From Witnesses to Activists — It’s Time for Substantial Change in Our Industry
Nations are awakening now, people are protesting for the right to breathe, the right to live, the right to equal opportunities, the right to work, the right to love, the right to make our voices be heard and our visions be seen, the right to freedom, the right to be human.
By including people from all backgrounds, cultures, age groups, genders, and abilities in our industry we open the doors to ideas never seen before, to true innovation so needed in these times, and most importantly, to connect with the higher purpose of humanity. This is more than ever the time to instill a strong diverse and inclusive culture in our industry DNA.
I have been advocating D&I in the past decade, those two words are the roots of my own journey: as a woman, of brown color, born poor in Mexico, living in Europe, working hard, succeeding, failing, starting from scratch all over again, but overall proving that it’s POSSIBLE for all of us to thrive in this world and more specifically, in this industry.
The recent events have created a constellation of responses rarely seen before. One of them is the deep involvement of brands into a societal, political, and impactful narrative calling for justice and change, out of the commercial and hype agenda. I am grateful for it, every support counts, every word creates impact and amplifies the voices of those who have been silenced and unrepresented for many years. I want to thank you for that.
Diversity is about all of us, and about us having to figure out how to walk through this world together. ~Jacqueline Woodson
However, it’s also time to reflect on what is our plan to act upon the higher vision, where we can actually bring substantial change. Let’s think about this for a second: How are our teams conformed? How many of them include different cultures, ages, abilities, genders but also mindsets and lifestyles? To what extent the talent we are hiring for our communications represents the diversity of our audience? What is the purpose of the messages we are bringing to the table, who is behind them? What is needed in our organizations so diverse talent can thrive in them, so they can be themselves and happy, so their voices and visions are respected, honored, and celebrated? how can we keep true to our cultural values in the midst of this crisis’s commercial pressure? Who are the gatekeepers of our industry? how are the narratives and creative work crafted, curated, judged, selected, produced, and published? how diverse is the content the platforms you are using are collaterally communicating? Bet you might be already seeing the gaps and the opportunities for an action plan.
Inclusivity means not ‘just we’re allowed to be there,’ but we are valued. I’ve always said: smart teams will do amazing things, but truly diverse teams will do impossible things. ~Claudia Brind-Woody
Everybody is responding to the call one way or another, our industry has the tools, resources, and amazing diverse talent to create REAL change full cycle — from clients to agencies, to production houses to media — and create REAL messages, products, content, services that represent us all. That is our main responsibility, we are accountable to bring stories that include everybody equally, to serve people instead of selling to people, we need to move from marketing to mattering, from goals to common purpose.
I wasn’t able to join the protests due to Covid-19 restrictions, even though my soul wanted profoundly to be there, but I am not going to stay silent either, nor just share hashtags, I will jump right into the chance to support you immerse and reflect on those questions, peel the rings of the onion, connect and ultimately ACT UPON that plan, to create a more diverse and inclusive culture in your brands, community, NGO’s, startups, wherever you are at. This is my cause, as it’s yours. Let me help you help us.
Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilization. ~Mahatma Gandhi