To Create Pathways to More Diversity, FreeWheel Advances Industry Connections

To provide support Comcast39s FreeWheel published a list of organizations curated by the FreeWheel Council for Premium Video39s FWC Diversity Equity ampamp Inclusion Committee titled quotBIPOC Advertising Tech ampamp Marketing Orgs You Need to Knowquot The list features organizations that offer mentorship opportunities hiring and recruitment thought leadership and content creation BIPOC is Black Indigenous and People of ColorBy offering easy access to information the FWC aims to raise the visibility of underrepresented community organizations and create pathways to more diversity in advertising media marketing and technologyquotThere are groups out there people might not be aware of that are doing great things to increase diversity and also to increase the differences in thought leadership to make better products for our users and as well as our clientsquot said Jermaine Roseman a council member and senior director of advanced ad solutions at AE NetworksSeveral wellestablished groups lead the way For more than four decades The National Association for Multiethnicity in Communications or NAMIC has worked to educate and advocate for multiethnic diversity across the communications industry NAMIC partners with leading companies to identify and develop diverse talent To advance their careers members have access to education training and resourcesSimilarly the International Radio ampamp Television Society IRTS Foundation offers mentorship programs internships industry events and academic training to promote diversity in media For 35 years the foundation has worked to make media more representative of today39s multicultural society and modern media consumersAcross the media and advertising industries companies are dedicated to increasing diversity in their ranks and hiring more people of color When hiring managers say they can39t find qualified candidates of color Darren Sherriff vice president advertising ampamp technology solutions at Fox and another council member contends they aren39t looking hard enough He challenges managers to look beyond their social network and tap into the resources offered by DampampI organizationsquotThese organizations help prepare the next generation for these types of rolesquot he said quotLists like this help break through that mold and help bring awareness that you shouldn39t just recruit someone because you know them you should recruit someone because they are qualified and capablequotTo that end several organizations are dedicated to advancing diversity in both entry level and Csuites The National Black MBA Association focuses on growth opportunities for African American MBAholders from their days as students to entrepreneurs and professionalsFor women of color HireBlack is an HR and recruitment imitative that has helped 10000 black women get trained hired and promoted The group started by assisting 19 women with their job search has grown to a network of more than 3000 membersSpecialty organizations that serve marketing and advertising technology and sales and technology are gaining strengthquotThe goal of a lot of these organizations is how to break down walls to educate folks who are interested in media but might only think about the creative side and don39t understand there is a business sector of media and how to get into itquot Roseman saidThe Ad Tech Collective provides opportunities for black individuals in ad tech to connect and collaborate The group also offers research professional development and events around the ad tech industryTo promote diversity in sales the Media Sales Institute recruits and trains sales candidates who want to work in media sales MSI recruits and educates highquality prospects and helps nurture future sales executives For radio and television broadcasters the National Association of Blackowned Broadcasters NABOB is the industry39s only group for African American station owners NABOB strives to provide a voice for black broadcasters and address their specific concernsOn the creative side Blacks Who Design brings together black designers and highlights their work Their objective is to inspire new designers and promote BIPOC design work ADCOLOR spotlights diversity and inclusion in creative businesses It helps nurture young professionals trying to advance their career and also provides mentorship and professional development support Similarly Hue advances people of color in marketing with an eye to help them reach executive ranksNurturing younger generations is a key path to building future diversity For aspiring ad executives AdCamp run by the American Advertising Federation provides high school students with an entramp233e to the advertising industry Students engage in education activities corporate immersion and even interactions with real clients For engineering candidates the National Society of Black Engineers one of the largest studentgoverned organizations in the country promotes careers in engineering and technology and offers support for high school and college students aspiring to those fieldsSherriff implored companies to support such programs quotIf we39re not investing in those candidates at an early age of course the well will run dry down the roadquot he saidFrom wellestablished groups like NAMIC and IRTS to newer entrants that serve a specific niche diversityfocused groups are critical to creating a more diverse advertising and marketing industry and making businesses more reflective of the consumers that they serve The FreeWheel Council is advancing their efforts and also working to inspire change at member companiesquotWe can leverage our resources and the networks we have to educate leaders in companies so they can communicate with their organizations and help diversifyquot said RosemanquotThese councils only really work as much as we can share and leverage each other to enact changequot Sherriff added quotHopefully then there is a steady stream of change that happensquotTo see the full list of BIPOC Advertising Tech ampamp Markeitng organizationsamp160 click hereClick 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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To Create Pathways to More Diversity, FreeWheel Advances Industry Connections

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Alli Romano

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