Verizon's Diego Scotti on Companies Having Social Responsibility at Their Core

AdFellows started as a strategic way of making progress in advancing diversity and inclusionamp160 quotA company might be great at attracting diverse talent but if you cannot create a conducive and inclusive environment to keep them you don39t have progressquot Scotti saysamp160 quotI believe in progress not quotasamp160 It39s a fallacy to believe that if we fix the pipeline everything is goodquotamp160 In collaboration with Verizon39s roster of agencies diverse candidates are placed into an eightmonth job rotationamp160 Last year39s inaugural program graduated 20 AdFellows followed by 30 this yearamp160 quotIt39s a onetwo punchquot Scotti explainsamp160 quotWe work on the topline issue of bringing more diverse candidates into the recruitment processamp160 We hope they39ll stay with an agency or Verizon but our commitment transcends wherever they areamp160 Once you39re an AdFellow you39re always an AdFellowamp160 Ongoing mentorship needs to be a part of the processamp160 We have incredible momentum and we39re hoping for hundreds of AdFellows in years to comequotOur next goal for the AdFellows program is to get CMOs from other companies to joinquot he continuesamp160 quotIt39s not very costlyamp160 It39s more the dedication and conviction to do itquotamp160 For those interested Verizon and partner agencies are making the knowhow materials and curriculum availableamp160 Scottiamp160calls it quotAdFellows in a boxquotAs heamp160looks back on the graduating classes of AdFellows he39s been especially moved by the individual stories quotThe numbers are important but not as important as the impact you can have on one person and their familyquot he notesamp160 quotIt39s amazingamp160 Changing the life of a person and opening possibilities for them is hugequotScotti experienced a unique introduction to the benefits of an inclusive environment when he led the marketing department at Conde Nast39s Vogue where he was one of three menamp160 He landed there after almost a decade at American Express which he joined in Miami as a 24 year old in 1997amp160 quotI learned from the experience and from a creative group of people who thrived on diversityquot he saysamp160 A native of Argentina he had not experienced cultural distinctions or bias in the workplace until he arrived in the USamp160 He acknowledges he39s been quotprivileged to be embraced by some wonderful mentors throughout my careeramp160 Being part of a community and support network of expats helped me to navigate success when I arrived at Amex That experience made clear the importance of community and how community drives important issues for a company and societyquotScotti feels quotboth a sense of responsibility to create change and to communicate how it39s good for businessamp160 There are very tangible benefits of diversity in the work placeamp160 If you do not have diverse points of view in creating plans and in everything we do we do not have the same benefits You need to have a culture of accountabilityamp160 If you don39t have it progress doesn39t happenquotamp160 The company has formed a diversity councilamp160comprised of agency heads and Verizon executivesamp160to meet quarterly to ensure a culture of accountabilityamp160Verizon he points out is a company that has cared about diversity for a long time and has conducted unconscious bias training for every one of the company39s 1500000 employeesamp160 quotFor the AdFellows program by involving all of our 21 agencies who account for 1700 employees we came together to make progressquot he saysamp160 quotThere39s a tendency for companies to do their own thing but when we can coordinate efforts behind a consistent objective we make a greater impactquotamp160 Scotti and Verizon are also active supporters of the Ad Council and he is the incoming chairman of the diversity task forceFastforwarding into today39s industryamp160recognizing social responsibility as a core company strategy is a priorityamp160 Verizon he shares quothas an active philanthropic program and has invested hundreds of millions in educationamp160 quotBut if the only thing we do is philanthropic we are only scratching the surfacequot he explainsamp160 quotRunning a socially responsible business has to be part of the company strategyamp160 How do we think about the supply chain Energy useamp160 The environmentamp160 How we treat employeesamp160 Data privacyamp160 Equal payamp160 The next frontier is to go from a company that39s very good at doing things that are socially responsible to an endtoend strategy of being socially responsibleamp160 It39s not only about philanthropy but running every aspect of the business through a filter of social responsibility amp160to be a business with social responsibility at its corequotOn January 9amp160at the ARIA Conference Center Verizon and Scotti will be inducted into the Diversity Hall of Honors along with PampampG and its Chief Brand Officer Marc Pritchard the ANA and its president Bob Liodice the 3 Movement Kat Gordon the NBA FreetheBid Alma Harel Budweiser Ricardo Marquesamp160and Madonna Badger Badger ampamp Wintersamp160 The Advancing Diversity Hall of Honors is being underwritten by more than 30 media advertising and marketing companies under the auspices of AdvancingDiversityorg and MediaVillageamp160 At the event Sundance Institute will curate the industry39s first Creative Tension an immersive and engaging audience experienceamp160 More than 12 companies will also host an Inclusive Job Fair welcoming CES attendees to learn about career opportunities in media advertising and marketingamp160 Details for the Advancing Diversity Hall of Honors and the Inclusive Job Fair are available atamp160AdvancingDiversityorg and by contactingamp160karlamediavillagecomMary Ellen Holden contributed to this articleClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Verizon's Diego Scotti on Companies Having Social Responsibility at Their Core

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