Leyya Sattar is striving for equality and diversity in the creative industry. Hailing from Manchester, Leyya has been a trail-blazer in her career and in just 3 years she has been promoted from intern to heading up the design division of Make Your Words Work™, a design consultancy based in London. Working directly with companies and not-for-profits to maximise their design capabilities, Leyya has also been instrumental in the ongoing development and growth of Make Your Words Work™ annual In-House Design team awards.
As an Asian, working-class girl in a homogenous creative industry, Leyya decided she wanted to support and recognise the talent and contribution of under-represented minorities in the industry and find new role models – not just for her own career progression but for others like her. After initially supporting two badass women-led entrepreneurial organisations: Flock Global (as UK Director) and SheSays (as Event Co-ordinator), her entrepreneurial mindset then led her to launch her own initiative – The Other Box.
The Other Box is a platform dedicated to increasing diversity in the creative industry.
Leyya recognised more could still be done to spotlight the under-recognised talent of minorities and people of colour in the creative industry and joined forces with Roshni Goyate (a fellow London creative) to change things. Garnering interest from leading media like Channel 4, Huffington Post and BBC Asian Network (to name a few), and they are now developing events and interview series – watch this space.