Lunch and Learn: How to identify the right brand partners

Winner of Management Today's 35 under 35, Polina Changuleva is a multi award-winning Diversity, Equity and Inclusion specialist. Founder of the world's first Joyful Inclusion consultancy - Same But Different she works with the brands of tomorrow to build a future in which we embrace each other's differences and celebrate our similarities. Having previously led the Women’s Inclusion Network at Yahoo - one of the biggest names in tech, she has worked for some of the world’s biggest brands as a Cultural Advisor and Racial Justice advocate. Some of these brands include Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Reward Gateway, Xbox and more. Polina has continuously challenged the status quo and continues to do so through her work at Same But Different Consultancy, the UK's 50:50 Parliament Diversity Committee and her work supporting minority-led businesses. Having spent the last decade working in media and tech, Polina is a global expert and international speaker on all things diversity and inclusion, partnerships and tech. Prior to starting her consultancy, Polina has led and grown numerous award winning, multi-million partnerships for Xbox Advertising across 16 markets, creating pioneering brand partnerships with some of the world’s biggest brands incl. McDonalds, Burberry, Lego, Paco Rabanne, BMW, Deliveroo, Adidas and many more. In 2023 Polina launched Brand Partnerships House - a community of over 600 founders, creatives and change makers on a mission to leverage the power of partnerships as a business growth tool. Those businesses have gone on to secure partnerships with the likes of Soho House, Meta, Samsung, yhangry, Mildred’s, TikTok and more.