Session 6: Advancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Expanding the Model

The final session reflects on Future Flames’ commitment to amplifying underrepresented voices. It also explores its expansion into dance and graphic design.

The session was led by Melissa Tisdale (Creative Media Lecturer, Founder and Executive Producer of Future Flames Productions, Walsall College).

DEI is central to Future Flames’ identity:

• Future Flames is designed to include every student, regardless of background, SEND needs or mobility. There is a role for every learner.
• The enterprise also actively champions working with non-profit organisations that amplify underrepresented voices.
• One example is a group of Black Future Flames students who channelled their passion for rap into creating a song for the soundtrack of a game that addresses issues affecting young people.
• The group performed the rap live at a film premiere in London’s Leicester Square. The game production company subsequently funded a music video for the track.
• This example highlights how Future Flames meets students where they are at – not every student is a filmmaker at heart. The enterprise finds ways to embrace different talents.

Melissa’s ambition has always been for Future Flames to reach beyond the media department:

• Future Flames Performance Studios (2023): Launched with the dance department, this gives performance students opportunities in the real-world – Disneyland, charity events, theatre companies, and even a halftime pitch performance at Walsall FC, in front of the whole stadium.
• Future Flames Graphic Design: This gives the graphic design department opportunities to work on community projects, for instance, a campaign on the dangers of vaping, which resulted in 10-foot lung sculptures touring local schools as a conversation starter.
• Future Flames will be embedded into a new social media and content creation pathway launching in September 2026.
• The ambition is for the enterprise to find its way in to as many as aspects of college life as possible.

Walsall College has documented their creative enterprise journey in detail in the document below. This provides insights into how they built and scaled a Future Flames Productions from a single idea into an award-winning, cross-college model. It includes the rationale for setting up a creative enterprise, roles and responsibilities, branding and operations, case studies from partner organisations, lessons learned, and practical guidance for other colleges looking to develop a similar approach.