Kathryn Ellis
Strategy & DEI Consultant
Kathryn has worked in the creative industries for the last 20 years, as a strategist and
managing partner at major UK advertising agencies like McCann, Karmarama and TBWA.
As a woman from a working-class background, the first in her family to attain a university degree, she is acutely aware of how class can form a barrier to a creative career.
Outside her personal experience, Kathryn is a passionate campaigner for DEI within advertising. For the last 10 years she has educated and mentored students at Southampton
Solent, Bournemouth University and UWE on contemporary issues surrounding diversity, from introducing modest clothing brands to how non-binary individuals represent themselves in social media. Her 2017 MA research, investigating the gender imbalance in ad agency creative departments titled The Lost Girls, continues to be used as a basis for inclusive talent and recruitment initiatives. In 2021 she founded Margot, a female first consultancy and community within McCann World Group, championing the input of senior level women.
Currently she is completing her PHD research, exploring the relationship between diversity and creativity in advertising. She is also a shortlisted candidate for the 2024 IPA iList, that honours the inclusivity gamechangers behind adland’s most influential and important DEI initiatives each year.
