Liverpool City Council has seen many changes recently, a key change is the changing face of the leadership team.
Director of Communications, Camilla Mankabady, on why she has returned to her home city and why she is relishing the role…
“It’s nearly three years since I returned to my home city of Liverpool and it’s been an incredible three years. The most interesting chapters of your life are often those that are exhausting, stimulating and challenging – this chapter has been that – but also inspiring, educational and life-affirming.
“Having been born and bred on the outskirts of Liverpool, I’ve always had the desire to give ‘something back’ to my home city. The home city that stretched out its arms to my Danish mother and my Egyptian father. The city that I call home. The city that makes me laugh. The city that makes me cry. The city that makes me want no other.
“I feel great pride that as the Communications Director for Liverpool City Council, I am playing a very small part in helping to improve this great city – ensuring that all of the decisions, events and great characters – are chronicled and showcased.
“Does Liverpool have challenges? Of course it does. Does Liverpool City Council have challenges? Of course it does. But both have great people, character, charm, grit, resilience and ambition.
“I choose to be in Liverpool, to work for Liverpool City Council, because I want to be part of this positive change. I want to work with the inspiring leadership team.
“Liverpool has had great moments and great eras, but I truly believe that now is the moment when real, long-lasting, positive change is on the horizon.
“Let’s move away from the hackneyed narratives of the past. We aren’t second-best. We shouldn’t have to ‘make do and mend’. Let’s harness the ambition and talent of the city and let’s not listen to our detractors, who are holding us back.
“Many say that my life has changed immeasurably – moving away from the TV cameras and TV studios – spending my time in the Cunard, the Town Hall and my city. It has, but helping to give a voice to this Liverpool narrative, is so very important.
“My role is about projecting the realities of Liverpool life, so that this city remains relevant and that its presence as one of the UK’s and the world’s great cities remains unbowed. To help create an environment in which today’s children have opportunities that many of their parents and grandparents did not have.
“In these Covid times, with austerity an ever-present spectre, with the desire to ‘level up’ and ‘empower’ local residents, this is a moment when we as a city need to come together. We need to support each other, to work through any problems we have. Liverpool Together.”
Camilla Mankabady is a former senior TV programme editor who has worked at the BBC, ITV and NBC/Euronews.
