We are committed as an Agency to working inclusively and without prejudice. We expect our clients to show all Crumb Humans dignity, respect and compassion. Our values as an Agency are at the core of everything we do. We expect these values to be understood and mutually agreed to by both our talent and clients to ensure a non-oppressive and respectful working environment for all.

Our values:

RESPECT & INTEGRITY : To work as a team with respect, transparency, kindness and humility.

EDUCATION & COMMITMENT : To value our position within our industry and how we can affect change for the better. We acknowledge the need to constantly learn and seek to improve.

Our 'Working Inclusively' policy is intended to be a resource and support for our clients to offer an outline of what we expect when booking our talent. It’s here to ensure that the relationships we build are respectful and compassionate to each individual identity. It is our hope to build strong, longlasting and authentic relationships between our clients and talent which can be mutually beneficial and ensure that campaigns, sets and conversations are welcoming and tonally correct.

We ask that you take a moment to read through this document, take it on board and hopefully refer back to it if any questions arise in the future. This is our framework of how we wish to operate, and whilst there are many differing opinions on language and terminology, we don’t wish to impose our values on you. However, we do hope that you can follow and respect them when working with Crumb talent. We believe that the future of our industry depends on inclusivity and representation of all marginalised communities and that global brands can work with our talent to set a precedent on how it should, and can be done.

Ensuring equal opportunities

It is the experiences, insights and creativity of our talent which keep our agency motivated. Different backgrounds and perspectives are what drive creativity; equal representation and inclusion are essential to everything we value. We work hard to make our talent feel valued and ensure we are providing equal opportunities for everyone who applies and is repped by Crumb. We select our talent based on what they can bring to the Agency and how suited we are to them as an Agency; regardless of gender, ethnicity, age or disability. Our success depends on this. We do not practice or wish to be a part of tokenism or virtue signalling.

It is our duty to protect our talent and ensure that all of our clients are acting ethically and without prejudice at all stages from initial enquiry through to shooting. Talent can only be booked through Crumb on the basis of their merit and suitability, without discrimination or concern for race, religion, ethnicity, colour, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age or disability. We request the disclosure of our client's diversity policies and have specific conditions relating to this on our booking terms (see section 12).

IMPORTANCE OF LANGUAGE

We are proud to represent talent with a wide range of identities. Therefore it is vital we are considerate and respectful and use language to ensure our talent are treated with respect and kindness. It is important to remember we are all human and mistakes do and will happen, so it must be our intention to keep growing, learning and be willing to apologise whilst making sure it doesn’t happen again.

Fear of getting it wrong is what can obstruct learning and empathy-building between individuals and as an Agency we are not here to police our clients so are always open to questions and discussions.

The next few pages are a guide to some of the key language we use when referring collectively or individually to individuals from marginalised communities and we hope our clients will respect this and endeavour to incorporate it in the way they communicate with and refer to our talent. It is worth noting that this is not finite and is a work in progress. It may evolve as time and cultural understanding shifts and Crumb is always open to questions to promote more learning and understanding.

Disability and mental health

Crumb as an organisation views disability through the social model and is guided by Disability Rights UK. The Social Model of Disability was developed by Disabled people and describes people as being disabled by barriers in society, not by our impairment or difference.

There is much debate around identity-first vs person-first language to use when referring to disabled people with many disabled people saying the disability is not inside of them as suggested by ‘person with a disability’ rather they are a ‘disabled person’ - someone who is disabled by a world that is not equipped for them and has barriers in place. Removing these barriers creates equality and offers disabled people more independence, choice, and control. Our advice is to always ask and listen to how people talk about their disability themselves, and take your cue from them. So whilst the above language suggestions are meant to guide, we must always make it a priority to check in first with the individual and take your cue from them.

The social model of disability rejects negative or medical language and replaces it with more positive language that sees disabled people as human beings. For example, “disabled person” (not “handicapped”), “wheelchair user” (not “wheelchair bound”), “person with learning disabilities” (not “retarded”). Using the word ‘disabled’ before ‘people’ signifies identification with a collective cultural identity. The Social Model of Disability states that people have impairments, they do not have disabilities. Impairments should be used as adjectives, not nouns.

Some people choose not to identify as disabled and this should be respected and at a more individual level some disabled people may not relate to this language. It is therefore essential that we also engage in regular conversations with disabled people to find out an individual’s preference around disability and the use of language.

Gender + sexuality

At Crumb, we are proud to represent an incredible roster of Queer talent and with our ethos in affecting change for the better within the fashion and advertising industries, it is of paramount importance that all our talent are treated with dignity, respect and compassion. Taking some time to understand more about the LGBTQIA community is an easy way to show your support + allegiance.

What we expect from clients :

Gender identity and pronouns should not be assumed

It’s always better to check than to misgender someone Please add pronouns to call sheets and communicate with the crew Avoid gendered language such as 'Hi guys!' If you make a mistake, quickly correct yourself, apologise and avoid it happening again Gender neutral, private changing areas should be available Politely correcting any colleagues who make any mistakes Be aware not to make any disrespectful comments such as 'I wouldn't know you were Trans!'

IF WE AT CRUMB FEEL THAT REPEATED DISREGARD HAS BEEN GIVEN TO OUR TALENTS PRONOUNS, WE WITHHOLD THE RIGHT TO CEASE WORKING ON A PROJECT OR WITH A SPECIFIC CLIENT AND BILL ACCORDINGLY FOR ANY TIME SPENT. WE APPRECIATE THAT MISTAKES HAPPEN, BUT IT’S HOW THOSE MISTAKES ARE CORRECTED AND LEARNT FROM THAT MATTERS.

Race and ethnicity

As an Agency we are committed to being an anti-racist organisation. Anti-racism acknowledges that just following the status quo is not enough to truly counter the deeper roots of racism.

As an inclusive agency committed to equal representation, being non-judgemental and antioppressive; our staff must be open to personal development and learning more about the lived experiences of marginalised individuals. It is our aim to provide opportunities to learn together and discuss ways we can deepen our understanding and allyship.

There are longstanding debates about the use of collective terms (see: BAME, POC, BPOC and black/Black) as descriptors. While language is always evolving, no term currently in existence is without its flaws, and we should always be as specific as possible when referring to people’s race or ethnicity. At Crumb we are guided by the Anti Racist Educator and use the descriptor ‘person of colour’, or POC if really needed, to refer to anybody who is not white. Many people believe it is more empowering because it does not revolve around whiteness.

Person of colour can be used to refer to :

someone who is Black, Black Caribbean, Black British, African, African American, etc “Person of colour” can equally be used to refer to someone who is British Asian, South Asian (Pakistani, Indian, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan...), East Asian (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc.) SouthEast Asian (Thai, Malaysian, Singaporean...), Latino, non-black Aboriginal, etc.

Our booking terms include:

*Ensuring the Hair/Make Up team booked to work with POC talent are experienced working with different skin tones and hair types *Not to assume someones ethnicity or country of origin *To not use negative stereotypes, micro-aggressions or offensive language/assumptions

We are constantly evolving, learning and improving as an Agency and will be reviewing this document regularly.