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ISABELLE BALE
Title Strategy director, Europe
Company M&C Saatchi World Services
Pronouns She/they
ISABELLE BALE
Title Strategy director, Europe
Company M&C Saatchi World Services
Pronouns She/they
What does D&I mean to you?
It’s about everyone having their existence acknowledged and their voices heard – and it’s not the responsibility of minority groups to ensure that happens.
What’s your passion area in diversity?
I am a trans woman and a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, so my passion right now is ensuring basic human rights in an incredibly transphobic and hostile media, and political and legislative environment.
What recent developments should we be celebrating in the diversity debate? There’s not a lot to celebrate right now, from the government guidance removing support for trans kids in schools and the multiple deaths of young trans+ people in transphobic attacks, to the huge lack of trans healthcare support in our industry.
What is top of mind for 2024?
We’re experiencing a push by transphobic pressure groups to limit the rights of trans people in the workplace and in schools. This often succeeds because a lack of knowledge in cisgender allies leaves them susceptible to disinformation. Transphobia has life-ending consequences (like the brutal murder of Brianna Ghey and the 92% of trans young people who have considered suicide), so it is critical that allies in the ad industry step up to the plate. We create and influence culture – why are we so often silent as our work funds and fuels hatred? Which three words describe you best?Hopeful, chaotic, committed.
Who should be on the next iList?
Jamie June Hill at WPP Unite. She’s doing so much for trans representation – both inside adland and beyond.
D&I: MY STORY
I won the chair’s prize for the IPA Excellence Diploma in Brands for my work on non-binary thinking, a body of work I have continued to champion at the IPA’s Talent & Diversity conference, at M&C Saatchi and as a guest speaker at VMLY&R, Omnicom Media Group and MediaCat Magazine’s podcast.
Each time I speak or write, I reinforce the industry’s critical role in defending trans+ rights, as well as our responsibility as creators of culture to break down the binary thinking that leads to so much polarisation, prejudice and pain.
What does D&I mean to you?
It’s about everyone having their existence acknowledged and their voices heard – and it’s not the responsibility of minority groups to ensure that happens.
What’s your passion area in diversity?
I am a trans woman and a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, so my passion right now is ensuring basic human rights in an incredibly transphobic and hostile media, and political and legislative environment.
What recent developments should we be celebrating in the diversity debate? There’s not a lot to celebrate right now, from the government guidance removing support for trans kids in schools and the multiple deaths of young trans+ people in transphobic attacks, to the huge lack of trans healthcare support in our industry.
What is top of mind for 2024?
We’re experiencing a push by transphobic pressure groups to limit the rights of trans people in the workplace and in schools. This often succeeds because a lack of knowledge in cisgender allies leaves them susceptible to disinformation. Transphobia has life-ending consequences (like the brutal murder of Brianna Ghey and the 92% of trans young people who have considered suicide), so it is critical that allies in the ad industry step up to the plate. We create and influence culture – why are we so often silent as our work funds and fuels hatred? Which three words describe you best?Hopeful, chaotic, committed.
Who should be on the next iList?
Jamie June Hill at WPP Unite. She’s doing so much for trans representation – both inside adland and beyond.
D&I: MY STORY
I won the chair’s prize for the IPA Excellence Diploma in Brands for my work on non-binary thinking, a body of work I have continued to champion at the IPA’s Talent & Diversity conference, at M&C Saatchi and as a guest speaker at VMLY&R, Omnicom Media Group and MediaCat Magazine’s podcast.
Each time I speak or write, I reinforce the industry’s critical role in defending trans+ rights, as well as our responsibility as creators of culture to break down the binary thinking that leads to so much polarisation, prejudice and pain.
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