The Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) has announced the appointment of four board members.
They will join Baroness Helena Kennedy as CIISA’s first board.
The board members are: music industry lawyer, Dr Kienda Hoji (pictured); chief executive of the UK's Advertising Standards Authority, Guy Parker; award-winning television producer, director, executive producer and journalist Jane Preston; and Nazir Afzal OBE, former chief crown prosecutor for NW England.
Baroness Helena Kennedy, recently appointed board chair, CIISA, said: “The creation of an Independent Standards Authority for the Creative Industries is crucial. A high proportion of those working in the arts and in other cultural fields are self-employed and especially vulnerable to abusive and exploitative conduct. We are thrilled to welcome the first directors to our board to deliver on CIISA’s vision to be the ‘go-to’ body for anyone experiencing misconduct.”
Jen Smith, CIISA CEO, said: “We had a significant number of high calibre applicants for CIISA's first board roles, and we are delighted to welcome Kienda, Jane, Nazir and Guy who alongside Baroness Kennedy bring a wealth of skills, expertise and experience of regulation and the creative industries."
Dr Kienda Hoji said: "I’m honoured and delighted to join the board of CIISA. The organisation represents a very real opportunity to address the pervasive and persistent bullying and harassment of a discriminatory nature in the creative industries, something I’m dedicated to playing a part in doing.”
A high proportion of those working in the arts and in other cultural fields are self-employed and especially vulnerable to abusive and exploitative conduct
Baroness Helena Kennedy
Nazir Afzal OBE said: “I am delighted to join the board of the CIISA and play my part in ensuring that those who work in film, TV, music and theatre can be safe and thrive in an environment that touches all of us in some way. Arts and culture are vital to community development. It contributes economically, fosters social cohesion, enhances education, improves well-being, drives innovation, and plays a significant role in our way of life. It is therefore essential that safeguarding is everybody’s business, and my career has focussed entirely on amplifying the voices of the unheard, so we prevent harm. I am sure that CIISA will do that too”.
Jane Preston said: “I am honoured to be joining the board of CIISA and working to help implement a Standards Framework that will become a blueprint for everyone within the creative industries. How creative content is made is as important and significant as the creative content itself. Throughout my career, I have frequently witnessed unacceptable behaviours within the workplace and believe it is imperative we foster a change in culture to ensure bullying, harassment and discrimination is no longer tolerated.
“I am proud to share CIISA’s vision of providing an objective single point of accountability where people can seek advice, learning, mediation and dispute resolution. By upholding and improving standards of behaviour we will help build a more inclusive, respectful and equitable working environment for everybody within the creative industries.”
Guy Parker said: “Pound-for-pound the UK’s creative industries are the best in the world, so it’s no surprise our film, music, TV and theatre industries are the first to confront – collectively and systematically – bullying and harassment behaviours that, sadly, have been too common around the world for too long. CIISA’s core mission could not be more important: creating consistently safe workplaces for the industry professionals who deliver the creativity that enriches our lives. This is not just about doing good by confronting bad, it’s also about future-proofing the UK’s incredible talent pipeline. I could not be more delighted to be joining the board.”
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