Shahidul Alam, the Bangladeshi photojournalist and human rights activist, is a personal hero of mine. He also set up Majority World, a photo agency and social enterprise, which provides a platform to talented photographers from Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.

Plus good old-fashioned Google Alerts. My advice is to lean into an area you’re passionate about. 

LBB> 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 at the human scale?

Lameya> Learn from our pal Oblivia Coalmine. Understand where your pension funds go and what they are used for. Greening your money is one of the most powerful things you can do to tackle the climate crisis.

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

Lameya> Consider the impact you want to make. In our industry, through your work and in the world.