Tag: diversity

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Elections, Voter Suppression, Megyn Kelly, Intel, CFO Magazine, Diversity in PR plus more

We are less than a week away from the midterm elections and I hope the turnout reflects the energy I have seen online. Having said that, watch this interview with Chiqui Cartagena, on how both parties and many candidates do not understand Latino voters. Or this from NPR  about how candidates like Beto O’Rourke, who is running for the Senate in Texas, need to mobilize Latino voters to win. There is also this from Meet The Press in which Cristina Tzintzun Ramirez says, “you don’t win in #Texas unless you’re talking to brown and black voters.”

I like to keep an informal inventory of who is advertising on Univision while I watch its programming. For example, this week during the 10 pm telenovela, I was surprised to see mostly negative ads against the Democrats, note I live in Miami. In other words – there were was only one ad for a Democratic candidate. It will be interesting to see if any party or candidate understands the opportunities, and challenges, of engaging with this important segment which is very diverse. Another important story to follow next week will be voter suppression efforts which predominantly impact racial minorities, here is a good Washington Post piece on this specific issue. I’m proud to say that I’ve already voted – it was easy and seamless. 

Last week NBC canceled Megyn Kelly Today because of Kelly’s comments regarding “blackface,” so here is this from Nicholas Pearce, another recommended read, titled “Megyn Kelly’s ‘blackface’ comment shows workplace diversity isn’t enough.”

Here are additional stories that I am following this week including this from Forbes titled “Seven Ways To Close The Diversity And Inclusion Gap That Are Easier Than You Think,” “How To Improve Gender Diversity In Entertainment Through Social Networking,” “Making progress on tech’s diversity problem: A female founder’s take on the current situation” and “Intel Hits an Internal Goal for Workforce Diversity.” Bernard Coleman III wrote this on four diversity and inclusion disruptors in the workplace (one of my favorite topics) and here is this from CFO Magazine titled “The Economic Case for Diversity.”

I want to end this post with this video shared by a friend, Jeff Weintraub, “in memory of the victims and in honor of the wounded of Tree of Life Synagogue, Pittsburgh PA.”

Photo by Parker Johnson on Unsplash

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Arlan Hamilton, Elizabeth Gore, Melinda Gates, Carla Harris, Freada Kapor Klein and much more

This week’s blog post has a strong focus on women as you can see from the headline. I did not realize that until I was close to finalizing it.  So this morning one of the first tweets I saw, fortunately, was Arlan Hamilton on the cover of FastCompany. Here is the story here.  This photo Arlan shared was not quite my reaction but close to it. Read here on why Stephanie Mehta selected Arlan. Listen to her interview with Tanzina Vega on The Takeaway. I recommend you follow Arlan to see how, via Backstage Capital, she is disrupting the VC industry. 

Then later today I read this by Elizabeth Gore in Inc. She is absolutely right. I am grateful that I get to work with entrepreneurs and disruptors like Genius Plaza founder Ana Roca Castro and SheWorks! founder Silvina Moschini and other entrepreneurs who are making an impact and are a part of the #NewMajority.

Other interesting reads this week include “Dell, other tech giants team up to improve diversity in training pipeline,” “Beauty Is More Diverse Than Ever. But Is It Diverse Enough?,” “Fifty years of economic history proves that inclusive workplaces make us all richer,” “Female Role Models Empower Young Girls to Pursue STEM Careers in Latest Ad Council Campaign,” and this “Few minorities, only 45 Latinos, in U.S. House’s top staff jobs, report says.” Here is this report from Nielsen titled “From Consumers to Creators: The Digital Lives of Black Consumers.”  

I also recommend reading this from Melinda Gates on closing the gender tech gap and listen to Carla Harris’ podcast with Freada Kapor Klein on the “Leaky Tech Pipeline.”

ICYMI this is from the New York Times titled “As TV Seeks Diverse Writing Ranks, Rising Demand Meets Short Supply.”

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Crazy Rich Asians, Kelly Marie Tran, Washington Post, NPR, Marie Claire & More

This weekend I watched “Crazy Rich Asians” and it was such fun. Plus I love that, as many outlets noted, it once again proved the power of diversity. I also love the response by the Asian American community to the film, including this from Jane Mo or this from Kimberly Yam and of course the story about the letter sent to request the song Yellow from Cold Play. Then on Monday I was brought back to reality, about how much work needs to be done, after reading this from Kelly Marie Tran in the New York Times. I applaud her strength but saddened that we continue to see what she faces. Of course, the question now is what does the success of the film mean for Hollywood after the Box Office success of Black Panther, Coco and Crazy Rich Asians? More on that here and here. Plus this from Forbes on how “Latinos And (Crazy Rich) Asian Americans Are Hollywood’s Final Growth Frontier.” Patrice Tanaka, who you should also follow, has shared some great stories about Crazy Rich Asians and promoted the film, she did share this one that is critical of the movie.

