Nessa is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Media, Diversity and Technology. She is Programme Director for MA Global Media Industries and the Department’s EDI Lead. Nessa was previously Senior Lecturer in Communications and Media at the London College of Communication, where she was Co-Chair of the EDI Steering Group and Knowledge Exchange Coordinator. Throughout her career, Nessa has pioneered EDI strategies and technological change management within HE and industry as a Research Director and Consultant. This includes advising Senior Management Teams, contributing to industry reports and thought leadership.

Nessa has previously lectured at Loughborough University London, Brunel University and Regent’s University London. She has extensive experience in curriculum development, decolonising course materials and leadership. Nessa completed her PhD in Communications at Brunel University (2017). She was Co-Investigator of AHRC project ‘Transforming the Gap: Inclusive Digital Arts and Humanities Research Skills’ (2023-2024) and is Co-Lead on Wellcome Trust project ‘INKLUDE’ (2025-2026).

Research Interests and PhD Supervision

• Platform practices and digital labour
• Inclusive deployment of AI and datafication
• Race and diversity in the media and promotional industries
• Cultural production in media and promotional agencies

Nessa’s research explores the intersection of diversity practices and technological deployment in the media industries. More recently with the onset of automated praxis through generative AI, her work explores the affordances and challenges of digitised and platform labour, particularly for marginalised practitioners and independent creators. Nessa’s research is grounded in critical approaches to the embedding of diversity practices in the media industries. She is co-author of the upcoming book Race, Racism and Diversity in the Cultural and Creative Industries (2025), which focuses on the business case for diversity, specifically since the commercialisation of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020.

Teaching

Nessa’s teaching falls within the research areas of diversity, datafication, technology, media representation and the systemic tenacity of racism in promotional cultures. Her teaching is influenced by various research traditions such as critical technology studies, cultural studies and critical race theory. Nessa has held an Advance HE Fellowship since 2017.

Expertise and Public Engagement

Nessa is a Research Consultant for industry, with experience in leading strategic projects for commercial and public sector clients across tech, entertainment, FMCG and policy. She is currently a Trustee at Home-Start UK.

Nessa is an External Examiner at the University of Wales, an External Advisory Board Member for Big Ideas and has held several advisory board positions since 2010 including Ofcom. She was on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education (2012-2019). Nessa has spoken about her work on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC News.

Selected Publications

• Keddo, N (2025) The experience of racism amongst practitioners of colour in the advertising industry, Media, Culture and Society, DOI 10.1177/01634437251336146.
• Wang, X and Keddo, N (forthcoming 2025) Livestreaming intimacies: the production and labour of parasociality in the K-pop industry, New Media and Society.
• Nwonka, C and Keddo, N (forthcoming 2025) Race, Racism and Diversity in the Cultural and Creative Industries. London: Routledge.
• Keddo, N (forthcoming 2025) The value and precarity of diversity practitioners in the creative industries, in L. Simon., Szostak, B and Dubois, L-E (eds) Handbook of Creative Industries.
• Keddo, N (2024) ‘Racialising my influence: narrative challenges for Black social media influencers’, in C. Bourne., J.V. Cabanes., G.G. Silva Castro and L. Edwards (eds) The Sage Handbook of Promotional Culture and Society.