(Left to right top row: Jessica Huie MBE (entrepreneur and award winning founder of JHPR), Lizzie Cundy (entrepreneur), Liz McLarnon, Kanya King MBE (CEO MOBO), GIR founder and hit songwriter Carla Marie Williams, Courtney Rumbold (Stooshe), Zara Holland (Miss Great Britain), Vicki Psaarias (Honest Mum blogger), Angel Cole (Britain’s Next Top Model finalist), Jasmine Dotiwala (journalist, broadcaster, director), (bottom row L-R) Miss Vivianna (Girls I Rate VP), Karis Anderson (Stooshe), Alexandra Buggs (Stooshe), Indy Vidyalankara (Founder/Director Indypendent PR). Photo credit Jennie Baptiste.
On International Women’s Day I had the honour of attending the gala dinner for the launch of Girls I Rate, the brainchild of music entrepreneur Carla Marie Williams, GIR is a round table of women within the creative industries who celebrate and support other women with an aim to forging and strengthening relationships between them.
You might have seen it covered on the Channel 4 news and the picture above made it into Music Week too as Picture of the Week.
And what an incredible night it was-
First up let me give you a bit more background-
Carla (centre) is a music entrepreneur with over 15 years of credits to her name with plaudits including songwriting, mentoring and developing the next generation of musical talent.
Credits include: Girls Aloud, The Saturdays, Kylie Minogue, Alesha Dixon and most recently, Beyonce and Naughty Boy’s hit record ‘Runnin’.
Carla was nominated for an Ivor Novello, she won a Brit Award for best song of the year and received a further nom at this year’s Brit Awards.
Committed to helping women help one another, GIR was born. A movement that will solidify the position of female creatives and increase their presence and power within the field.
Photo credit Jennie Baptiste
It is a real privilege to be part of this movement and to help promote their aims and outcomes below where-
- Together we will encourage like-minded women to collaborate
- Build a network in the Creative Arts
- Increase the profile of women working in the UK
- Engage with women of all ages and ethnicity
- Encourage equal opps for girls and women
- Raise awareness of the gender gapand ensure all women are aware of the support available to them
- Break down assumptions and stereotypes within the creative industry.
With a multitude of famous faces at the launch along with renowned creatives in attendance, the energy was truly electric.
Hosted on the Thames, the night saw a yacht-full of staggeringly successful and supportive kick-ass women committed to coming together to create a network that will help strengthen all our positions in the media industry.
(Preeya Kalidas and Jasmine Dotiwala-credit Jennie Baptiste)
I wasn’t able to stay until the early hours sadly but I connected with many gifted women and got to hang out with collaborators and friends including my leading ladies Jessica Huie MBE, Indy Vidyalankara and former Eternal member and talent management agency founder, Kelle Bryan.
(Kelle & I)
With ambassadors and partners Jamelia, Liz McLarnon, Preeya Kalidas and Stooshe and a line up of events to help support the next generation of talent, I’m excited to be part of this incredible and much-needed movement.
Don’t miss the vlog of the night below:
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