I have been following the backlash the Washington Post received from Latino organizations and leaders over the story “White, and in the Minority.” The Columbia Journalism Review has this piece on the issues. I actually had reached out to the Washington Post before the NAHJ meeting and the CJR story were published because I had not seen a response. This is what I received, “The Washington Post has a long tradition of narrative reporting on the experiences of immigrants and minorities in America, as recent work by a number of Post reporters vividly demonstrates. Many of their stories recount the experiences of immigrants as they adapt to America and confront discrimination, shifting policies and other challenges. Terrence McCoy’s story captured the perspective of those who feel displaced by demographic change, by conveying what it is like for two white Americans who must themselves adapt to a new America. McCoy portrays their fear, resentment and xenophobia – as well as their responses to the attempts of their Latino co-workers to interact with them. McCoy’s work will continue to explore the emergence of a multicultural majority in America.” I leave the original article here, the piece from CJR and the response, so you can decide.

NPR also was criticized for the interview with hate group leader Jason Kessler, here is David Folkenflik on the backlash and read Brian Stelter’s piece on covering racists.

Other stories that i am following, this from CNN on the rise of Diversity & Inclusion jobs plus this on how to build a career in D&I; Citigroup’s three year goal to reverse its diversity failings; AARP has a new newsletter focused on African American women and Endeavor is now working with Papa John’s. If you are interested in D&I, the National Diversity Council offers a certification program. 

ICYMI Claudia Romo Edelman today shared that she was one of the special contributors for Marie Claire’s September issue focused on immigration. It is a must read! 

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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.”

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Diversity in PR, Karen Kahn from HP, #LatinoJobs, Accenture, D&I jobs, and Brookings report on diversity

I had missed this article regarding PR agencies and diversity and the author provides a lot of great insights and information. I do however believe many of the recommendations are already being implemented and that agencies need to rethink their approach as there is still significant work to be done. One point in the research that caught my attention was the lack of consensus on the definition of diversity. So I asked HP Chief Communications Officer Karen Kahn how the Company defines diversity. You see HP has taken a leadership role in this area so I wanted to learn about its approach. Karen said diversity is defined as “underrepresented groups – and as a global organization it differs by country.” What most impressed me about the conversation was the internal focus and how this has been discussed at length internally and that there is consensus. I think HP has gotten it right because for the leadership team diversity is not left to just one person or group within the company and there is a real commitment to look both at how to address internally and with partners and vendors. There’s a reason why it was recognized as company of the year for diversity by CIO magazine last year. I would encourage companies to make sure there is internal consensus and that everyone within the organization understands the definition as well as the approach so that they can engage and recognize their role in this effort.

Talking about HP, last week at Hispanicize the Company unveiled  the latest in the “Reinvent Mindsets” campaign. Created by Miami based agency Alma and it is titled #LatinoJobs.

Other news I am following, this Indeed report on the growth of D&I jobs, Accenture CEO discussing gender equality goals, watch what Adweek describes as “Maltesers’ Wonderfully Awkward Diversity Ads,” this Brookings Institution report titled “Black and Hispanic underrepresentation in tech: It’s time to change the equation” and  this from the Chicago Tribune titled “Black art spurs gold rush as collector stampede drives up prices,”

ICYMI, here is this week’s Black Panther update from Business Insider: ‘Black Panther’ has made 5 times as much money in the US as any other movie in 2018.

Photo by Ayo Ogunseinde on Unsplash

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Starbucks, Beyoncé, Cardi B, Morgan Stanley, the Pulitzer Prizes, Desiree Linden, Hispanicize & more

We continue to see the controversy of what happened at a Starbucks in Philadelphia play out, and the CEO will meet with the two men who were arrested. Here is this great piece from The Root that speaks to one of the themes that gained traction on social, why more voices need to speak up. Starbucks is now taking action but it seemed slow to respond, at least if you were following on social, and the first statement did not help. Here is a good piece on how it’s been managed. Most importantly, this from Melissa DePino who took the original video. Her closing is key: “People keep asking me what I hope will happen now, and I do have something to say about that. I hope that many more of us will say something when we see something, educate ourselves and join in an honest — even if it’s painful or uncomfortable — conversation about race, a conversation that needs to happen and is long overdue.” UPDATE: Starbucks announced that it is closing 8,000 U.S. stores temporarily on May 29 for racial-bias training.

