Black Executive CMO Alliance (BECA) Announces "BECA Gems | Presented by P&G" Learning Series for Marketers During 2024 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity

BECA returns to the epicenter of creative communications and advertising debuting its forthcoming "BECA Gems" LinkedIn content series

BOCA RATON, Fla., June 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Black Executive CMO Alliance (BECA) announced the upcoming launch of BECA Gems during the organization's third-consecutive appearance at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, June 17-21. Proudly presented by P&G, BECA Gems kicks off as a four-part LinkedIn Live learning series that will bring critical insights from BECA members – some of the world's most renowned C-Suite marketing executives – to an even larger audience, available and free to all beginning June 28, 2024.

BECA Gems is introduced against the backdrop of the organization's third-year anniversary and broader objective to continue its momentum of bringing the thoughts, ideas and experiences of BECA members to both U.S. and international stages, such as Cannes.

BECA Gems builds upon one of four pillars for the organization: paying it forward. The program aims to democratize the breadth of content from The BECA Playbook, a two-year journey for promising marketing and marketing-adjacent talent (Future Leaders) at industry-leading organizations. The program curates learning experiences crafted and led by some of BECA's nearly 40 iconic C-Suite leaders.

"Access really is everything. In fact, BECA Gems was sparked at the inception of our launch three years ago when we set out to thrive in our mission of sharing, learning, elevating and paying it forward – and continuing to build our programming in pace with the dynamics of our beloved and ever-evolving industry," said Jerri DeVard, BECA Founder and CEO. "Today's announcement of BECA Gems punctuates our continued sense of urgency to not only help the next generation of Black marketing leaders, but to open doors to an indispensable think tank of insight and experience that our data has proven to be beneficial to dozens of rising Black marketers."

BECA Gems will complement The BECA Playbook with a four-part learning series on LinkedIn Live beginning June 28 with subsequent sessions following throughout the year. Sessions will cover topics such as leadership and influence, crafting a compelling personal story, developing consumer trust, and more led by C-Suite BECA members. Viewers will have the opportunity to directly engage with BECA members and P&G leaders for questions within each BECA Gems session. Attendees will also have the opportunity to opt in for access to future insights, news and updates from the BECA community.

"Diversity fuels creativity, and representation at every level is key for organizations to fully maximize the growth that creativity fuels," said Damon Jones, P&G Chief Communications Officer. "BECA is already having a transformative impact – providing authentic connections and access to the lived experiences of senior leaders to inspire and equip future generations for success. BECA Gems takes this to the next level, democratizing the insights for generations of yet untapped talent."

BECA's 2024 Cannes presence includes a delegation of 11 BECA members representing top brands and companies: Bozoma Saint John (Former CMO, Entrepreneur, Author); Chris Foster (OPRG); Damaune Y. Journey (72andSunny); Dara Treseder (Autodesk); Esi Eggleston Bracey (Unilever); Gail Peterson (Ecolab); Jerri DeVard (BECA); Kirk McDonald (Sundial Media Group); Nadja Bellan White (SS+K); Najoh Tita-Reid (Mars Petcare); Sharon Harris (The Sharon Harris Collective).

Additionally, eight BECA Future Leaders from the Class of 2025 who won the 2024 BECA Cannes Lions-sponsored competition will also engage audiences on multiple stages across the festival, including Cannes Can: Diversity Collective (CC:DC) at Inkwell Beach; Daily Double at MediaLink Beach; and Stagwell Studios at Sport Beach.

Competition winners represent two teams, "Team Rosewood" and "Team Inclusive Intelligence," featuring:

• Team Rosewood
  • Chuck Johnson (MTV, Paramount)
  • Courtlynn Love (Deloitte Consulting)
  • Lisa Kirkland (Ecolab)
  • Stephen Hewitt (UPS)
• Team Inclusive Intelligence
  • Alyson Harvey (SC Johnson)
  • Jonelle Brown (Paramount Global)
  • Nadja Briscoe (Johnson & Johnson)
  • Warren Cochrane (Nike)

Both teams will share their original, cutting-edge thought leadership on the global stages, including insights on how emerging technology in AI can advance diversity, equity and inclusion.

BECA Future Leaders 2024 Sessions:

BECA Future Leaders: Inclusive Intelligence (featuring Team Inclusive Intelligence)

• Monday, June 17, 4:00 - 4:30 PM local time; location: MediaLink Beach     
• Available via MediaLink's microsite here this week

BECA Future Leaders Present: The Intersection of AI & DE&I (featuring Team Rosewood and Team Inclusive Intelligence)

• Wednesday, June 19, 12:00 - 2:00 PM local time; location: Inkwell Beach (CC:DC)

BECA Future Leaders Stagwell Studios Interviews (featuring Team Rosewood and Team Inclusive Intelligence)

• Thursday, June 20, 12:45 – 2:00 PM local time; location: Sport Beach

For more on events and the full festival schedule, visit www.canneslions.com/festival.

Follow the Black Executive CMO Alliance on LinkedIn to register for upcoming BECA Gems LinkedIn events.

You can also follow BECA on the road at Cannes by following them on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, using the hashtag #BECAxCannes2024.

About the Black Executive CMO Alliance (BECA)
The Black Executive CMO Alliance (BECA) is a 501c3 non-profit founded in 2021 to champion diversity at the corporate leadership level, provide a vibrant forum for collaboration and networking among marketing leaders, and create opportunity, access and change through mentorship of current and next generation Black marketing leaders.

For more information on BECA, visit www.blackexec.com.

About Procter & Gamble
P&G serves consumers around the world with one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Always®, Ambi Pur®, Ariel®, Bounty®, Charmin®, Crest®, Dawn®, Downy®, Fairy®, Febreze®, Gain®, Gillette®, Head & Shoulders®, Lenor®, Olay®, Oral-B®, Pampers®, Pantene®, SK-II®, Tide®, Vicks®, and Whisper®. The P&G community includes operations in approximately 70 countries worldwide. Please visit www.pg.com for the latest news and information about P&G and its brands. For other P&G news, visit P&G at https://www.pg.com/news.

SOURCE Black Executive CMO Alliance (BECA)