We’ve launched a new long-term agency partnership with the Taylor Bennett Foundation, an award-winning charity that encourages people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds to pursue careers in communications.

Stripe is on a mission to help more young people from ethnic minority backgrounds into the communications industry. As part of our ongoing commitment to diversity and equality for all, a Diversity & Belonging Taskforce has been appointed to develop policies and initiatives to promote positive workplace DE&I.

The 12-month partnership will include three Taylor Bennett Foundation internships within Stripe’s London and Edinburgh offices, participation in the Foundation’s training programme to support the development of young people trying to break into the industry, and promotion of Stripe’s Stars & Stripes talent programme to the Foundation’s network.

Melissa Lawrence, Chief Executive of the Taylor Bennett Foundation, said:
“There is a lack of racial and ethnic diversity in the PR & Communications industry that the Foundation has been working on for over a decade to address. We do this by delivering programmes that educate, inspire and motivate young people to consider a career in the industry and by providing opportunities for them to start and progress in their careers. We know we make an impact, but there is much work still to be done.

“We cannot do what we do without the support of the industry and that is why I’m delighted that Stripe Communications have committed to supporting all of our programmes.

“The next 12 months will see us partnering together to create more opportunities for our young people. They will be able to explore careers in PR & Communications and gain practical experience of what it’s like to work in this exciting industry. Our partnership will help young people make better-informed decisions about PR & Communications and will provide them with the professional capital they need to progress in their careers.”

The collaboration is part of Stripe’s ongoing commitment to building a diverse culture where difference is valued. We have set targets to increase ethnic diversity through recruitment and retention – with a programme to make our team more than 20% ethnically diverse by 2025.

Juliet Simpson, CEO of Stripe Communications, said:
“At Stripe we’re committed to increasing diversity by reducing barriers to success, so everyone has the chance to succeed based on talent, passion and values. For years we have been passionate campaigners for gender equality in the workplace and are extremely proud of what we have achieved in this area.

“We recognise that we still have a very long way to go in creating an ethnically diverse business and that we have a responsibility to society to do that.  At Board level we are committed to delivering demonstrable change, but we know this is not something we can do on our own.

“The Taylor Bennett Foundation has an in-depth understanding of comms and a wealth of experience in delivering results.  We hope to play our part in leading change across the industry and supporting our own business to become more diverse, which will ultimately deliver a better culture for our people and better work for our clients.”

Stripe has always been a passionate believer in providing equal opportunities for everyone to reach their full potential. We have a 50:50 gender balanced Board, two-thirds of the agency leadership team is female – mirroring the rest of the organisation – and a quarter of the leadership team identifies as LGBT+, which also mirrors the rest of the organisation.

In response to internship freezes during the pandemic, we ran a Virtual Stripe Academy programme to support the next generation of comms talent. More than 160 young people joined from across 32 colleges and universities streaming more than 1,500 hours of free training.

In 2019 we were awarded a Silver Stevie International Woman in Business Award for ‘Best female led workplace’. This followed work to promote gender equality in the communications industry through programmes with WACL (Women in Advertising & Communications Leadership), The Marketing Society and the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.