Author: Monica Talan

Communications Strategist, Creator and Chief Editor “Talking Diversity” Blog. Passionate about diversity, education and driving change. "“Diversity is being invited to the party. Inclusion is being asked to dance." Vernā Myers
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Nonprofit diversity, Harvard, Vogue, Magazine Covers, Politics, Startups and the PR industry in the #MeToo era

Every day I save articles to include in the weekly blog post, and also do some searches to find some of the best coverage about diversity. That is why I appreciate it when some of you share articles I may have missed or catch a mistake and flag it for me. Thank you Xochitl Yañez for sharing this one focused on diversity in nonprofits, a very interesting read.

I also follow a number of individuals that share great content, including pieces they have written. Here is this from Monica Castillo focused on language, Ana Valdez shared this written by Miriam Rivera titled “How to be an ally in a diverse community,” One area that I focus on is startups, and follow leaders like Arlan Hamilton and Mandela SH Dixon and try to include articles like this piece on “105 black and latino founders who have raised $1mm+ in VC funding…”

One of the topics I talk about almost every week is that representation matters, which is why we we should celebrate that  “For the First Time, Black Women Will Run Four Schools at Harvard University,” and that, as the CNBC headline states, “Women are shattering records in the 2018 primaries with more than a dozen states still to go.”Another story on the politics side, in Michigan, the Democrats have an all-female statewide ticket.  On the entertainment side, the fact that black women are on a number of magazine covers this month is also something to celebrate. Also, if you missed this from Vogue about advice for your 20 year old self based on Beyonce’s cover story, it is a great read.

We do have a long way to go, which is why Tuesday was Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, read more here. This New York Times piece “When a Female C.E.O. Leaves, the Glass Ceiling is Restored” has great insights and data in general about women in the C suite.  

Finally, ICYMI, here is a must read post by Jane Randel, co-founder of Karp Randel, focused on #MeToo and the PR industry.

Thank you for reading and following. Please share any articles you think are important to include!

Photo by Charisse Kenion on Unsplash

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PRWeek 40 Under 40, Board Diversity, Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, Beth Ford, LeBron James & More

Every industry has “power” or “leadership” lists, conferences and events that are important validators, provide access and awareness and can be important both for companies and for individuals. Yes these are competitive. Yes they are time consuming. Yes many require an investment in time and many times funding.  Why are they important? You see those that are being recognized are getting access and potentially more opportunities. Representation matters. That is why every time we see a list, a panel or industry awards that lacks diversity we speak up. I’ve seen several lists recently that make me wonder what the barriers for having more diversity are – i.e. Adweek Power List. The most recent one PRWeek 40 Under 40. Now if you look at this year’s list, it is diverse, and according to editorial director Steve Barrett, it is the most diverse. However, I do wonder why there seems to be only one Hispanic and one Asian American on the list, especially if you look at the demographics. Steve says he sees this as an anomaly if you look at previous years. I believe him as I’ve seen first-hand PRWeek’s commitment to diversity, in fact they produced one of the best videos on the topic for the PR industry, so my questions in this instance are more to those that nominate professionals in our industry. Also, don’t get me wrong – yes every individual on that list deserves to be there. I am also not advocating for quotas, that would be a mistake, but I go back to the numbers and demographics. If this generation is more diverse, and if as I’ve been told, we are seeing more entry level diverse individuals in PR, why is this not reflected in this list? Are there barriers we are not thinking of? Could this impact the pipeline of Hispanic or Asian American talent in leadership roles in PR? Food for thought.

Board diversity continues to be another issue, and something getting coverage today because of CBS, this from the New York Times: “Mr. Moonves, 68, has been the chairman of the CBS board since 2016, and the majority of its 14 members started their tenures after he was appointed chief executive in 2006. Three of the 14 are women, and the board’s average age is 73.” Here is this 2017 report from Deloitte on board diversity, a recommended read. Also some good organizations to follow and work with on board diversity include Women Corporate Directors, The Executive Leadership Council, The Latino Corporate Directors Association and Ascend.

