R/GA’s Carl Desir and the 4A’s Simon Fenwick Discuss How Agencies Must Step Up for Change on Racial Injustice
As part of a global reckoning around racial injustice, the creative and tech industries are being called upon to be more transparent and proactive about addressing racial inequities in their businesses and work. In a no-holds-barred conversation, Carl Desir, Global Executive Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at R/GA, spoke with Simon Fenwick, Executive Vice President of Talent, Engagement and Inclusion at the 4A’s, about what the creative industry can do now to address injustices and move towards racial equity.
*Don’t assume everyone gets it. “The conversations I’ve been having have really opened my eyes to the fact that even diversity, equity and inclusion is, for a large part of this country, still relatively new and something that they really don’t understand,” Fenwick commented.
* Set concrete actions, goals and deadlines. Whether around hiring and promoting Black employees into leadership positions, vetting vendors or reviewing your language and policies-be clear on your tactics and objectives, with measurable outcomes and accountability, for addressing racial inequity.
* Model the change you want to see -and don’t put the burden on who’s paying the bills. “It’s not about what your client wants,” Desir said. “It’s about how you lead your clients.”
* Make yourself accountable. “The problem doesn’t lie with our Black colleagues and friends,” Fenwick said. “The problem lies with us. If we’re going to change it, we need to step up and we need to come up with those solutions… I think for too long, every industry has looked to their DE&I leaders or their people of color to tell them what to do.”
* Ask tough questions every step of the way-including to yourself. As Fenwick noted, ask yourself, “When was the last time I stood up? When I saw racism, bias, unconscious or conscious, when was the last time I called somebody else out for their biased, racist behavior?”
* Don’t expect change overnight. “This isn’t going to be solved in three months,” Desir said. “It’s going to be five, 10, 15 years down the line as we slowly dismantle the systems that oppressed people throughout this country.”
They also discussed the 12 steps outlined in “A call for change,” the mic drop of a letter and petition challenging the advertising industry, as led by Nathan Young, a strategy director in Minneapolis, and Bennett D. Bennett, a strategist and consultant based in New York.
Find out more about the tough conversations and concrete actions needed to reverse racism across your business in our latest podcast. You can listen to more FutureVision Conversations on Apple, Spotify, SoundCloud, Google Play and Stitcher as well as right here on rga.com.
Want to be part of the conversation? Get in touch with us at futurevision@rga.com.
