Mita Mallick and Other Top DEI, Marketing and Business Leaders Join the BRIDGE 2023 Retreat Speaking Roster to Further Inspire Attendees to Action

SAN DIEGO, April 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BRIDGE, the only independent DEI trade group to serve the global marketing industry, announced its final speakers at the soon approaching BRIDGE 2023: Pioneering DE&I Next Practices. The news follows BRIDGE's first speaker announcement this past March. BRIDGE's inaugural retreat takes place April 23-25 at Zachari Dunes in California.

"BRIDGE's inaugural retreat speaker roster is an unprecedented combination of the world's most innovative and change-driving cultural and business leaders," said BRIDGE founder and CEO Sheryl Daija. "These visionary experts will guide attendees through a transformative and interactive journey that starts with a data-driven foundation and culminates with practical strategies for operationalizing inclusion as a key driver of business growth. I also look forward to our facilitated workshops where everyone can participate in key industry agenda items focused on driving systemic change."

NEW BRIDGE 2023 SPEAKERS:

Keynote Speaker

Mita Mallick, Author and Head of Inclusion, Equity and Impact at Carta – During a fireside chat titled Debunking the Myths that Hold us Back from Building Inclusive Workplaces, BRIDGE founder and CEO Sheryl Daija will interview Inclusion champion, podcaster, storyteller and author Mita Mallick about her soon-to-be-released book, Reimagine Inclusion: 13 Myths to Transform Your Workplace (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.). For the first time, Mallick will reveal details of her work which is already being hailed as a must-have resource for all organization levels. Both thought-provoking and actionable, Mallick and Daija will dig deep into some of the myths and explore how when we show up as more inclusive leaders, we can create a ripple effect across our industry in building more inclusive, empathetic and resilient organizations.

Interactive Workshop Speakers
BRIDGE's education-oriented workshop series has been made possible through partnerships with the Ad Council, Ad Fontes Media and Nielsen. They include:

• Attracting the Next Generation of Diverse Talent Through Skills-Based Hiring, On the Job Learning and Equitable Experiences – Led by Elise James DeCruise, Chief Equity Officer, Ad Council, Ziad Ahmed, Founder and CEO, JUV Consulting and Maia Ervin, Chief Impact Officer, JUV Consulting, this workshop will guide attendees on how to attract the next generation of diverse talent and what it means to build an inclusive workforce. (In partnership with Ad Council)
• Media Responsibility, Democracy and the 2024 Elections – Led by Lou Paskalis, Chief Strategy Officer, Ad Fontes Media and Louis Jones, CMO, The Brand Safety Institute, this workshop will delve into how media responsibility efforts can support credible and reliable news content that attracts diverse, engaged and attentive audiences looking for information about our country's most contentious human rights issues as we approach another potentially divisive election cycle. During this session, you will also learn how brand safety and suitability protocols sometimes block diverse-created content from monetization and the challenge for diverse-owned publishers in navigating fraud and other issues in the media supply chain. (In partnership with Ad Fontes Media)
• Two unique and interactive What Does BRIDGE Stand For Sessions, the first led by Jonita Wilson, Chief Diversity Officer, Discover Financial Services and Elise James DeCruise, Chief Equity Officer, Ad Council and the second led by Sandra Sims-Williams, Chief Diversity Officer, Nielsen and Judy Jackson, Former Global Head of Culture and Engagement, WPP and Co-Founder of We All Rise Together. (In partnership with Nielsen)

Special Sessions
BRIDGE's special sessions will be delivered by leaders tapped to spearhead honest and real conversations in a safe environment. During these sessions, executives will discuss the challenges to change and the priorities they would like to see BRIDGE attack. They include:

• Taking Matters into Your Own Hands: Achieving Racial Equity through Entrepreneurship – In conversation with Kevin Larkai, Founder and CEO, Blackleaf and Dr. Chris Wachira, Founder and CEO, The Wachira Group, moderator Louis Jones, CMO, The Brand Safety Institute, will detail why promoting racial equity means tearing down systemic and structural barriers that keep people of color from achieving equal opportunities and outcomes. The focus will be on why established companies have yet to capitalize on the rising economic power of multicultural audiences and how entrepreneurship can lead the way toward a more equitable future.
• Inclusion Matters in Content: How it Shapes our Memory and Life Experiences and Ensures Underrepresented Communities are Seen, Heard and Represented – During this session, Jarvis Sam, Founder and CEO, of The Rainbow Disruption and former Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, Nike Inc. will moderate a discussion with Marya Bangee, VP of Multicultural Audience Engagement, Disney and Erin Lim Rhodes, Host, E! News. The talk will delve into how purposeful storytelling allows viewers to identify and imagine themselves as belonging in the plot or context, which is why diverse representation in front of and behind the camera is critical to accurately portraying race and culture in media.
• Multi-cultural Marketing is Marketing. Why Inclusive Media Buying Just Makes Cents? Guided by Jessica Ricaurte, Chief Revenue Officer, Adsmovil, Gonzalo Del Fa, President, GroupM Multicultural, Michael Roca, Executive Director, Elevate, OMG. This session will emphasize the importance of multi-cultural marketing and inclusive media buying to effectively reach underrepresented communities with significant buying power.

If you are interested in joining the waitlist for BRIDGE 2023: Pioneering DE&I Next Practices or simply want to learn more about how to join BRIDGE to drive change, please contact [email protected].

About BRIDGE
Launched in 2022, BRIDGE is a member-driven 501C6. We help companies bridge the gaps that have created inequities for under-represented and untapped communities in the workplace, workforce and marketplace. With the variety of programs that BRIDGE offers including proprietary research, storytelling workshops, best practices, events and more, we identify and dismantle the structures in place to drive systemic change in belonging, representation, inclusion, diversity and equity (BRIDGE is an acronym for these constructs). Our long term goal is to create a comprehensive BRIDGE agenda for companies and certify against its implementation and impact. BRIDGE is an inclusive organization that welcomes support and participation from all companies in the global marketing industry as well as like-minded academics and DE&I champions. We are stronger together. Visit BRIDGE to learn more and join (http://www.wearebridge.com).

Media Contact: Linzy Meija, Purpose Worldwide, [email protected]

SOURCE BRIDGE