Diversity & Intentionality: Building Bridges Between Media Professionals and Academia at Education Summit

All media and advertising professionals engaged in advancing education and diversity along with educators parents and students can register here for the August 13th Summit 1pm ET Dean Gracie LawsonBorders Howard University Cathy Hughes School of Communications Dean Mark Lodato SI Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University Andrea Press Media Studies Department Head University of Virginia and Kai Wright Founder ampamp Curator of blacklist100 and lecturer at Columbia University will engage in a conversation with MediaVillage and AdvancingDiversityorg founder Jack Myers during the 90minute mustattend event The Zoom event will be available through preregistration and will also be live streamed at MediaVillagecomDean LawsonBorders emphasizes the importance of critical thinking skill building and succession planning when it comes to nurturing talent quotWe have to prepare people for succession planning If you get a candidate that comes out of Howard and they39re doing great in business what practices can we identify and formalize within the industry and organizations to ensure we39re doing the best job to bring other people along When it comes to diverse talent don39t tell me the pipeline isn39t there Where we have a gap is retention and promotion to the next levelquotDean Lodato who will make his first public appearance speaking to the media community at the Summit commented quotIntentionality has to be a part of this process You can39t simply enact a plan a system an idea and walk away from it Leaders have so many responsibilities and obligations It39s sort of an easy habit to say 39Okay I39ve got my person on this issue and I39ve signed off on the plan So we should be good39 We just can39t sign off like that and assume that everything is going to work out It takes a lot more effort In a corporate mindset and frankly even in an academic mindset diversity is one of those issues where we39ve got to do more I want to grow the numbers of diverse students faculty and staff but just because I do doesn39t solve the problem There39s a whole ecosystem in the building there39s a culture in the building there39s accessibility to leadership in the building All of these things play to the issues we39re talking about We need to intentionally make diversity a priority and intentionally assure the organization focuses on achieving key goalsquotUVA39s Press commented in a preSummit conversation quotI39m excited to hear industry people talk about fixing problems of diversity while equally anxious to share the structure of the education we39re providing our students because we are feeding them into media industries and watching them excel with skills that are both valued and in scarce supplyquotThe curation and launch of the Inaugural blacklist100 by Wright put a finer point on the quotpipeline versus retentionquot argument by creating a resource guide to Black leaders who are excelling across industries including media and advertising A living and interactive document the blacklist100 is a digital example of the type of talent that is available But says Wright corporate leaders must be honestly committed to changing the way leadership looks feels and operates Wright and Myers will engage in a keynote conversation to open the Summit followed by Myers39 conversation with Press LawsonBorders and Lodato Wright will join the panel for a concluding focus on key recommendations to the media communityThe discussion will include the need to move beyond data as a measure of success in advancing diversity As LawsonBorders pointed out quotdata doesn39t get to inclusion belonging equity and fair treatment Data isn39t enough We need to be judged by who we include not excludequot Lodato adds quotwe need to be more proactive and less reactive building diversity and inclusion into the culturequotMyers the nation39s leading practicing media ecologist has long maintained that education and diversity are core pillars to ensuring business growth The Media Education Summit manifests his commitment to quotsolutions that show just how the educational media and advertising communities can come together to create a more knowledgeable and diverse workforce and assure that we as an industry are doing all we can to attract and retain the best and the brightest mindsquotThe recent Call to Change announcement signed by over 600 media and advertising professionals establishes a roadmap to address diversity and is a shot across the bow of this longfestering issue MediaVillage has long championed the necessity of connecting academic thought leaders with industry practitioners to create a virtual circle of best practices quotAs an industry we have underperformed in every measure of diversity retention and nurturing a diverse talent pool in our workforcequot says Myers quotIt39s a proven fact that advancing education and diversity drives growthquotCOVID19 continues to be a disruptive force cutting across our professional and personal lives as we wrestle with displacement and new ways of connection Technology has been a vital way for many of us not only to continue to produce work but build relationships and maintain our commitment to ongoing learning As a byproduct of the quotnew abnormalquot we see an increase in digital communication and sessions that were previously designed for the physical world have found a home online In short our digital spaces are becoming even more cluttered than our physical calendars MediaVillage has staked out a lane with an emphasis on ongoing online education and advancing diversity as the most important pillars for growth The Summit conversation will include a discussion on plans for college reopening and virtual classroomsThis week39s Media Education Summit couldn39t be a timelier gathering of academics and professionals with the expressed desire to confront the existing shortcomings and opportunities within advertising and media The conversation and subsequent insights generated by this program are intended to be a valuable introductory curriculum for organization that is intentionally working to address these challenges This masterclass on how to use shared expertise to create more relevant and useful ways to link the pillars of education and diversity should not be missed Register for the inperson ZOOM conversation here and watch the live stream at wwwMediaVillagecomClick 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 MediaVillagecomMyersBizNetamp160

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Diversity & Intentionality: Building Bridges Between Media Professionals and Academia at Education Summit

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Philip McKenzie

We Are the Outliers - By Jack Myers

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