Other stories I am following this week, this Annenberg study that highlights the ongoing diversity issues in Hollywood, Latino leaders asking for Paramount boycott, “Venture Capitals Diversity Disaster,”and this from Forbes, “‘I Want To Hire Someone Who Is Nothing Like Me’: An Entrepreneur’s Approach To Diversity.”

Congratulations to Beth Ford, named Land O’Lakes president and CEO and breaking new barriers. I love this, “Two Kenyan Entrepreneurs Create and Afrocentric Stock Photo Marketplace,”  and of course the new LeBron James school. Watch his CNN interview here. Also congratulations to Jorge Plasencia and Ilia Calderon being honored by HPRA this year!

ICYMI “Your Career, Your Terms” is a resource for women. Created by Perry Yeatman she has great interviews that, as the site describes “provides insights and inspiration to help ambitious women have the careers and lives of their dreams.” Don’t miss the second season of “Your Career, Your Terms: Pivot Points.”

Photo by Andre Hunter on Unsplash

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NAHJ, NPR report, ClassPass, Blavity, LULAC, N.B.A., “Vida”, Adweek, Walmart, Goldman Sachs, Humanæ & more

Last week the National Association of Hispanic Journalists hosted its conference in Miami and I loved having the opportunity to visit with some amazing journalists – the featured photo is one group – thank you Olivia Tallet! While visiting with attendees I had numerous conversations about the lack of Latinos as sources and how many Latino journalists continue to work to change this. On that note, thank you Lulu Garcia-Navarro for sharing this and this from @NPR that validates my earlier posts of lack of representation of Latinos in media. Of course this is not just a problem at NPR, look at this from the Columbia Journalism Review. The list we started of Latino sources now has close to 100 entries, so if you need Latinos as sources, save this link! Plus thanks to the NPR piece I found this – which I love – #womenalsoknowstuff. You can register as a source here but note “To be listed on this site, you must have: (i) a Ph.D. in political science or be working towards a Ph.D. in political science or (ii) be employed in an academic political science department.” CJR is also compiling a list, here is a link to that list (save this link too) and the form to submit other names.

This week there are many reasons to celebrate including ClassPass raising $85 million in Series D, Blavity securing $6.5 million in funding, Mindy Marqués Gonzalez, executive editor of the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald, was inducted into the NAHJ Hall of Fame, I posted about two Latina entrepreneurs being profiled in key media publications this past weekend, LULAC selected Sindy Benavides as its first woman CEO and a first generation immigrant and Domingo Garcia was elected president. I had missed this article on five women mobilizing the Latino community for the midterms which includes Sindy. Also loved this story from the New York Times: “N.B.A. Power Brokers Gather, With No Men Allowed.”

Of course there is still so much work to do, which as Cindy Gallop points out is evidenced in Adweek’s Power list which only features 12 women and no African Americans. 

Stories I am following this week include “This VR Founder Wants to Gamify Empathy to Reduce Racial Bias,” “How Latinos Are Shaping America’s Future,” “Possible key to black boys’ academic success: Hire black men as elementary school teachers,” Walmart investing $2 million in “diversity internships,” and Goldman Sachs has named Erika Irish Brown as its new chief diversity officer. 

Other stories include this from NBC News about Diane Guerrero’s new book titled “My Family Divided,” this from FastCompany about sunscreen startups catering to “long-ignored minorities,” and this New York Times apology for its Los Angeles travel story – another example of the importance of having diverse talent in newsrooms.  Actually after you read the New York Times piece that led to the apology, read this about the show “Vida,” written by two Latina writers.  For more stories on Latinos, here is this week’s Latinx Collective.

ICYMI, watch this great TED Talk: “The beauty of human skin every color.” Not new but something that I read about this week.

