Changemaker heroes: An interview with Daniel Singham
09 September 2025

Dr Mark Thorpe FMRS, Board Director at Truth Consulting, and Chair of MRS' EDI Council, talks to Daniel Singham, Commercial Director at Yonder Data Solutions about his extracurricular work.

There is uncertainty related to AI and its consequences. In addition, budgets are under intense pressure, markets are volatile and business and brands are often playing a game of ‘wait and see’. It can all mount up to an unhelpful fatalism; we wait around to see what the future holds.

Despite all the pressures and challenges, our sector is blessed with individuals who are going above and beyond to make a difference. These are changemakers who are not seeking personal gain or recognition; they are  commited to creating ways of working and human experiences that are better, more inclusive and more satisfying for everyone.

Daniel is an early member of CoRE (Colour of Research), a member of the MRS EDI Council, Co-Chair of the MRS Representation in Research Group and a passionate advocate of equality for all.

Mark: Where did it all start – your passion and commitment to EDI?

Daniel: It’s deeply rooted in personal experiences. Growing up, I was bullied and faced racism at school, not because of anything I did, but because of who I was. I felt isolated and it made me question my identity. I even changed my surname because it was too long and unfamiliar; I was often mocked at school because of my name.

There are a few things that have come out of that experience. I could be really negative about it, but I didn’t let it impact me in a negative way. I chose instead to turn it into a positive and try to ensure that no other child would ever have to go through what I did. I'm very passionate about creating environments in schools and community spaces where everyone feels safe, respected and valued. That's why I became a school governor. I wanted to be able to hold schools accountable for the culture they create and to ensure that policies around inclusion, equity and safeguarding are more than just words. I'm also a safeguarding lead at the local church.

Mark: You’re a senior figure in CoRE (Colour of Research); an initiative set up a few years ago to tackle the experience and representation of non-white people in research. Tell me a bit more about CoRE and your involvement.

Daniel: The main purpose of CoRE is to be advocates for people of colour in the industry. I started my career in market research in Australia and I remember walking into rooms where you are one of the very few people of colour. In London it was slightly better, but it’s only when you go to in an operational room that you really see people of colour. When I moved into a more commercial role, where you actually start attending events, that's when I really noticed the lack of people of colour.

Mark: One of the reasons I wanted to interview you was because I know you do hugely valuable outreach and education within our sector. Tell me a bit more about that.

Daniel: We came up with the idea of doing lunch-and-learn workshops with agencies - we talk to them about the importance of an inclusive workplace and representation within the research itself. That has taken off well. 

We went into one agency that acknowledged they weren't doing as much within EDI as they should be. We created a solution to support them and after our workshop, they created their first EDI internal team.

There was another agency that was impacted by the workshop to such an extent that they became our principal sponsor. They didn’t have any internal EDI, so I helped shape what the EDI form should look like.

Mark: So how do you see the future? What changes are still needed?

Daniel:  One of the biggest challenges we have is you get the same group of people in the room for most of the events. I went to a Truth event that you guys hosted not long ago. I knew 80% of the room because these are the same people I would see at all the other events.  I think we are struggling to get the key decision makers within businesses. We're not getting their attention.

We have to be able to prove that by having a more inclusive workplace, you are going to see better results across the board. We need more agencies who are in that place to come out and talk about, to show evidence, to explain. I think we're at a point now where we've done a lot of talking. We need the evidence now.

Once people start seeing the evidence, they will jump on it. I'm pretty confident about that. If businesses a really inclusive workforce, it clearly works.

Mark: I love that idea of just do something. I always say, be the change you seek.  Finally, I know you really wanted to emphasise just how supportive Yonder Data Solutions has been. In a sense, we are both fortunate working in supportive businesses like Truth Consulting and Yonder. Let’s hope more companies step up to support changemakers.