Taylor Bennett Foundation and CIPR Open Applications for Award-Winning Reverse Mentoring Programme
The Taylor Bennett Foundation and the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) have opened applications for the 2027 Reverse Mentoring Programme, designed to accelerate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) progress across the communications industry.
Now entering its sixth year, the multi-award-winning programme brings together senior leaders from across the industry with PR and communications professionals from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds. These partnerships are designed to spark candid conversations, challenge bias and drive cultural change by allowing senior leaders to hear first-hand experiences from underrepresented voices in the industry.
More than 160 professionals have taken part in the programme since its launch in 2021. Previous participating organisations have included BT, Co-op, Virgin Money, Teneo, House of Commons, Freuds, and GolinKetchum.
Applications are now open for the next cohort of mentors and mentees. Participants will be selected and matched through a joint process led by the Taylor Bennett Foundation and the CIPR, drawing on professionals from across agency and in-house teams.
The programme will run for 10 months, starting in May 2027. Applications close on Friday 22nd January 2027.
The CIPR has worked with the Taylor Bennett Foundation on our reverse mentoring scheme since 2021. The partnership remains one of the most important parts of our work on inclusion. The programme asks senior leaders to listen to colleagues whose experience of the profession differs from their own and helps them take what they hear back into their organisations to make them more inclusive. I’m grateful to the Foundation and to every mentor who gives their time for keeping this great work going and I would encourage any leader who has not yet taken part to apply.
Getting into this industry is one thing. Feeling like you belong, and being able to progress, is something else entirely. Reverse mentoring gives leaders a unique opportunity to learn about the barriers that prevent people from diverse backgrounds succeeding. They leave knowing exactly what to change to create fairer, more inclusive working cultures.
- Learn more about our joint Reverse Mentoring Programme
- Read our Influence magazine article on the power of reverse mentoring for PR professionals
About the Chartered Institute of Public Relations
Founded in 1948, the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) is the world’s only Royal Chartered professional body for public relations practitioners, with over 11,000 members.
The CIPR advances professionalism in public relations by making its members accountable to their employers and the public through a code of conduct and searchable public register, setting standards through training, qualifications, awards and the production of best practice and skills guidance, facilitating Continuing Professional Development (CPD), and awarding Chartered Public Relations Practitioner status (Chart.PR).
About the Taylor Bennett Foundation
The Taylor Bennett Foundation is an award-winning UK-based charity that inspires young people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds to pursue careers in PR and communications. It offers fully paid training, mentoring and internship programmes in partnership with leading consultancies and FTSE 100 companies, and works with employers to build more inclusive workplace cultures. Since 2008, the Foundation has supported more than 1,700 young people.