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World Cup, The LAGRANT Foundation, Latinx Collective, Facebook, Spotify, Staff Up Congress & more

The World Cup is a global celebration, and as I think most would agree, diversity was a big winner! Grant Wahl, one of my favorite soccer reporters, has this great commentary.

This year the LAGRANT Foundation celebrates its 20th anniversary. This is an important milestone for an organization that has had a great impact in creating access for diverse professionals in PR. The Foundation, led by Kim Hunter, has awarded more than $2.1 million in scholarships to 400 students since its inception. You can learn more about the great work they do here. Congratulations to the LAGRANT Foundation team! 

Every summer a number of organizations serving diverse communities host their conferences, including NALEO in Phoenix,  NAACP in San Antonio, LULAC in Phoenix, UnidosUS in Washington DC, Essence Fest, NAHJ here in Miami and NABJ in Detroit. Most are listed in the events calendar here because they are important venues to connect with their constituents and learn about the opportunities and challenges they are facing. I’ll be updating this soon. Please share any additional events to be added.

Thank you to the Latinx Collective for including us this week – it helped me discover, follow and become a fan. If you don’t follow, you should! 

Here are a few headlines from last week including “West Point Gets 1st Black Superintendent in 216-Year History,” “Two New Multi-Million Dollar Funds Aim To Level The Playing Field For Women Founders And Creators of Color,” “Lack of diversity in top orchestras remains a major challenge for musicians of color” and this from The Hill titled “Latino Staffers Who Call the Shots on Capitol Hill.”  

In addition, we continue to hear about diversity challenges in tech. Facebook and Spotify released their annual diversity reports, both showing slow progress – if any; and Uber faced new issues. Here is this interesting read from Fast Company.  Here are good reads that speak to the experience of diverse professionals in tech, this from Ana Arias Gonzalez and this Stacy Brown-Philpot profile.

ICYMI Staff Up Congress is a a joint campaign between the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund and the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies working to “increase senior-level diversity.” Learn more here.

Photo by Oliver Cole on Unsplash

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The business case for diversity, L’Oréal, Nike, Amplify, DirecTV, diversity in finance, groups driving engagement and more

I want to thank those who have added names to the list of Latino sources for media, we are now up to 90. The list is open for anyone who wants to make additions.

We continue to see studies that speak to the business case for diversity. Here is this from Harvard Business Review which finds that “Diversity significantly improves financial performance on measures such as profitable investments at the individual portfolio-company level and overall fund returns.” In addition to the findings, it includes “evidenced-based recommendations.”

Other good reads this week, L’Oréal shared some diversity best practices as a member of the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion, read this from the Company’s CEO. There are many debates on how to fight bias and promote diversity. Here is this from Fast Company. Forbes published this titled  “Seven Ways To Address The Diversity Problem In Finance.” Here is this piece titled “Inside Nike’s purge: More than a #MeToo moment,” and this: “U.S. Bus Tour Promotes Unconscious-Bias Discussion.”

If you try to engage diverse audiences, you know there are many groups and organizations focused on driving engagement. For example, Ben Finzel created a LGBTQ networking group in DC, read more here. Christy Haubegger, who founded Latina Magazine, launched “the most comprehensive site for underrepresented writers” and it is called Amplify, learn more here.   Also, DirecTV and Reese Witherspoon announced a new production deal.

ICYMI here is this great piece by Esmeralda Bermudez where she asked people how language has shaped their world. Having moved to the U.S. when I was ten, I will always be grateful to my mother for ensuring we spoke Spanish. Being bilingual has enriched me personally and opened many doors professionally.

Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

 

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Let’s crowdsource a list of Latinos for Sunday news shows and media in general

Earlier this week I posted a blog with 50 Latinos that TV bookers and media in general could tap to talk about the Hispanic experience. Thank you for the comments and feedback, which tells me this was a much needed starting point – and this is a starting point. Enrique Acevedo said “We can all benefit from more diversity, not only of gender and race, but age and points of view as well.” Of course I agree but as I told him that doesn’t mean having the conversation of the lack of Latinos on Sunday and news shows is not important. The elections this year proves – and in particular this week in New York –  that age and gender diversity are key too.

