Rania Robinson | CEO & Partner of Quiet Storm and WACL President

Rania Robinson

Rania Robinson came to the UK from Egypt at the age of three and started school not speaking a word of English.

Her early experiences sparked a life-long passion for forming connections and meaningful communication. Having spent most of her career in non-traditional agencies in both account leadership and strategic roles, she has worked with some of the world’s best-known brands, including: Haribo, Mercedes, Virgin, Google and Coca Cola.

Since joining Quiet Storm ten years ago, she has brought a 360° perspective and new energy to the agency, helping extend its service offer and broaden its sector experience. A passionate exponent of empowering women in the workplace, she is President of WACL (an organisation whose purpose is to accelerate gender equality in the advertising and communication industry). Quiet Storm currently work with the Women’s Equality Party pro bono. Rania is a diversity champion and in 2020 relaunched Create Not Hate, Quiet Storm’s initiative to get under-represented young people into the creative industries by unlocking their creative potential. Rania is an active participant in D&I initiatives across the industry and a regular commentator on BBC Radio. She features in the IPA’s 2022 iList of the most influential industry role models, was listed in Campaign’s Top 3 Trailblazers of 2021 and their 40 over 40 list of 2022, and is on AdAge’s Leading Women list of 2021.

What one action would you like to see organisations, or the government take to drive gender equity?

I’d like to see some economic and political support. Childcare still costs a fortune, creating a real roadblock for those women who want to return to work. The government is not aligned to help women in the workplace. The recent vote on menopause being rejected because ‘it could discriminate against men’ is a significant setback and a testament to how far we still have to go.

 

We also need more allyship from our male colleagues and a greater share of responsibility for diversity and inclusion efforts. Women are disproportionately taking this on, adding additional pressure to their already compromised position.