As the industry works to navigate a new normal, Leroy’s role expanded after the merger to a combined division spanning more than 1,500 employees across multiple departments. She’s working to implement high-impact initiatives to advance diversity, inclusion, equity and social impact. She launched the Women’s Leadership Network at the company, a program designed to engage senior client and agency women leaders with the goal of growing female leadership. She also further expanded the ReThink Speaker series, growing it from 2,500 live stream views to over 4,000 views and over 70 storytellers and innovators. “Representation matters, so a sustained commitment to elevating diverse voices and stories, as well as developing diverse talent in front of and behind the camera, is important now, more than ever, in delivering authentic content across multiple platforms,” she says.
The conversation about racial injustice in 2020 has been… a breakthrough moment to champion diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in organizations across our industry.
In what ways can companies best show a sincere commitment to diversity and inclusion?
Companies can best show a sincere commitment to diversity and inclusion by building an equitable workplace, from entry-level to C-Suite, that truly reflects the multi-cultural audiences, consumers and communities our industry proudly serves. Recruiting and hiring a diverse pipeline of talent is not the final step. In order for any individual to rise and thrive professionally, the company culture must be dedicated to investing in opportunities for all employees, regardless of ethnicity or gender, to foster mentorship, executive sponsorship and promotion.
What initiatives in our industry best embrace diversity?
Our industry best embraces diversity by leveraging the collective power of storytelling and social impact campaigns. From news and sports to entertainment programming, media plays a pivotal role in galvanizing public support and inspiring action towards social change. Representation matters, so a sustained commitment to elevating diverse voices and stories, as well as developing diverse talent in front of and behind the camera, is important now, more than ever, in delivering authentic content across multiple platforms.