Mariela Azcuy recommended making this a public list that others could add to – and others agreed. So here is a link to a document that you can help add names to and I’ll post an update next week. Have others to add? Go! http://bit.ly/LatinoSources

Photo by William White on Unsplash

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Dear TV bookers: Here’s a list of 50 Latinos

For many Latinos who follow Sunday and political shows closely it is extremely frustrating to see the lack of Hispanic representation in media. This is not new – here is this article from last year and there is this Media Matters report. The issue came to a head this week because as the top story in the country is about immigration, the Sunday shows only had one Latino headliner. This not only resulted in headlines but also in a number of twitter conversations including this one and this one. One of my top tweets thus far (and if you follow me you know I am active on twitter) was recommending to Brian Stelter that he host a segment focused on the lack of Latinos on Sunday shows (and hope to see this soon!)

Here is the thing – and read this also from Media Matters on the topic – Latinos should be invited not only to talk about immigration but to address any and all issues. Latinos represent close to 18 percent of the country, we are very diverse, speak English or Spanish or both or more than two languages. We care about education, the economy, entrepreneurship, healthcare and much, much more. There are conservative, moderate and progressive. We are very diverse. So why are we not at the table?

I have had many conversations on this issue but if I’ve learned something these past few years is that it is not enough to complain or talk about an issue – you need to do something. So here is my small contribution – a list of 50 Latinos that could be invited to these shows. Not all to talk about immigration, some on business or other issues. I hope any and all TV booker can use this list for morning shows, Sunday shows or any news segment. These are just a select 50, trust me locally and nationally there are many more. There are also many in other fields from healthcare, to marketing to entertainment not included but that may be a future post. I also have not added elected officials because you can find them by reaching out to NALEO, CHCI and CHLI. Of course feel free to add any other names to the comments section below.

Finally, this Sunday, as John Oliver covered on his show this past weekend, Mexico elects a new president. So bookers keep in mind that there are many very knowledgeable  individuals you can invite to your shows including former Ambassador Tony Garza, Dallas Morning News reporter Alfredo Corchado, Jorge Ramos or Enrique Acevedo from Univision, Maria Elena Salinas who is an independent award-winning journalist, Laura Martinez from CNET or Leon Krauze who is a Univision anchor in Los Angeles who moderated a Mexican presidential debate.

Trust me there are many knowledgeable, eloquent Hispanics who would be great sources for your shows. As this is not an all encompassing list but hopefully helps demonstrate why there is no reason for a lack of representation.

Journalists (this list is just a few – NAHJ is a resource to identify more).

Tanzina Vega Host, The Takeaway https://twitter.com/tanzinavega
Suzanne Gamboa NBC https://twitter.com/SuzGamboa
Alfredo Corchado Dallas Morning News https://twitter.com/ajcorchado
Maria Elena Salinas Independent https://twitter.com/MariaESalinas
Maria Hinojosa Pres-Futuro Media Group; anchor & EP @LatinoUSA @NPR, https://twitter.com/Maria_Hinojosa
Jorge Ramos Univision https://twitter.com/jorgeramosnews
Enrique Acevedo Univision https://twitter.com/Enrique_Acevedo
Leon Krauze Univision https://twitter.com/LeonKrauze
Laura Martinez CNET https://twitter.com/miblogestublog
Jose Diaz-Balart Telemundo https://twitter.com/jdbalart
Mariana Atencio MSNBC https://twitter.com/marianaatencio
Lulu Garcia-Navarro NPR https://twitter.com/lourdesgnavarro
Julio Ricardo Varela In The Thick https://twitter.com/julito77
Olivia Tallet Houston Chronicle https://twitter.com/oliviaptallet
Charo Enriquez New York Times https://twitter.com/charohenriquez?lang=en
Veronica Villafañe Forbes https://twitter.com/veronicav

Hispanic-serving organizations (the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda also is a resource to identify others).

