Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Changemaker of the Year – Finalists 2024

Initiated and sponsored by Truth, the ED&I Changemaker Award seeks to recognise individuals in the research, insight and data analytics sector who are making specific contributions to meaningful equality, diversity, and inclusion initiatives – either within their own organisations or as part of work they do in their wider communities.

Nominations were open to all and the judges looked for people who have initiated and led action to remove barriers, support change and create environments in which others – whether employees or research participants – feel a sense of belonging and safety.

Congratulations to the five exceptional finalists below. The winner will be announced at the MRS Excellence Awards lunch on 7 June. The award reflects the MRS ED&I Council and Truth’s commitment to relentlessly drive forward and embed positive change across the sector, making diversity, inclusion, and equality an integral measure of success for ourselves and our clients.

The judges

Shazia Ali MMRS, Founder, Mint Research
Daniel Cunil CMRS, Director, Bilendi-respondi
Kathryn Hall CMRS, Director, True Insights
Zoe McQuillin MMRS, Consultant, The Outsiders
Mark Thorpe FMRS, Director, Truth

The finalists

Rhys Bogle

UX Researcher, Barclays

Nominated for: Proactively addressing the lack of information about the experiences and barriers our ethnic minority customers face.

Rhys says: “I am the founding member of Ethnicity in Design Research which has helped change the culture within Barclays. We published a three-part comprehensive guide to conducting ethnicity-focused research ensuring that Barclays is more representative of our whole customer base and driving higher quality decisions. We have also published our own research "The Playing Field" which details the key challenges facing customers of different ethnicities and have used stats to drive engagement. In April 2024 we will publish research detailing perspectives towards borrowing and vulnerability. This work is designed to ensure that, going forward, we remove inequality from finance. I have engaged with stakeholders, demonstrating how insights feed into Business Banking’s Diverse Founders proposition. From this I have published an “Eternal Engagement” report which demonstrates the challenges faced by ethnically diverse SME owners. My commitment has only driven my passion to achieve greater inclusivity in research, so as not to perpetuate inequalities in our society.”

The judges said: “Rhys is passionate about achieving greater inclusivity in research and has provided strong evidence on the impact of his research both internally and externally. He has introduced a number of impressive initiatives and is leading real change within Barclays”

Dan Clay

Managing Partner, Basis Social

Nominated for: Furthering the mission of EDI through the work we deliver and making the sector more inclusive of those we seek to represent.

Dan says: “I led the 2023 MRS Award for Inclusive Research-winning work establishing the principles for inclusive research on behalf of ONS and UKSA. Over 100 public-sector initiatives were identified in response to the ONS Inclusive Data Taskforce recommendations – linked to the principles and recommendations in the report I authored - were either underway or completed as of last year. Over the last 12 months I have led work for the Cabinet Office, DWP, MoJ, Genomics England, NHS England, the Co-op, and Co-op Foundation helping clients understand complex topics in which ethnicity, disability and age impact access and experiences of public services. This has included helping the Race Disparity Unit understand factors influencing ethnic minority communities trust in public institutions and developing more equitable and inclusive research practices for DWP in working with people that have disabilities and health conditions.

I have collaborated with (and learnt from) experts in inclusive research and engagement, including Open Inclusion, the Good Things Foundation, and Revolving Doors. This set the foundation for establishing a way of working at Basis that prioritises partnerships and collaborations with voluntary sector organisations to help bring (supported) lived experience to the design and interpretation of our research. I am determined to go further though. I have spearheaded the creation of our own Public Advisory Board: 12 members of the public from under-represented groups who meet quarterly to challenge and advise us on inclusive research practices. I have also set the ball rolling with the ‘Social Club,’ our initiative to recruit and train 500 peer researchers from under-represented groups by 2025.”

The judges said: “Dan is extremely humble about his achievements, but he should be very proud about what he is doing. We were all impressed and delighted that he is leading the way in ED&I within our sector. We look forward to everything Dan will do in the future!”

Christine Hemphill

Managing Director, Open Inclusion

Nominated for: Conducting and delivering disability and age inclusive research, role-modelling and educating individuals, organisations and industries on the positive value and impact of inclusive research.