Here is this from last year on why cultural perspective, including black twitter, is important.  So on that note, this weekend Coachella became Baychella. Beyoncé played a two hour set which from what I’ve seen was incredible and a celebration of black culture. The reviews say it all, read New York Times and Rolling Stone. She became the first black woman to headline the event and she also  announced $100,000 scholarship fund to black colleges. Here is one tweet that speaks to why we push back when we hear that there is no diverse talent. This weekend Cardi B also performed at Coachella and following her newest release is now “just the fifth female hip-hop musician to sore a No. 1 album.”  

Yesterday the Pulitzer prize winners were announced and Kendrik Lamar won for music and all I could think of was the GRAMMYs…and I wasn’t the only one. In addition, both the New York Times and The New Yorker were recognized for their coverage of the #MeToo Movement.

Morgan Stanley announced the second cohort of the its Multicultural Innovation Lab. Here is Carla Harris speaking about investing in diversity.

Other news I am following, The Collage Group released this report titled “The Big Shift: Multicultural Consumers Had a Strong Positive Impact on Most Industries over the Past Decade;” Nike’s diversity lead departs during review of corporate culture, Arianna Huffington talked about everyone needing to speak about diversity. Campaign US announced Campaign I&C Top 20  which “honors the brands and creative teams behind a new wave of advertising that reflects the richness and diversity of 21st century America.” Here is the site to nominate your ad. 

Yesterday was the Boston Marathon and  I am now a Desiree Linden fan, Not only because she is the first American woman to win the Boston Marathon since 1985 or because she is Latina. It is because she won after slowing down to wait for another American because she did not think she (Landen) would finish. A selfless act that speaks to leadership and teamwork.

Today is the first day of Hispanicize, follow online with the hashtag #Hispz18.

Congratulations to Shuronda Robinson for the 23rd anniversary of her agency Adisa Communications. Read her post here reflecting on her journey.  

ICYMI Heinz promoted its mayo-ketchup sauce, causing a twitter debate. I tasted it many years ago during a trip to Venezuela. I don’t like mayo so not my thing but I loved Goya’s response.

Photo by Autumn Goodman on Unsplash

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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 50 Years Later plus updates on the Tech Industry, Black Panther, Zara, Spotify, Pew Spanish Use Insights & more

This month is the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s final speech and his assassination.  There has been extensive coverage on broadcast, print and digital media  – just do a quick Google search.  Per USA Today, “Thousands of people are expected to rally in the nation’s capital Wednesday to mark 50 years since Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, all with the hope of finishing his work to end racism in the U.S.” Here is a list of five speeches written by Dr. King and that, as this article states, we should all read. Here is this interview from this weekend with Ambassador Andrew Young in which he reminds us that  “Martin Luther King Jr. ‘never lost faith in the American dream’.”

On the tech front, Jesse Jackson sent a letter to tech companies asking that they redouble their diversity efforts. Fast Company profiled Arlan Hamilton’s VC which is focused on funding inclusive companies.  D Magazine had a good recap of a conversation on diversity during Dallas Startup Week. Freddy Vaca from the Pinnacle Group had some good advice: “Be unique. Every company has its own story. Create yours.”

At this point I feel like I should just do a weekly update on which milestone Black Panther has achieved – this week it topped Jurassic Park as fourth-highest grossing movie of all time in the U.S.

Spotify is looking for women of color podcasters, learn more here; Pew Hispanic released new research on Hispanic parents use of Spanish read more here and according to news reports, Zara is using a diversity algorithm to scan clothing.

Congratulations to the inductees of its first-ever DiversityInc Top 50 Hall of Fame, to the 26 Women of Color Diversifying Entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley, Media & Beyond – proud to see Cheryl Contee on the list; and to the 2018 PRWeek Hall of Femme inductees.

Photo by James Motter on Unsplash

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Corporate Diversity, ThePowerofAll, Latino Startups, TimesUp/Advertising and more

He who controls the budget controls the output –  Antonio Lucio, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, HP. This is a must watch interview talking about his leadership in diversity.

This is probably one of the most talked about diversity stories this week:“It’s Up to White Men to Improve Tech’s Diversity, Says Uber Exec Bozoma Saint John.” I have to agree. Other recommended reading this week includes this from the Wall Street Journal titled “Small Changes Can Increase Corporate Diversity,” this one titled “Why Diverse Marketing Teams Possess A Competitive Edge,” and this one about Goldman Sachs Group plans to increase gender diversity.

Last week the Latino Donor Collaborative launched a month-long campaign to make sure that accurate facts about the contributions of Hispanics are being used – who would have thought that in 2018 this would be needed? Having worked at Univision for many years I know how difficult it can be to 1) get covered by general media (I actually had one reporter tell me he was not writing any more about Univision after one story because he had met his “quota” for the year);  2) that we are not seen as a niche, in many places we are actually the majority; and 3) that we are not monolithic, we are a diverse community. Yet there is still so much work to be done to change misconceptions and that is why this campaign is important. Congratulations to the Latino Donor Collaborative and Ana Valdez for a great initiative – a first, of its kind.

