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Happy International Women’s Day

Imagine a gender equal world.
A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination.
A world that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive.
A world where difference is valued and celebrated.
Together we can forge women’s equality.
Collectively we can all #BreakTheBias.

At UD, we’re proudly led by women.
Today, come and meet the team…

HAZEL DURRANT

Head of Operations

Hazel has 20 years’ experience of fundraising and developing multi-disciplinary art and social change projects mainly in east London.  Before UD, she was a Director for Something and Son Communities and Peckham Palms.  She also led on fundraising, business and organisational development at organisations including Create London and the Hackney Empire. She helped to set up the Education and Artist Development Programmes at the Empire.

CHANTELLE FIDDY

Marketing Consultant

After graduating with a BA Hons in Journalism from the University Of The Arts London, back in 2001, Fiddy began her career at Touch Magazine, championing the then unknown genre grime. Her work subsequently appeared in i-D, Dazed & Confused, The Guardian, Sunday Times Style, Smash Hits and many more. After a stint working as editor on social activism magazine CTRL.ALT.SHIFT, Fiddy moved back into the music industry in 2013 as a tour and day-to-day manager, having since worked with the likes of Duke Dumont, Boy Matthews, Jax Jones, Jammer, Lord Of The Mics, Kelli-Leigh & Kamaal Williams. She currently manages Nottingham MC, Mez and is mentoring Ukranian harpist, Alina Bzhezhinska. With a CV that covers a vast array of work with – and for – major and independent record labels, Fiddy has also worked in radio & TV and continues to write for TRENCH and Complex UK.

ELLA-BONAI GORDON

A&R

Ella-Bonai Gordon is a 25-year-old, London-based artist manager and A&R Manager. Formerly part of Renowned Management, she works primarily with fast-rising Hackney singer-songwriter Hamzaa, and Presenter/DJ Henrie.

Hailing from Lewisham, South London, Ella-Bonai started out in the industry from an events background with the social enterprise Bigga Fish, Ella-Bonai ran over 25 sold-out events across the country boasting early performances from the likes of Krept and Konan, Yungen and Sneakbo. 

During her time there she was also involved in working with young creatives, educating 14 to 25-year-olds in events management and marketing, and developed a passion for nurturing talent and managing artists. She began working alongside Zeon Richards at Renowned Management, as an A&R scout and artist manager, and discovered Hamzaa in 2017.

In partnership with Ella-Bonai, Hamzaa independently released her debut EP, ‘First Signs Of Me’, which entered the UK iTunes chart at 56 and caught the attention of Jools Holland who invited her onto his prestigious late night show to perform ‘You’. Last year she followed up with her second EP ‘Phases’ through Parlophone and made an appearance on Mahalia’s ‘Regular People’ alongside New Orleans R&B talent Lucky Daye.

With an ear for talent and a breadth of experience spanning music and events, Ella-Bonai Gordon is one of the most promising names in artist management, and is on track to assist Hamzaa and Henrie in becoming household names.

TANEISHA JACKSON

Tutor, School Record Label Project

Taneisha Jackson, is a singer/songwriter born in Jamaica, who moved to London at the age of 9. With a love of old-skool soul and funk, as well as pop and dance, Taneisha is one of the UK’s most exciting young songwriters (John Legend’s recorded her song, ‘‘A Place Called World, in 2014’ and is on course for more major success.

PAMELA MCCORMICK

Founder/Director

Pamela McCormick co-founded United Development in 2000, with the vision to create the premier agency for spotting and supporting Black music talent in the UK. Her vision for social and cultural change is the force behind the organisation while the foundation of her beliefs include a passion for equal opportunities, a deep appreciation for music and phenomenal ability to fundraise.

In the last two years, Pamela has expanded the organisation with charitable arm UD Music Foundation and UD Music. The former operates in the country’s poorest and most diverse boroughs, for the delivery of an education and early talent programme. The latter operates like a record label, talent incubator, production house, recording studio and publisher.

Growing up in Belfast in the 1970s through the era of pub bombings, barricades, daily murders and little integration. As her thinking and challenging of the origins of the troubles matured, she realised that poverty and lack of aspiration were at the heart of the mutual distrust. This insight has become the keystone upon which Pamela has built her career – and UD.

SHAKIRA WALTERS

Programme Manager

Shakira Walters is the Founding Director of GIRLSofGRIME and Moor Music Management. She launched GIRLSofGRIME in 2017, a female-led platform dedicated to raising the profiles of women in music, particularly across the genres of Grime, Rap, RnB & Dancehall/Reggae. GIRLSofGRIME has seen support from various partners including PRS Foundation, Arts Council England and Small Green Shoots.

Positioning herself as a ‘big sister to the scene’, Shakira has nurtured various collaborative opportunities for female artists, DJ’s and creatives on her mission to carve space for better representation for women in the industry. With a university degree in Digital Media Production, a career background in Buying/Merchandising, and formerly an A&R with Warner Music, Shakira has independently led on the production of national radio shows, live showcases, panel discussions, livestreams, new music & music videos. In addition to this, championed and sponsored by legendary music manager Jackie Davidson, Shakira is also an Artist Manager to C Cane, Lauren Marshall and DJ Shaxx, the first acts on her Moor Music Management roster.

Find out more on how to #breakthebias HERE.

Individually, we’re all responsible for our own thoughts and actions – all day, every day.

We can break the bias in our communities.

We can break the bias in our workplaces.

We can break the bias in our schools, colleges and universities.

Together, we can all break the bias – on International Women’s Day (IWD) and beyond.

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