Karen Blackett began her career in media in 1993 at CIA MediaNetwork after graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 1992 with a degree in geography. She was quickly head-hunted by The Media Business Group, joining its Board of Directors in 1999 and rising steadily through the ranks of the UK advertising industry over the following decades.
In 2012, as Chief Executive of MediaCom UK, she launched the first government-backed apprenticeship scheme for the advertising sector, part of a sustained career-long focus on widening access to the industry. Under her leadership, MediaCom was named Agency of the Year by Campaign magazine in both 2013 and 2014.
Blackett became UK Country Manager for WPP, the world's largest marketing services group, in 2018, before being appointed UK President in 2022, overseeing a business of around 12,000 people generating over £2 billion in annual revenue. In 2014 she received an OBE for services to media and communications, and in 2015 became the first businesswoman to top the Powerlist of Britain's most influential Black people.
Alongside her corporate leadership, Blackett co-founded the Black Equity Organisation in 2021 with David Lammy MP, David Olusoga OBE and others, an independent national civil rights organisation focused on dismantling systemic racism in Britain. She was appointed the UK Government's Race Equality Business Champion in 2018 and received a CBE for services to advertising and the creative industries in 2025.
- First businesswoman to top the Powerlist of Britain's most influential Black people (2015)
- UK President of WPP, the world's largest marketing services group, from 2022
- Launched the UK advertising industry's first government-backed apprenticeship scheme in 2012
- Co-founded the Black Equity Organisation in 2021 alongside David Lammy MP and David Olusoga OBE
- Named UK Government Race Equality Business Champion in 2018; awarded OBE (2014) and CBE (2025)
- Build pathways in behind you as you rise. Blackett's apprenticeship scheme reflects a consistent effort to open access to advertising for people without traditional routes into the industry.
- Corporate leadership and civil rights advocacy can coexist. She has combined running one of the world's largest marketing companies with co-founding a national civil rights organisation.
- Sustained excellence compounds over decades. Her career built steadily from an entry-level media role in 1993 to UK President of WPP nearly thirty years later.
- Use institutional roles to advance structural change. Her government appointment as Race Equality Business Champion let her push diversity policy at a national level, not just within her own company.