Janet Murguia NCLR https://twitter.com/JMurguia_Unidos
Arturo Vargas NALEO https://twitter.com/ArturoNALEO
Sindy Benavides LULAC https://twitter.com/SindyBenavides
Fernand Fernandez USHCC https://ushcc.com/about/team/
Thomas A. Saenz MALDEF https://twitter.com/ThomasASaenz
María Teresa Kumar Voto Latino https://twitter.com/MariaTeresa1
Ana Valdez Latino Donor Collaborative https://twitter.com/LDCAna1
Alex Nogales National Hispanic Media Coalition https://twitter.com/alexcnogales
Cid Wilson HACR https://twitter.com/CidWilson

Politics/pundits

Ana Navarro CNN contributor https://twitter.com/ananavarro
Maria Cardona CNN Commentator/

Latinovations

 https://twitter.com/MariaTCardona
Victoria M. DeFrancesco Soto Political scientist https://twitter.com/DrVMDS
Leslie Sanchez CBS News contributor https://twitter.com/LeslieSanchez
Ruben Navarrette Navarrette Nation podcast https://twitter.com/RubenNavarrette
Laura Hernandez Pescador https://twitter.com/Laurajhv
Matt Barreto Latino Decisions https://twitter.com/realMABarreto
Cristina Tzintzun JOLT https://twitter.com/TzintzunCris

Business/entrepreneurship/general (these are just a few names but here is this list of 50 Latinas and this one of Latina Tech Founders).

Carlos Gutierrez Former Secretary of Commerce https://twitter.com/carlosgutierrez
Henry Cisneros Former HUD secretary https://twitter.com/henrygcisneros
Nina Vaca Pinnacle Group https://twitter.com/ninavaca
Jessica Rodriguez Univision Communications Inc. https://twitter.com/_RodriguezJess
Monica Lozano College Futures Foundation https://www.linkedin.com/in/monica-lozano-7524666/
Sol Trujillo Trujillo Group Investments, LLC https://www.linkedin.com/in/soltrujillo/
Pedro Pizarro Edison International https://www.linkedin.com/in/pedro-pizarro-087a5287/
Oscar Muñoz United Airlines https://www.linkedin.com/in/oscarmunozua/
Marcelo Claure CEO Softbank Group Int’l, https://twitter.com/marceloclaure
Cesar Conde NBC Telemundo https://twitter.com/cesarconde_
Geisha Williams CEO and President, PG&E http://fortune.com/2018/03/14/most-powerful-latinas-2018/
Claudia Romo Edelman Co-Host @GlobalsGoalsCast https://twitter.com/claudiagonzalez
Adriana Cisneros Cisneros https://twitter.com/cisnerosadriana
Charles Garcia ALPFA https://twitter.com/charlespgarcia
Chiqui Cartagena Hispanic marketing expert and author https://twitter.com/ChiquiCartagena
Silvina Moschini SheWorks! https://twitter.com/Miss_Internet
Ana Roca Castro Genius Plaza https://twitter.com/AnaRC

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

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How one startup is working to break the barriers that separate talent from opportunity for women

Usually I don’t dedicate a blog post to only one topic but I’ve decided to do more than one post this week and what better way to start than talking about women empowerment. Yesterday I had the privilege of joining Silvina Moschini as she unveiled the collaboration of her social impact startup SheWorks! with EY. It was a very proud moment as I’ve had a first row seat watching someone who understands and believes in the work she is doing to use technology to make an impact – as she says “breaking the barriers that separate talent from opportunity.”  Her vision, passion and commitment, coupled with the technology, are why she has been able to attract top tech companies and brands, as well as small enterprises who are being powered by SheWorks! talent. I am fortunate to be a part of the team helping to ensure that more women can pursue their professional aspirations on their own terms.

