Walk the Walk on DEI and Amplify Reach with Raw Authentic Stories

What does diversity, equity, and inclusion in content creation look like? To Mikki Collins, it was this: real, unfiltered stories told by more than one student in a format that could both go deep and was built to last. So, she built a podcast for the University of Chichester centered around authenticity and honesty. In the third series of the podcast, she wanted to feature true stories from her campus’ minority and underrepresented groups, even when the stories weren’t all positive. As a result, the university reached almost 10 times its student population on social, doubled the engagement from non-followers, and won a few awards, including the ContentEd Champion for DIversity, Equity and Inclusion Award in 2022 and the National Student Pride Inclusive University of the Year Award in 2023.

Watch the Be You podcast series three episodes: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMwhF7NaFQJxaE1X4LMUj7Y6Bq-cwRxEh&feature=shared

Guest Name: Mikki Collins

Guests Social Handle: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikki-collins-36b631146/

Guest Bio: Mikki is an award-winning Content and Experience Designer for Pickle Jar Communications. She previously worked for the University of Chichester for 5.5 years as a Digital Content Producer, leading digital content campaigns and the University's social media channels. During her tenure, she helped Chichester achieve the number 1 ranked UK University on TikTok in 2022 and 2023, and the Champion of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the ContentEd Awards in 2022 for the University’s podcast about minority groups.