Staying on the Latino theme, here is this important read from Giovanni Rodriguez, “Stanford Study: Latino Startups Are Growing in Numbers But Are Unbanked.” This line caught my attention: “Latina business owners, many of whom perceive themselves as ‘not qualified’ to receive funding from financial institutions compared to men, even when holding firm size constant.” Something we need to address.

This week we also saw the release of the second annual 50 Most Powerful Latina women in corporate America from The Association of Latino Professionals for America (ALPFA) and published in Fortune. Get to know these amazing leaders, tap them as speakers, for boards and as mentors!

Another announcement this week that I am following is how women advertising leaders are partnering with Time’s Up – read more here. Also, remember how CES missed the mark with the keynote speakers? Seems Cannes Lions took a different approach and I must say the program looks fantastic.

This week’s ICYMI, here is Vogue Magazine’s profile on the women rebuilding Puerto Rico.

Photo by Jonathan Daniels on Unsplash

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The Oscars, Univision’s new initiative, The Leaky Tech Pipeline, The Future of Hispanics, UNITY shutting down, Rise of the Rest, Selena and more

The Oscars this past Sunday were a celebration of diversity with “The Shape of Water,” one of my favorite films, winning for best picture and best director; Jordan Peele winning for best original screenplay; “Coco” winning for best animated film and best song and “A Fantastic Woman” from Chile winning for best foreign-language film. There were many memorable moments, i.e. Rita Moreno presenting and Guillermo Del Toro winning, but for me personally the three most impactful moments were:

  1. Peele’s win and the reaction to the win, including this
  2. the lack of women standing when Frances McDormand asked all female nominees to stand (as Brian Stelter reminded us, only six of the 33 Oscar winners were women and there is much work to be done, read more here)
  3. seeing Dolores Huerta onstage because of her civil rights work

I am optimistic that the work being done by various organizations means this celebration will translate into more opportunities and access. [Post has been updated based on this breaking news.]

Univision recently launched a campaign titled “Se Habla USA.” Having worked there and seeing the passion, commitment and recognizing the incredible brand equity the company has, I decided to reach out to get more insight on the campaign. This is what Jessica Rodriguez, president and chief operating officer of UCI Networks, and chief marketing officer of Univision Communications Inc. shared: “Given the narrative around diversity, languages and culture in the past months, as a company that has in its DNA to stand up and represent the underrepresented, we saw an opportunity to use the power of our platforms to further instill a sense of pride.  Univision is enabling our community to truly celebrate the beautiful language of Español, Hispanic culture, and all the achievements they have brought to this country. Se Habla USA aims to create a positive narrative and unite all cultures that make this nation so great and successful.” Talking about Univision, congratulations to CEO Randy Falco and the other honorees of the National Hispanic Media Coalition’s 21st Annual Impact Awards.

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Last week Kapor Center for Social Impact unveiled “The Leaky Tech Pipeline.” Its “framework and website are meant to increase understanding of the causes of disparities in the technology ecosystem, raise awareness about effective strategies and stages for intervention, and drive the development and implementation of comprehensive solutions.” On the tech front, I learned about “Rise of the Rest” from an article in Wired. I think it is fantastic and would hope to see some border cities in Texas and New Mexico added to this effort in the near future.

On Friday I attended “The Future of Hispanics” conference, a project of The American Bar Foundation.  Here is the website created for this initiative which aims “to generate findings that can be utilized by organizations and individuals who work to advance justice for the Latino community.” It was an interesting conversation, the third conference to date. Having Dr. Eduardo Padron open by sharing his story was inspiring. The information and insight focused on Florida and Miami. As one attendee said, it was a very valuable discussion. Much more to come on this effort as the organization holds additional sessions across the country.

This week we also saw the report from MarketWatch titled “When a woman or person of color becomes CEO, white men have a strange reaction;” also this must-read piece in LinkedIn by Ashlene Nand titled “Ad Agencies Are Still So Shamefully White & It’s Affecting All Of Us;” and this from knowledge@wharton titled “How Firms Can do a Better Job of Leveraging Diversity.”

Last week it was announced the shutdown of UNITY, an umbrella organization for minority journalists. I had the opportunity to attend UNITY and found it an engaging and productive event, hopefully we’ll find other ways to have these groups come together.

Finally, in case you missed it, the regional grocery retail store HEB worked with Selena Quintanilla’s sister Suzette to create a reusable grocery bag with Selena’s image. The bags not only sold out but crashed the website. This was done more than for marketing, HEB is donating $25,000 as part of the collaboration.

Today I’m in DC for the International Women’s Day Forum convened by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and the U.S. Department of State, more on that next week.