Marketing and advertising “won’t evolve by accident”, says Brixton Finishing School founder Ally Owen as the organisation partners with the IPA.
The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) is partnering with Brixton Finishing School to support Advertising Unlocked 2025 – the IPA’s annual open day initiative to support emerging talent in advertising on 12 November.
In the eight years since launching, the initiative has offered 12,000 young people the opportunity to see the industry from behind the scenes.
Working with Brixton Finishing School and its ADventure programme, which supports pathways for as early as school-age talent, means the IPA will be able to tap into more secondary schools and colleges to partner students with 75 participating agencies.
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Brixton Finishing School will be providing access to employability support and enrichment resources to help young people to continue to gain lessons beyond the day itself. These include pre-recorded webinars about key workplace skills, live sessions with agencies and post-event guidance for agencies on how to keep talent pipelines flowing.
“The industry won’t evolve by accident. It takes intention, innovation and access. With ADventure as the bridge and the IPA at the helm, we’re creating early engagement that genuinely changes lives and ultimately, changes the face of our industry,” says Ally Owen, founder of Brixton Finishing School.
The IPA’s director of diversity and inclusion, Leila Siddiqi, praises Brixton Finishing School’s “track record in reaching and supporting diverse, untapped talent”.
“By combining our industry network with their expertise in early engagement and in readying students for employment, we’re ensuring that the next generation doesn’t just get to look inside – they thrive once they’re in,” she said, adding that the collaboration will help “build a stronger, more sustainable talent pipeline that reflects the creativity and diversity our industry needs to stay relevant and future-focused.”
