Open Inclusion

Wearing my hat as co-chair of MRS Unlimited I would love to invite my friends and connections who are researchers, research buyers and insight leaders to complete a short survey that Open Inclusion sponsored and designed along with the wonderful MRS Unlimited Steering Group. We wish to better understand the views of people working in research around disability-inclusive awareness, attitudes and skills, both current and desired. This relates to inclusive research design for participants to improve the quality and completeness of our insight, and inclusive workplaces to empower our teams. It has just been launched and will remain open until 15 September. The survey can be found here - https://lnkd.in/edca8VJR The survey seeks to garner a breadth of perspectives from those who conduct or support quantitative, qualitative or mixed research approaches in the UK and globally. The insights generated will help us prioritise our efforts to support progress across the market research industry. Please share this link to the survey with your team and other researchers that you know. Your insights will help ensure future MRS Unlimited activities better align to your needs. Those who complete the survey can also opt in to receive a summary analysis of the results of the survey and an invite to a webinar sharing them later in the year. You can also sign up to the MRS Unlimited Mailing List here (https://lnkd.in/ekGuXaD2) to hear about future webinars, new resources and events. Jane Frost CBE Tom Richer Debbie Moorcroft Kathryn Hall Michelle Denslow Christina Lai 賴浩賢 赖浩贤 Julie Ellison Juliet Wood Alice Moss Karen Cutts #InclusiveResearch #DisabilityInclusion #AskListenLearnAct #MRSUnlimited

Today a new opportunity was launched in the UK for disabled and neurodivergent entrepreneurs, and those working on disability-oriented innovation. Applications open today for #Creo, a 4-month programme to support the development, successful scaling and long-term success of the disability-informed and oriented startup ecosystem. 🚀 Creo is a springboard programme for entrepreneurs, offering practical skills development, valuable networks with corporations and other founders, mentoring from other disabled founders and those who have deep experience in your stage of growth and development, access to helpful tools and more! You can apply through the link below. Applications are open until 19th August 2024. The programme starts on 17th September 2024 and will run for 4 months. This initiative is run by Tech Nation, possible thanks to partners Motability Operations Ltd and HSBC Innovation Banking and knowledge partner Founders Forum Group. #InclusionLedInnovation #DisabilityInformedEntrepreneurs #InnovateForAll #EntrepreneurshipForAll #BroaderInsights #BetterSolutions

Happy Disability Pride month. Thanks Celia for sharing the background to the disability flag that we are seeing this month. For those who identify as disabled, this is a great time to feel pride in and appreciate the rich and diverse community and cultures associated with disability. For those who don't identify as disabled (yet - as this is a community we all may join at some point in time, or from time to time) this is a chance to learn more about disability and celebrate the community that is hugely diverse, yet connected in many ways. Last week I had the pleasure of learning more about disability culture from Anna Landre as we presented a workshop together along with Breandan Ward. Disability culture varies across regions and sub-groups in how it is demonstrated, but is often underpinned by values and attitudes (and often, a dry sense of humour) born from shared experiences gaining and protecting rights, engaging in inclusive activities and adapting to a world not yet designed with a real spectrum of humans in mind. 💜 #DisabilityPrideMonth #DiversityofDisability #DisabilityCulture

Congratulations to Christine Hemphill @ Open Inclusion, the 2024 winner of the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Changemaker of the Year 💖🎉 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!” Sponsored by Truth Consulting ✨ #MRSExcellenceawards #edi #mrx #celebrations #marketresearch

We are delighted to share that Christine Hemphill, our Managing Director, has been selected as a finalist for this year’s Market Research Society (MRS) ED&I Changemaker’s Award. It will be very tough competition for the overall winner given the quality of the other finalists. Congratulations and good luck to all!

We are delighted to announce that Christine Hemphill was awarded the winner of an award for International Women's Entrepreneurship by Great Companies this year. As an entrepreneurial inclusive research agency we are excited for Christine for having received this lovely recognition. She founded Open 10 years ago with the objective to listen to and understand the perspectives of disabled and older individuals to inform better design and more powerful innovations through high-quality inclusive research and co-creation. She has worked to develop Open on this basis along with the rest of our team ever since. 🎉

It's Neurodiversity Celebration week this week, which means it's a great time for sharing resources to support the people of our sector who often harness our lived experience to empower ourselves and others. Three important shoutouts: Christine Hemphill of Open Inclusion is a trailblazer in this. It was wonderful to work together on the Inclusive Design Accelerator programme in 2022, where we helped to equip SMEs with innovative approaches and toolkits to design, test and deliver immersive content that provides better experiences for all. If you are unfamiliar with the work Open Inclusion have helped to shape, I highly recommend checking out their case studies. Harriet Frayling recently gathered a wealth of resources to understand more about neuro-inclusivity for neurodivergent folks and allies working in the games sector. It is a hugely valuable body of information, which should be read and upheld by the games development community and beyond: https://lnkd.in/eWPKvFMh Angela Chan of StoryFutures and CoSTAR has championed many projects to ensure that diversity and inclusion is where it matters: front and centre, and everywhere in between. I've learned much about EDI from working alongside her, and how to implement best practice at every step of the way. With the visibility around Neurodiversity Celebration week this year, I cannot wait to see how many more incredible resources can be collated and shared as widely as possible. Listen to and learn from your lived experience peers! Thank you University for the Creative Arts Farnham for the badge ✨

Who is heading to Naidex next week in Birmingham at the NEC? I you are, come and say hello to the Open Inclusion team at Stand BP8. Six of our team will be there. Joshua Wintersgill (BSc, MSc Technology), Dana Dzamic (she/her) Karen Cutts, Joanne Kibbey, Edward Richards and myself. If you haven't booked yet, you can register for free here. We would love to meet you. #DisabilityCommunity #DisabilitySolutions #Naidex #CommunityEngagement #SeeYouThere https://lnkd.in/daNF295x

We recently hosted a webinar for our Valuable 500 companies. This insightful webinar addresses the pressing issue of disability representation in media, marketing, and product design. Despite constituting over 15% of the global population, disabled people remain significantly underrepresented in these fields. Our recent white paper delves into this disparity, examining Accessible Experiences, Accurate Representation, and Authentic Narratives as crucial pillars for change. In this webinar, our expert speakers dissect the findings and actionable insights from our white paper, equipping you with valuable strategies to implement within your businesses. Don't miss out on this opportunity to drive meaningful inclusion and diversity within your organisation. Full webinar: https://lnkd.in/eFAJ8eww #DisabilityRepresentation #InclusiveMarketing #Webinar