Academics Invite Media Community to Partner on Advancing Diversity Retention

The simple reality is that in the current economic environment there is very little hiring that will be done However actions taken now can reverberate and pay dividends for decades as discussed by academic leaders in the recent Media Education Summit hosted by Jack Myers and available for ondemand viewing here Myers founder of MediaVillage and AdvancingDiversityorg engaged in a wide ranging exploration of partnership opportunities between academia and the media and advertising community that could contribute to longoverdue advances in diversity and inclusionParticipants in the Leadership Conversation includedKai Wright founder ampamp curator of blacklist100Dean Mark Lodato SI Newhouse School of Communication at Syracuse UniversityDean Gracie LawsonBorders Howard University Cathy Hughes School of CommunicationsAndrea Press Media Studies Department Founding Head University of VirginiaWright a partner at Ogilvy Consulting lecturer at Columbia University and founder and creator of blacklist100 a digital book and organization that spotlights the top 100 Black culture and thought leaders from various industries kicked off the discussion around the impact of the current moment of opportunity to advance a more diverse workforce With the groundswell of attention support and corporate introspection spurred by the protests following the murder of George Floyd this appears to be a pivotal moment although Wright has seen this play out beforeSays Wright quotWe are optimistic that the amount of energy we have seen in the past two months is going to help sustain momentum as we reach an inflection point That said we have to start doing things differently and put ourselves in uncomfortable positionsquot Wright gives partial credit to his joining Ogilvy in 2007 to a previous 39pivotal moment39 following a UN Human Rights commission program that involved the 16 largest agencies committing to increasing diversity and signing a pledge to release their diversity numbers They did it for three years Then the moment passed quotNow quotsays Wright quotwe39re in this other period of momentum in 2020 and we have to make sure that it continues longer than it did beforequotWright along with LawsonBorders Press and Lodato came to a consensus that progress had been made by the advertising and marketing industries when it comes to entrylevel through midlevel diverse hiring and they emphatically agreed that the core focus of future efforts must now turn to retention and advancement into the CSuiteAccording to Wright the lack of role models promotion and advancement of Black men in the Advertising world and in corporations in general is a bit of a selffulfilling prophecy quotMost Black menquot says Wright quotby the age of 40 go and start their own business Whatever that business is Within Corporate America even outside of agency world we see this trend of individuals making a zag when they39re not able to progressquotWright sees continuing mentorship feedback education and training as the key to improving that retention and advancement challenge However he believes now is not the time for incrementalism but for bold action quotIf we try to get progress using the same tools that we have had I fear we will not revolt enough to evolve into what we need to become What is the radically different option that we should put on the tableDean Lodato agreed on a bold approach quotYou have to take some risks to have real change Whether it39s an educational institution like ours or a corporate environment I think a lot of us need to be taking more chances which could really reveal more advancements in these areas But also know that we may fail I think failure is okay because failure means you are trying new things and in my mind that39s innovationquotThere is no question that bold approaches are necessary The advertising industry must not only come together to create curriculum that reflect diverse voices but also put in the time and investment to partner with academia to see those programs put into practice UVA39s Press invited the industry to partner with her quotI39ve been thinking more and more about the idea of industry partnering with our media faculty on joint projects and investigations and largescale endeavors that can involve students at every level undergraduate and graduate And I39d really love to extend an invitation from the University of Virginia faculty for these kinds of effortsquotAs important as it is to ensure that college students find real opportunity in the media advertising and marketing business it is equally important to provide juniormidlevel employees with relatable role models Internal training in the age of remote work is more critical than ever not just in upskilling employees but setting the culture Providing newer employees with diverse instructors not only provides intelligence but inspiration and aspirational value It39s imperative that as an industry we work to build a deep bench of diverse talent Myers LawsonBorders Lodato Press and Wright outlined several opportunities for a collaborative effort between the industry and academia that will be announced as part of the AdvancingDiversityorg 2021 plan of action to be announced soonJohn Wren CEO Omnicom Q2 2020 Earnings CallquotOver the last decade our Chief Diversity Officers and the open leadership teams have made tremendous progress and brought significant changes to Omnicom and our agencies During these difficult times they have also led discussions on what more we can do to support our black colleagues and people of color These discussions played a key role in the development of OPEN20 a strategic framework that will strengthen and expand our DEampampI initiatives and advance the OPEN tenants of culture collaboration clients and communityquotThe degree of success of OPEN20 will be measured in the aggregate across all Omnicom agencies and will be an important factor in the compensation of the executive officers of Omnicom and the CEOs of our networks and practice areas OPEN20 will build upon the base we already created at Omnicom accelerate our progress and ground us in accountabilityquotMichael Roth Chairman and CEO Interpublic Group Q2 2020 Earnings CallquotAt IPG we know that we can make more of a difference We have recommitted to listening to learning and most importantly to action in support of social and economic justice for Black Americans and for all people of color We are a company that lives in the culture and has a voice in the culture We understand that we have a responsibility and that the journey of rising to that obligation makes us a better company in every way We39re taking actions within IPG and in the advertising and marketing messages that we create to further the cause of racial equityquotAlso readHoward University Dean Gracie LawsonBorders on Pipeline Retention and Media Partnerships by Phil McKenzieblacklist10039s Kai Wright on the State of Ad Industry Diversity Advances by Ainsley AndradequotLet39s Not Be Afraid to Take Some Risksquot amp8212 Higher Education Is Ready to Innovate to Save Media by Oriana SchwindtWatch the full conversationClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

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Academics Invite Media Community to Partner on Advancing Diversity Retention

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Jeff Minsky

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