For goodness sake.
Culture is more about action, less about words. At AKQA, how we all work matters just as much as what we set out to achieve. That’s why our founding values and central principles are designed to inspire behaviours where everyone can be a role model. Culture is a shared responsibility and shapes the way we work, aspiring for an environment where our people thrive and represent the communities we serve.
Employee Resource Groups
WE
Our Women’s Empowerment group is a global community that supports, inspires and mentors women. Our mission is to be a company that enables, champions and rewards female talent. We are inclusive, flexible, curious and relevant.
DEI Council
We have DEI committees across AKQA studios, represented by a diverse range of backgrounds and tenure, aiming to create a better future, together. The groups work across DEI policy creation, participate in leadership meetings and help drive DEI initiatives.
Roots
We educate allies on systemic racism and the Black experience, by hosting panels, facilitating talks and showing screenings. We celebrate Black excellence and creative work from marginalised communities by profiling work and early outreach.
BOLD
AKQA BOLD is our LGBTQIA resource group, for both identifying community members as well as allies. We empower everyone to boldly be themselves. Our objective is to create an environment and culture across all AKQA studios where everyone is empowered to be their own, authentic selves.
API
Founded to provide a platform for all employees to engage in an ongoing dialogue to advance equity and inclusion in our workplace and API communities.
MIND
AKQA MIND is a safe and supportive global community that promotes vulnerable conversations related to mental health, shares resources and hosts workshops. Proponents of prioritising our collective mental wellbeing and shifting our culture to discuss historically difficult and stigmatised topics.
Emerging talent
Future Academy
A global internship programme designed to discover and foster the next generation of creative innovators. We offer a balanced blend of cutting edge work experience, ongoing mentorship, personal development, knowledge-sharing from our experts, presentation and interview training, and custom online courses. We host the Future Academy remotely within our London, New York, San Francisco and Washington DC studios.
Future Lions
Founded by AKQA in partnership with Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, Future Lions is an annual worldwide competition that challenges young people to create the future. The programme discovers emerging creative talent, with 99% of winners having gone on to work for some of the world’s top creative and design agencies.
AKQA SOMA+
SOMA+ is an educational platform that helps expand the professional knowledge of Black, indigenous and low-income students of undergraduate communication courses in Brazil. The project also aims to build bridges by promoting inclusion and professional development. To find out more information, email spo.soma@akqa.com.
Resources
Celebrating Black Excellence
The Celebrating Black Excellence series illuminates our Black and African diasporic employees’ multidimensional stories, reflections and achievements globally.
We stand with Ukraine.
We are appalled by the invasion of Ukraine, the devastating loss of life from military action and violence, and the shocking humanitarian crisis that’s now unfolding. We’ve compiled resources to provide assistance. Our thoughts are with the people of Ukraine, neighbouring countries, and all those impacted by tyranny, conflict and displacement.
Anti-racism
To fix the problem we have to acknowledge the problem. We are implementing a series of immediate actions, structural changes, industry-initiatives and group-wide commitments to increase people of colour representation, ensure meaningful careers and achieve the desired long-lasting effect within AKQA and the industry. Please use the following resources to contribute to the collective goal of defeating racism.
Self-care
Self-care is a conscious choice to prioritise your mental, physical and emotional health. Psychologist Agnes Wainman explains it as “something that refuels us, rather than takes from us.” When you take care of your overall health, you put yourself in the best position to take care of others. Prioritising self-care is essential to your overall wellbeing. We’ve compiled the following resources to support and empower you on your self-care path.
When I’m With Her
When I’m With Her celebrates women’s stories across AKQA by depicting moments where they express their fullest selves (inclusive of but not limited to those who identify as female, femme, non-binary, transgender and genderqueer). When I’m With Her has continued to expand since the orginial launch in 2020, featuring women from across the global studios of AKQA.
Yoga and meditation
Across the globe AKQA employees teach live online yoga and guided meditation classes available to our employees at various times each week. With the option to join a variety of pre-recorded classes online suitable for all levels of experience with the opportunity to embark on a journey of wellbeing. We encourage taking time out each day to practice mindfulness and prioritise self-care.
Inspiration and growth
Insight
AKQA Insight is a series of talks exploring topics designed to spark our collective imagination, inspire ideas and broaden cultural horizons. Internally, our Insight platform is our home of learning, collecting work, thought, and personal and professional development.
AKQA Discover
A global learning channel with tools, tips, and resources, promoting cross-studio community and knowledge sharing. Our Learning and Development team create and share custom content regularly, spotlight courses and learning opportunities.
WFH-FM
The online community radio station created and produced by AKQA employees worldwide to keep our community connected, from talkback shows to DJs. Offering an opportunity to find and make new shared spaces where we can connect and share stories.
Perspectives
Thought leadership from across AKQA studios, Perspectives offers thinking, insights and analysis, including topics on lessons from China, the relationship between employees and clients, and the future of healthcare.
