Rakhee Vithlani, Head of Multi Cultural Communications

Rakhee, as Head of MCC, is a leading communications consultant at global PR agency Weber Shandwick. She advises clients on creating effective campaigns to reach ethnic minority groups via media strategies. Inversely, she also advises clients who have a core ethnic customer base on broadening their mainstream reach.

Rakhee is skilled at managing complex UK, European and international PR strategies for high profile accounts and has directed PR strategies for Siemens, MasterCard and Unilever amongst others.

Since founding MCC, she has advised the Department for International Development, Roche Pharmaceuticals, SABMiller plc, Sony Entertainment and Dubai Lifestyle City amongst others, on high profile campaigns.

She is the client relationship leader in a complex, strategic consultation with one of Weber Shandwick’s flagship clients, The University of Oxford, examining strategies in which to engage the country’s’ brightest ethnic minorities in further education as well as providing strategic advice on wider issues such as internationalisation.

Rakhee has spent extensive time abroad in order to truly understand different cultures. Towards the end of 2005 she undertook a secondment to Asia, including India, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing to understand the PR opportunities and challenges that arise with emerging economies. In addition, Rakhee has spent one month training with sister MCC agency, The Axis Agency, a driving force in ethnic communications in Los Angeles, US. There she implemented urban and socio-political campaigns in LA, Chicago, Dallas and New York to reach African-American and Hispanic audiences.

This experience, combined with the six years of public relations experience working at Weber Shandwick makes Rakhee one of the most experienced multi-cultural public relations experts in the industry today.

Rakhee is regularly invited to be a member on boards and committees. She currently chairs the Shadow Board for Weber Shandwick advising senior management on the strategic positioning of the company and sits on The Merge Executive Committee for Diversity for Interpublic Group plc.

In addition, Rakhee is one of twelve people to have been selected for a one-year leadership programme held at Westminster which trains senior executives for complex board level business scenarios.

After graduating in Business and Law, Rakhee went on to continue her studies by undertaking a Masters in International Marketing. As part of this, she was one of the youngest in the world to be nominated for Best Research at the Academy of Marketing Conference 2001.

Outside of work, Rakhee is a mentor to inner-city kids who are growing up in crime-ridden and gang-related environments. She is a keen swimmer and recently qualified for her PADI diving licence. Aside from this, Rakhee enjoys writing and ‘chilling’ with family and friends.

Rakhee can speak Gujarati and Hindi.

Contact

Rakhee Vithlani
+44 (0)207 067 0279
rvithlani@webershandwick.com

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