3 key steps on the journey toward equality and inclusion

It’s Monday, and you’re in your weekly Zoom meeting with a top client. Business as usual. Then they ask, “Hey, next time we catch up, can you share your equality and inclusion action plan with us? We haven’t reviewed it yet.”

You respond, “Sure, no problem, will do.” But as you leave the call, you start thinking about how best to map out your agency’s response to the question. 

Equality and inclusion. We’re all talking about it. We all want to make it happen, on both the client and agency side. But talk is easy, right? How do we turn our best intentions into reality? How do we make E&I as common as the great advertising we create together?

Like you, at P&G we’re aspiring to create a company and a world where equality and inclusion are the reality for everyone. As we’ve worked toward building equality into every aspect of creativity—and making it the systemic way of bringing creativity to life—we’ve found there are three key steps to think about to begin the journey. And it starts at home.

1. Start inside 

Multicultural makeup: Are your team’s members reflective of the U.S. population overall?

Representation at all levels: Do you have gender and multicultural representation goals across all leadership levels?

Safe spaces that foster an inclusive culture: Do you provide educational training to your team that inspires dialogue and leads to understanding?

2. Use your voice

Advocate for change: Review what has been created by small agency coalitions, including Building Leaders and Creators (BLAC), a group of independent creative agencies that provides Black creatives with hands-on advertising experience. The Marcus Graham Project provides diverse marketing and media aspirants with the exposure and experience necessary to solidify careers within the industry.

Reward inclusive behavior: Champion those individuals or teams who are making a difference. 

3. Change the system

Ensure equal representation in your advertising, in front of and behind the camera: There are many organizations dedicated to helping you find diverse talent. These include:

• Free the Work, a curated talent-discovery platform for underrepresented creators behind the lens in TV, film and marketing.

• Streetlights, a nonprofit organization that trains qualified ethnic minorities to work as crew members on video productions.

Implement goals to increase access, opportunity and investment with suppliers that have a diverse leadership: You might engage with the following partners: WBENC, which provides the most widely recognized certification for women-owned businesses in the U.S.; NMSDC, which advances business opportunities for certified minority-business enterprises and connects them to corporate members; and WeConnect, a global network that connects women-owned businesses to qualified buyers.

This is just the beginning of the long journey to achieve equality and inclusion in all your creative activities. The above steps should provide the stimulus to start or continue the journey.

Importantly, this cannot be done alone. Clients and agencies need to continue to work together and use our collective influence on critical, systemic issues. So, next time you’re meeting with a long-standing or new client, be sure you mention your E&I action plan and ask them to share theirs as well. And if our paths ever cross, I’d love to hear how this has worked for you.