Belonging, Retention and Persevering for the Greater Good

The second day of Advancing Diversity Week was devoted to Belonging + Retention. The focus of the day was to call attention to the glaring lack of retention for African Americans and people of color within the adverting and marketing industry. As much as a seductive story permeates the industry that lays the onus for the lack of diversity on a pipeline problem, the reality is, that is a smokescreen. Focusing on the mythological "talent pipeline" allows the industry to obscure the lack of retention while also bringing in younger and thereby less powerful employees, all in the service of "diversity." The panel titled "Belonging and the Employee Experience" directly tackled the retention issue by linking it to the lived experience of employees of color. (You can watch the entire panel in the video above.)