The awards recognize and honor best practices for advancing diversity and inclusion and were created last year by one of the advertising and media industry's best-known thought leaders, Jack Myers. They're produced by Myers' AdvancingDiversity.org and will be held January 9 in Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show -- specifically at the ARIA Hotel Conference Center, where more than 400 CES attendees are expected.
The 2019 Advancing Diversity Hall of Honors ceremony takes a fresh approach to awards programs. In an experiential format created in 2014 by the Sundance Institute and the design and consulting firm IDEO called "Creative Tensions," a moderator leads 100% of the attendees in exploring attitudes, conflicts and challenges. The objective is to find a path to the middle in solving common problems. At the Advancing Diversity Hall of Honors the honorees themselves will serve as catalysts -- or provocateurs -- in the group discussions.
Eight executives in media, marketing and advertising are being inducted, including:
- Madonna Badger, CCO and Founder, Badger & Winters, for gender equality in advertising.
- Kat Gordon, Founder + CEO of The 3% Movement.
- Alma Har'el, Director and Founder of #FreeTheBid.
- Pam El, CMO of the NBA, for gender and diversity leadership.
- Bob Liodice, CEO, Association of National Advertisers, for its Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing.
- Ricardo Marques, Anheuser-Busch InBev Group Vice President of Marketing Core & Value Brands, for Budweiser's diversity & inclusion campaigns.
- Marc Pritchard, Chief Brand Officer, P&G, for diversity leadership.
- Diego Scotti, CMO, Verizon, for its AdFellows Initiative.
The program is followed by the Inclusive Talent Job Fair, with recruiters from the world's biggest agencies, tech companies and media brands. It's designed to be a natural complement to the awards -- honoring diversity in the workforce and creating opportunities for those entering the field.
Originally published at Forbes.com on November 6, 2018 by contributor