Today PPL, the UK music industry’s collective management organisation (CMO) for recorded music, announces the appointment of Tomi Oyewumi as the company’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Partner. The newly-created role will support PPL in delivering its long-term strategy of addressing EDI issues within the company and the wider music industry.

Tomi will lead on the day-to-day actions required to ensure PPL fulfils its pledge to deliver the Black Music Coalition’s five calls to action and the UK Music Diversity Taskforce Ten-Point Plan. She will report to Kate Reilly, Director of People and Organisational Development, and work closely with her and PPL’s Diversity Forum on these aims. The Forum was set up by PPL last year and is a voluntary internal group of staff whose role is to drive ideas, deliver feedback and provide wider support to bring about positive change in respect of EDI.

Tomi joins PPL from Heineken where she was Collaboration Manager and Inclusion and Diversity Taskforce Lead. She played a pivotal role in designing and shaping company policies to reinforce diversity in the workplace, working on everything from policies on stereotyping, bias and harassment to managing the Race and Ethnicity Task Force and supporting initiatives focusing on women in leadership and health and wellbeing. Tomi was also a member of the brand advisory panel at ADD PSALTS, a retail brand accelerator which provides black-owned brands with industry expertise in order to launch them in the UK market.

In addition to creating the EDI Partner role, since Blackout Tuesday in June 2020 PPL has already acted on a number of pledges to do more, and do better, in creating a more equitable, diverse and inclusive workplace and industry. This includes:

Launching an internal Diversity Forum
Committing to an annual budget to support Black organisations, educational programmes and charities
Reviewing its mandatory anti-racism/unconscious bias training
Creating a terminology guide highlighting inclusive and non-inclusive language

Tomi Oyewumi, EDI Partner at PPL, said:

“I am delighted and proud to be joining PPL as their EDI Partner, I believe there is nothing more important than the impact you have on others. This is the legacy I want to leave behind, a legacy of positive change and equity.”

Kate Reilly, Director of People and Organisational Development, said:

“I am delighted that Tomi has joined PPL. Her experience in developing more equitable, diverse and inclusive organisations will be crucial to PPL as we work towards fulfilling our pledges to our staff and the wider industry. We have already made progress and I look forward to working with Tomi to continue these efforts.”

Peter Leathem, Chief Executive Officer at PPL, said:

“I want to welcome Tomi to PPL and thank her for joining us at such an important time for our industry. The desire for positive change, from all corners of the music ecosystem, is an encouraging sign and Tomi will play a crucial role in ensuring PPL is a place of work that welcomes and champions anyone, regardless of race, gender, sexuality, age, disability, background or any other protected characteristic. Over the past year we have introduced a number of policies and initiatives and made positive strides to achieving our goals, but there is still much more we need to do. I am excited to work with Tomi to drive forward this positive change.”