Overcome barriers with self-investment and bold steps
CIPR President 2025 Advita Patel delivers Socially Mobile Spring 2025 lecture
Advita Patel, the first President of colour in the CIPR’s 75-year history, shared her personal journey with the Socially Mobile community at the Spring alumni lecture. Overcoming diversity barriers to become a successful multipreneur, published author, speaker, diversity champion, and CIPR President 2025, she spoke about how she stopped seeking external validation and started believing in herself.
“If you don’t take a chance on yourself, no one else will. You have to clap for yourself if you are from an ethnic minority. Saying yes to opportunities changed my life. There is a lack of representation in the UK and my purpose is to change that,” said Advita.
“I was treated differently from a young age, and during my career, because of my ethnicity. With encouragement from an ally, I invested in self-confidence and turned self-doubt into saying yes to opportunities. This was transformative.”
Advita encouraged under-represented practitioners to go where they are celebrated, not tolerated, sharing five tips:
If you don’t take a chance on yourself, no one else will
Never fear taking bold actions – despite what others may say
You won’t know if you don’t try
You are allowed to change your mind
There is no such thing as perfection
“Fulfilment and allyship are key to overcoming barriers for individuals in minority groups. Find a group that champions you, allies who share your purpose and values. If you can’t find one, create your own.”
A CIPR volunteer for 14 years, Advita Patel is a leading voice for diversity and inclusion. A confidence and influence coach, she is also the founder of CommsRebel, the Comms Hive and co-founder of the Asian Communications Network, A Leader Like Me and the co-author of Building a Culture of Inclusivity.
Socially Mobile delivers management training in public relations to practitioners from lower socio-economic backgrounds, as well as under-represented and under-served groups, including ethnic minority practitioners, the LGBTQ+ community, women returners, and those with disabilities. The alumni lecture takes place once a term for graduates of the programme.