Christine says: “I designed, founded, and lead a specialised disability and age-inclusive research agency that’s delivered +300 projects for +120 clients in corporate, third sector and government organisations globally. We co-create research that we run within our +1,500 strong pan-disability, intergenerational community across the UK, Ireland, USA, and Australia. We have access to +400,000 people with different experiences of disability and age through partners in 28 countries for global research.

We carried out a bilingual ASL/English survey about signed interpretation on Netflix and Disney+ taken by +300 individuals. From the Expression of Interest onwards, everything was video or written English-based, co-created with Deaf researchers and ASL users. We worked with Walmart on the development and launch of Adaptive@Walmart which has been a commercial and community success. We conducted mixed methodology research for Valuable500 on attitudes and experiences related to disability-representation in 15 countries (8 languages) engaging 1,050 disabled people. This work and the whitepaper that it informed was launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos 2024. We are now working to help the collective of 500 companies that between them represent $8t revenues, 64 sectors, 22m employees operating in 41 countries to improve their branding, marketing, creative content, and other forms of representation.

I chair the MRS Unlimited Group and am on the MRS DEI Council, I’m a Strategic Advisor for CREO (Disability Entrepreneurship and Innovation), Brunel Co-Innovate Ambassador, and part of a global leadership collective, GAILs (Global Accessibility and Innovation Leaders) championing the role of research to inform more inclusive and effective solutions. I also hold advisory roles at several national and international NGOs.” 

The judges said: “Christine has done so much, and at so many levels, over a long period of time. Her passionate advocacy of researching issues relating to disability is much needed and also helps shine a light on an area that can often be overlooked.  Christine is active within the MRS, as well as training a new generation of specialist inclusion researchers. A great submission!”

Rebecca Hollister

Senior Research Executive, Channel 4

Nominated for: Driving positive change and initiating transformation in the EDI space by encouraging actionable change within the industry and beyond.

Rebecca says: “Having autism myself and experiencing first-hand some of the associating barriers within the workplace and wider industry, sparked my determination to drive positive change and initiate transformation in the EDI space. I co-led on Channel 4’s ‘Mirror on Neurodiversity’ report, which shines a light on neurodiversity as a currently marginalised, excluded and commonly stereotyped group; underlining the need for advertisers and brands to go beyond physical disability, better design for disability inclusion and achieve accessibility on a holistic level. The report features as a case study on the MRS Unlimited website, for the market research community to use as a key resource and I continue to promote and present the report internally and externally, to help brands and organisations further develop their D&I strategies. I have continually worked within my organisation to develop EDI policies and educate wider teams, particularly around autism - EDI is at the forefront of all my work and I continually seek out opportunities to create impactful research that can help educate and drive actionable change within the industry.”

The judges said: “Drawing on her lived experience, Rebecca is working hard to bring neurodiversity to the fore. Co-leading on Channel 4’s ‘Mirror on Neurodiversity’ report, she has used her insights and learnings to help other brands and organisations develop their D&I strategies”.

Emma Levin

Associate Director, Public Research Team, Savanta

Nominated for: Cultivating a more inclusive workplace, driving positive change through research across equality, diversity, and inclusion causes.

Emma says: “I feel passionately about the ability of research to better understand and ultimately improve the lives of marginalised communities. Separate to my research role, I sit on Savanta’s DE&I committee, leading the design phase for our first DE&I employee survey to assess perceptions, uncover bias and provide a benchmark, a key input to our DE&I action plan. I am proud to have founded our LGBTQ+ group, organising and chairing Savanta’s 2023 Pride event, attended by over 100 people.

Externally, I led Savanta’s Muslim research over multiple projects for Hyphen, which focused on issues important to Muslims across the UK and Europe. In November 2023, our polling of Muslims, looking at community attitudes to the UK political reaction to the Israel-Gaza war, achieved widespread media coverage. Finally, I also have run Savanta’s International Women’s Day research, large-scale women’s health surveys about birth control and the menopause to and an extensive survey of 1,000 women in 15 countries in conjunction with BBC 100 Women.”

The judges said: “Passionate about improving the lives of marginalised communities, Emma has led on big social impact studies and made changes internally and externally, covering multiple initiatives including LGBTQ+, ethnicity and women.”