Some stats to keep in mind:

  • Every year, millions of highly qualified women opt-out of the job market due to inflexible work environments. Approximately 50% of American women with children quit their jobs due to lack of options to maintain a satisfactory work/life balance.
  • Closing the employment participation gap has the potential to create $4 trillion dollars impact in the U.S. economy alone and a global value of $17 trillion,
  • It will take until 2095 to achieve global gender parity in the workplace.

EY as founding sponsor of SheWorks! is walking the talk – in fact the announcement yesterday included a commitment to use SheWorks! to create opportunities for 100,000 women by 2020. Learn more about the announcement here. Julie Teigland, EY Regional Managing Partner—Germany, Switzerland and Austria and EY Global Leader-elect, Women. Fast forward said, “Every year, millions of professional women leave the workforce because they cannot find the flexibility they need to balance work and life. We’re excited to start this collaboration as we believe that SheWorks! is doing something exceptional in working to ensure that women and girls can increasingly benefit from the use of innovative technologies to join the workforce and they can play a role into the economic development.”

Visit www.wheresheworks.com, follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn and follow the conversation using #whereareyouworking #whereareyouworkingtoday #womenfastforward.

Congratulations to the amazing teams at EY and at SheWorks!.

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Juneteenth, diversity in the AI sector, pregnancy discrimination, women founders, Carnival, P&G & more

Today is Juneteenth, read more about a holiday called “our country’s second independence day.”

The top recommended reads for me this week were this one from the New York Times regarding pregnancy discrimination and this piece written by Rachel Noerdlinger and titled  “Let’s bury the word ‘diversity’ and listen to communities of color before a crisis hits.”

“There’s no point having the Internet of everything if you don’t have the Internet of everyone.” Watch this great interview with Mastercard vice chairman Ann Cairns on the importance of diversity in the artificial intelligence sector.

Additional stories I am following this week include this on how to promote D&I in your office, this from Carnival Corporation’s CEO where he speaks about how diversity drives innovation, this piece from AdAge, “We are the 0.1%: why the ad world needs more female founders.” Also Inc.’s story on a new report showing gains made by black women in raising venture capital, but mainly about how much work needs to be done and this post by Isaac Mizrahi titled “Forget Relationship Breakup; Young Multiculturals Lead The Digital Breakup.” There was also this list of the best CEOs for women from CNBC. Alex Konrad points out that it is missing women CEOs, a point addressed in the story and this from CNN about P&G “The world’s biggest advertiser wants women to produce half of its ads.”

ICYMI this titled “Food Truck Serves Up Tacos to Unite Latinos And Muslims.”

Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

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Pew Research on Diversity, HP, GM, Google, from diversity to equality, diversity in film critics & more

As we continue to celebrate pride month, Pamela Aquino posted this on her LinkedIn: “The next journey for the corporate world is from diversity to equality for LGBTQ employees.” 

If you missed this report from Pew Research, it is a much needed read as we hear about, and see, the divide in our country: “Most Americans express positive views of country’s growing racial and ethnic diversity.”

Here are two items from Alan Murray’s newsletter this morning, one of my daily must reads, he shared this about HPs CEO commitment to diversity. And this: Dhivya Suryadevera is GMs new CFO. Per Murray, “GM will enter rare Fortune 500 territory as one of only two companies with a female CFO and a female CEO.”

This week we had more elections and saw more women winning – so as Kelly Grace Gibson writes, “Women are running and winning in record numbers. Is DC ready?”

A USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative study found that “in 2017, only 2.5% of top critics were women of color, while 80% of film critics who reviewed the year’s top box-office movies were male.” This gained some headlines, and more after Brie Larson called for more inclusivity.

Other stories this week include Google’s diversity numbers, diversity in dance music, this story titled “Amazon chasing Netflix for black content creators,” and also reading about more black women running startups.

ICYMI watch this inspiring graduation speech .

Photo by Kirsty Lee on Unsplash