Tag: entertainment

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First Ever Hispanic Leadership Summit

“We are fragmented, underrepresented and misperceived, so we need to think less like 26 different nationalities and more as one community. In my heart, I know unification is what our Hispanic community lacks at this pivotal moment in history,” Claudia Romo Edelman

Today in New York City, the We Are All Humans Foundation has convened the first ever Hispanic Leadership Summit. Read more here from Claudia about this historic event in which more than 350 leaders will try to answer some key questions. Here is the link to the event’s website.

The questions asked focus on how to move forward as a community and how success will depend on:

  • Recognizing that the time is now for unifying.
  • Appreciating that we have a distinct window of opportunity before us.
  • Having the courage to address what gets in the way of our potential.
  • Believing our goals are achievable.
  • Accepting this invitation to act.

You can read Claudia’s blog post here: https://www.weareallhuman.org/vision/ and join the conversation via social media by following @WAAH_Foundation and Claudia Romo Edelman on Twitter, weare_allhuman on Instagram and the hashtag #HispanicSummit2018.

I recognize that by coming together to work toward common goals while amplifying the voices of the growing, diverse and dynamic Hispanic population, will ultimately drive positive change. I cannot wait to learn more about the discussion and outcomes from today.

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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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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!

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Heineken USA, Starbucks, Google, diversity in tech, Variety and more

Feels like a great morning when you wake up to a Google Doodle honoring Dr. Virginia Apgar for her contributions to neonatology and to read that Heineken USA named Maggie Timoney as its CEO – which as AdAge mentions, shatters the industry’s glass ceiling. This follows the announcement earlier this week that Mellody Hobson, which as Black Enterprise points out, “is one of the most respected and knowledgeable black business leaders” will become  vice chair at Starbucks when Howard Schultz steps down at the end of the month. This is all welcomed news because there is so much work to be done.  

As you may have read, Google employees spoke up about their concerns regarding diversity. Here is this from CNN:  “Google employee confronts execs over diversity: Many of us feel ‘unsafe.” This is an important story to follow, not only about Google but about the tech industry in general. Oh and Google voted the proposal down. Read Fortune’s CEO Daily for more on this. Here is a great read on what needs to happen to drive change, as this LA Times story says, as “diversity fatigue has set in.” There are a number of programs and initiatives trying to address this issue. Thank you Silvina Moschini for sharing this titled “How this coding bootcamp is helping women land tech jobs at Reddit, Facebook and Amazon.”

On the entertainment side, you may have read that Variety’s “A Night in the Writer’s Room” event because of its lack of representation of women. Read more on his this unfolded on Twitter.  You also may have read about The MACRO Episodic Lab Powered by The Black List.

One of my favorite Twitter accounts to follow is @writersofcolor – where opportunities and diverse talent connect because as the twitter bio says “we don’t want to hear *I can’t find any* ever again, okay?”

ICYMI “12 Quotes To Motivate CMOs To Make Diversity A Priority.”

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Cinco de Mayo, Top Companies for Diversity, New Boy Scouts Name, Girl Scouts response, plus more

As we head into the weekend there will be thousands of Cinco de Mayo celebrations around the country…and when I say country I mean the United States, not Mexico. Because as you can read here, here and here, it is not Mexican Independence Day and not as big a holiday in Mexico. Cassandra Jaramillo wrote this about how activists encouraged Cinco de Mayo to celebrate culture. Marketing, primarily by beer companies, is why the holiday is what it is today.  Companies spend millions, and so do consumers, but you have to be careful to not be offensive, as MSNBC, Golin, GMA and many others have learned.  Some Latinos dread the Holiday because of the stereotypes. Many of us can relate to this tweet from Laura Martinez.  

If you need more backup on why diversity matters, read this from Big Think titled “Diversity is more than a box to tick. It’s a smart business strategy.” Late last month Uber released its diversity report. This week the 2018 DiversityInc Top Companies for Diversity was released – the top three companies are Johnson & Johnson, Marriott International and AT&T.

