“Reaching for More,” the ninth annual ColorComm Conference, called on women in communications to support each other’s advancement in executive roles and C-suite positions.

The three-day conference at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles in July included sessions on negotiating your worth, understanding the media landscape, how C-suite executives drive organizational change in diversity and inclusion and influencers in the boardroom.

A key focus for the 400 attendees was developing collaborative environments that support equitable workplace and advancement opportunities—and four steps to achieve them:

Lead with values

Values are underlying beliefs that guide action and decision-making. In order to implement change, you must know your values, embody them and lead with them. Aligning on shared values will help you reach your target audience.

Determine who you need in the room

Be intentional about fostering meaningful relationships with decision-makers inside and outside of your network. Nurture your relationships by calling upon organizations such as ColorComm that provide access and opportunity to a network of more than 100,000 professionals. 

More: 6 takeaways from Ad Age’s Leading Women event

Measure your goals

Leading with data and metrics helps to determine if the goal was met. Measuring your goals will keep your audience motivated, track your progress and produce benchmarks for success. 

Celebrate your wins

The workplace can be competitive and may focus on failures instead of highlighting wins. Find opportunities to honor those who had groundbreaking success and are changemakers in the industry.

On the opening night of the conference, seven women changing the face of the communications, marketing, advertising, and digital industries were honored with prestigious ColorComm Circle Awards at an event hosted by media personality Star Jones.

The honorees were:

• Grace Bastidas, editor-in-chief, Parents
• Sylvia Bugg, chief programming executive and general manager, PBS
• Talia Parkinson-Jones, executive producer of NBC’s “Today with Hoda and Jenna”
• Anu Rao, senior VP, communications, sustainability and responsibility, Pernod Ricard North America
• Rajoielle “Raj” Register, senior VP and chief marketing officer, North America, Stellantis
• Juanita Slappy, head of multicultural marketing, Cadillac 
• Adrianne C. Smith, senior VP and senior partner, chief diversity and inclusion officer, FleishmanHillard

The conference concluded with ColorComm's Signature Luncheon featuring keynote speaker Tonya Lewis Lee, the award-winning film and TV producer. Throughout her speech, Lee inspired the women to embrace their professional journeys and redefine what success looks like for them in the workplace.

ColorComm started as a luncheon series in 2011 to connect women of color in business—a story recounted at the end of each annual conference. Thirteen years later, it has evolved into a corporation that provides economic opportunities and advancement to multicultural communities. It is the nation's leading women's platform addressing diversity and inclusion across the communications, marketing, advertising and media industries.