In the UK, 94% of adults with registered learning disabilities do not gain employment. It’s a statistic which led to the country being criticised by the UN for its lack of progress. Because, for all the talk around furthering the conversation around diversity, there is not much action taking place to change the narrative and move the dial where it matters.

Now, a new membership community for marketers is launching via an eBay auction which will see the winning bidder being given the chance to work on a vital brief. MarketingKind’s aim is to bring marketers together to tackle broader societal issues through practical collaboration.

Through a campaign created by HeyHuman, whose CEO Neil Davidson is a founding member of MarketingKind, the organisation has enlisted the help of seven marketing leaders to offer their services towards a brief.

The winning bidder will work alongside individuals such as Rory Sutherland, Vice Chair of Ogilvy UK and Sue Unerman, Chief Transformation Officer at MediaCom to explore an issue that is of particular concern in the UK: how can we get businesses to see the candidate not the disability?

Paul Skinner, Founder of MarketingKind, says: “Once they’ve left education and all its associated support mechanisms, adults affected by disabilities want to access employment perhaps more than any other group. Yet appallingly high numbers of them are never given a chance to show what they can do.”

All the money raised will go to Sky Badger, a charity which works to restore fun and adventure as well as offering support to families with children with disabilities in the UK. 

MarketingKind’s aim is to challenge marketers to step outside their day jobs to tackle issues affecting wider society such as climate change, social isolation and poverty. It is championing the power of creative collaboration to raise awareness and bring about societal change.

The MarketingKind bid goes live on 15th October at 5pm to find the final member of the marketing team to tackle the vital brief; how can we get businesses to see the candidate not the disability? A brilliant example of the capacity of the industry to tackle the big issues through collaboration and commitment to change where it really matters.