This week we also saw the Boy Scouts drop “Boys” from its name and it is now being called “Scouts BSA” as they prepare to welcome girls. The Girl Scouts responded by saying they’ll remain the first choice for girls.

Some of the other stories I followed this week include this great read from Remezcla titled “How to Make it in Journalism,” this from MediaPost about what language to use for B2B marketing and the frustration from black lawmakers for the lack of diversity in tech.

This is one of my favorite “feel good stories” of the week, the two men arrested at Starbucks settled with the City of Philadelphia for $1 each and a commitment to create a $200,000 fund for young entrepreneurs. As CNN says here, they are paying it forward.

ICYMI – if you want to see Black Twitter in action, look up the #IfSlaveryWereAChoice hashtag and read more here.

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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.

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Men as Allies, Tony Robbins and #MeToo, Workforce Diversity Success Tips, Adweek, Variety, First Latina CEO & more

Last week I attended an event in which the importance of men as allies was discussed and then I read this in the Wall Street Journal titled “Men Learn How to Be ‘Allies,’ Without Fear, to Female Colleagues.” It includes research that says that 55% of men in the U.S. said they found it “harder for them to know how to interact with women at work, according to a new Pew Research Center Poll of more than 6,000 adults.”  That is why the example Tony Robbins gave this weekend about his high profile client is so disturbing. Why would Mr. Robbins not stop his client and call him on how wrong not hiring the female candidate was, the more qualified candidate, because she was attractive? He blamed the #MeToo movement. Mr. Robbins has apologized but my bigger question is what is he telling clients now? Maybe as a coach he could help him address his concerns in a way where women are not negatively impacted by HIS issues? He could become an ally. 

We will continue to see the theme of men as allies as an important part of positive change. In this post Melinda Gates  (which talks about much more and is an important read) she says, “Men, this is your invitation to be an ally.” For those interested in learning and doing more, I did find the Forté Men as Allies Initiative. The site includes research and resources and encourages men to create ally groups. You can find information here. Maybe Tony Robbins should look them up….

In other news, The Harvard Business Review recently published two interesting pieces: “5 Things We Learned About Creating a Successful Workplace Diversity Program” and  “How to Use Employee Referrals Without Giving Up Workplace Diversity.” Both include good tips as you continue to work to foster diversity in your organizations. Susan Wojcicki, YouTube CEO, also shared some good tips here for tech companies and Susan Giles wrote about why diversity is essential for innovation. This week CNN profiled Geisha Williams, CEO and President of PG&E Corp, who is the first Latina CEO of a major U.S. company.  

Congratulations to the incredible leaders celebrated in AdWeek’s “11 Inspiring Women Who Have Broken Down Advertising’s Most Persistent Barriers.” Variety also released its 2018 Power of Women New York Impact List. Here is the weekly update on the record breaking Black Panther, this past week it passed “The Titanic.’

ICYMI this by Julio Ricardo Varela titled “The trouble with being the ‘only Latino in the room’’ is another recommended read for the week.

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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.

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Diversity & March for Our Lives, the Box Office, Chance The Rapper, Intel’s Diversity Report & More

These past few days there has been extensive coverage about the March for Our Lives movement and the marches. Regardless of your politics you have to recognize and salute these students for what they have accomplished, in many instances as they grieved. Many of them opting, as The Onion reminded us, to do this instead of partying during Spring Break. What also is impressive is how the organizers of this movement have recognized that that they have an important platform, acknowledged their privilege and welcomed diversity. Some of the most impactful speeches and moments at the march were led by women and girls with diverse backgrounds. Probably the most talked about moment was Emma Gonzalez’s speech…and silence.  Then there were speeches by nine-year-old Yolanda Renee King, Dr. Martin Luther King’s granddaughter; 11-year-old Naomi Wadler’s and 17 year-old Edna Chavez. You can watch all of the speeches from DC here. Following the marches there have been some unfortunate moments including a post by Representative Steve King criticizing Emma. The only reason I highlight this is because the response from Monica Castillo in The Lily is a must read. Here is my favorite line because as a bilingual, bicultural immigrant, I can attest it’s true: “Most of us wear our biculturalism proudly every day. Maybe not on our clothes, but in how we celebrate our culture, our language, food or practices.”

