Jess Jarrold, Deputy Digital Ops Director within Hearst UK’s Commercial Operations Team, shares her experience of volunteering at our Women’s Voices event in celebration of International Women’s Day 2021.
I work at Hearst UK in their Commercial Operations Team as Deputy Digital Ops Director managing the end-to-end delivery of our print and digital advertising creative solutions campaigns, including pre sales strategy, production management and end of campaign analysis.
I signed up to volunteer at Women’s Voices because I really wanted to give something back this year and whilst I wasn’t sure on the specific skills or backgrounds needed for this event, I knew I could collaborate in a team and drive us to deliver results for a chosen charity to really make a difference.
Women’s Voices brings together 30 charities that support, campaign and advocate for women, girls and those who identify as female with over 120 media and creative industry volunteers for a half-day of creative brainstorming and advice to raise the profile and voice of women and girls and the issues that affect them.
I was blown away by the work that the charity I was matched with do, and their uniqueness of being the only user-led charity for women with mental health needs.
My fellow volunteers and I worked on the charity’s supporter strategy to help launch an upcoming re-brand and to better understand their current audience. We discussed many ideas including short-term and long-term goals; ranging from a data audit to virtual events and influencer onboarding.
The charity intends to use this relaunch as an opportunity to evaluate their data platforms and guide all comms moving forwards. A better understanding of their audiences across digital platforms will support the charity to communicate their message more effectively. The charity already had an action plan which we helped them to prioritise and break up into short, achievable segments.
The best bit about the experience was hearing ideas from the other experts and when everyone was coming up with ideas it was clear we were all heading in the same direction, it reaffirmed that everyone was on the same page. This also helped build confidence in all volunteers that we were all able to bring a little bit of our own backgrounds to add value to the day.
What I learnt during my volunteering experience
I would definitely volunteer at Women’s Voices again and very much also enjoyed being a Team Leader. I learnt to create and manage a safe space for ideas, along with ensuring the objective for the charity was achieved in the time frame.
I would encourage anyone considering volunteering for this event, or similar events to do so as you should never underestimate your own experience in the industry and how your unique voice/background may be able to add a lot to an organisation and the impact they make for their charity.
On International Women’s Day last year, APP participated in Media Trust Women’s Voices event at Google Academy in London. This made a real difference to APP, as they transformed their campaign for Maternal Mental Health...
Posted 10 January 2024
Based on the historic Regent’s Canal, The Pirate Castle is a community boating charity, with Kal Webb at the helm of fundraising and business development. Having received previous support from Media Trust, Kal took part...
Posted 14 December 2023
