Every year BIMA launches its search for those shaping the future of Britain's digital industry. This year, Jennifer Crowley - our Client Partner has been named as part of the BIMA100, featuring within the Client Services and Project Management category. We sat down with Jennifer to congratulate her and find out what’s next for her - and digital.
BIMA100 2021: Jennifer Crowley
You've been selected for the BIMA100 in the Client Services & Project Management category. What does it mean to you to be included?
I feel very proud to be part of the client service discipline. We play a pivotal role in agency success and I want it to be an area that receives more training and greater investment. The combination of IQ, EQ, commerciality and creativity that makes for a great CS person is rare and to be valued. At Kin + Carta, several of our client relationships go back decades. In part, this is because of the calibre and continuity of my client services and project management colleagues.
Of course we have the privilege of being charged with being relentlessly curious, learning about new industries, organisations and technologies and above all making connections, between people, ideas and opportunities for our clients. I’m particularly excited to forge relationships with my fellow CS & PM BIMA 100 winners, not least on the work of the BIMA Sustainability Council and our recent launch of The BIMA Green Pages.
What do you think the next big thing in digital is?
Sustainability… combining the pace of digital acceleration with the urgency of the climate crisis makes for an incredible duo that embody overused terms like ‘transformation’ and ‘revolutionary’.
Personally, I feel emphasising the moral obligation of our industry has had its moment. Instead, in the coming months I intend to harness the skills and values of Kin + Carta (connection, courage, compassion) to actually create new and credible outcomes with our clients who also have bold ambitions in this area. In fact, we have developed a powerful framework that maps the SDG commitments of an organisation to the areas of greatest (digital) impact.
The next twelve months will be game-changing for the reputations and propositions of agencies that harness the moral, competitive and skills opportunities of this global crisis.
Tell us something about you not many people know
I ran a marathon in my twenties to raise money for cancer after my own diagnosis and treatment. These days I take pride in walking at pace all over London; there’s nothing better than commuting on foot listening to an interesting podcast.
What’s next for you?
My guiding word for this year is ‘Nurture’ – with regard to my family, my skills and strengths and my network. I had my second daughter 4 weeks ago so the nurturing starts there. I am already seeing the benefit of being removed from the day to day of work to think bigger, read more widely and consider new sources of ideas and learning. This past year of virtual work has cemented for me the importance and power of deliberate, direct and intentional conversations and connections.
While these are my immediate priorities, I am passionately committed to Kin + Carta’s triple bottom line vision and incorporating our B Corp tenants into our client work, perhaps as our first chief sustainability officer! Being part of cross-industry communities like Purpose Disruptors, The BIMA Sustainability Council and this year’s BIMA 100 cohort are exciting drivers of digital innovation for sustainability.