If you missed this one, Chance the Rapper called out Heineken for an ad he called “terribly racist.” Read more here.  In one of his tweets he says he is “pointing out that alot of these marketing agencies are doing willfully so we overreact and tweet about it.” As far as this campaign goes, Heineken has removed the ad, which you can still find online. This is the latest brand missing the mark when it comes to diversity, and I do hope it is ignorance and not more. However, it is again a reminder on why diverse teams in advertising and marketing are important.  I don’t know if the team or agency changed from last year but not sure how the brand who did this ad called “Worlds Apart” could then do this one.

This week we’ve also seen a continued focus on diversity in media. Here is this story from CNN on how diversity is dominating the Box Office; Black Panther continues to break records; John Leguizamo announced he is expanding his studio to create more content for Latinos and there was an announcement that “One Day at a Time” was renewed for a third season after a social media campaign by fans.

Other news I am following this week include Intel’s diversity report, here is this from Portland “A School Board Member Complains to the Feds About the Quality of Education for Minority Kids in Portland,” this from USA Today titled “See Buffalo coach’s powerful words about diversity” and this guest commentary from Modern Healthcare on promoting diversity.

Congratulations to Tanzina Vega who has been named host of “The Takeaway.”  If you don’t follow her on Twitter, you should.

This week’s ICYMI is this analysis by Ronald Brownstein about diversity, an important read.

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LULAC and USHCC turmoil, cities leading with diversity, Google, Black Panther, Premio Lo Nuestro, Latinistas & more

I’ve had the honor of working with many Hispanic-focused organizations throughout my career and have been following the turmoil at two of these leading Hispanic-serving organizations closely. USHCC CEO stepped down following claims of “sexual and financial improprieties” and Fernand Fernandez has been named interim CEO as the organization conducts a search. The League of United Latin American Citizens faced its own turmoil. The embattled, elected president of the organization decided not to resign following controversy resulting from a letter he sent to President Trump which led to the CEO, who has been at the helm of the organization for 30 years, to resign. Here is a good piece from Suzanne Gamboa on how things transpired. LULAC was one of the first clients I worked with at Fleishman-Hillard as they were holding the conference in Dallas, Texas in the 1990s. We will have to wait and see what happens but it has been very moving to see the many comments on social media about the important impact Brent Wilkes had during his tenure at the organization. LULAC and USHCC have done great work for our community and it is disappointing to see this turn of events.  

The current turmoil at these two organizations is concerning to say the least as the community faces so many challenges. Raul Reyes has this great piece in The Hill touching on this.  Having said that, there is great work being done by these and other Hispanic-serving organizations including NALEO, UnidosUS (formerly called NCLR), MALDEF, Latino Donor Collaborative and professional groups including Prospanica (formerly called NSHMBA), HNBA, SHPE, and ALPFA to name a few. It is unfortunate that the issues facing two groups are taking away from the important work being done.

This story from PBS stating that cities are “pitching their diversity in order to lure businesses” caught my attention. It’ll be interesting if diversity plays a key role in Amazon’s decision for its second headquarters.

Other headlines this week include NLRB siding with Google and this from NBC regarding NASCAR’s two milestones this week as “Darrell “Bubba” Wallace, Jr. and tire changer Brehanna Daniels will make history during the Daytona 500 race weekend.”

Did you think I would ignore the premiere weekend of Black Panther? Of course not! This headline from the New York Times says it all : ‘Black Panther’ Smashes Box Office Records and Hollywood Myths. This from Peter Rubin is an important point and here is this from CNN. Here is also this Letitia Wright profile in Vanity Fair.  One of my favorites moments was this one, when Serena Williams surprised Black Girls Code students.

This week don’t miss Univision’s Premio Lo Nuestro as it celebrates its 30th anniversary. Read more here.

Finally, ICYMI, here is this great Makers interview of Yai Vargas from Latinistas. 

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