Can we take back the inclusion, diversity, and equity story?

This LinkedIn article was previously published in PRWeek. To read the story please visit the following link: https://www.prweek.com/article/1864594/back-inclusion-diversity-equity-story

There’s a saying in my profession that goes, “If you don’t tell your story somebody else will.” Unfortunately, this can apply even when you do tell your story. After 30 years in integrated marketing, brand strategy and communications, I’ve seen many strong, compelling narratives get hijacked by well-organized adversaries.

An example unfolding in the U.S. is the conversation around inclusion, diversity & equity (ID&E). The story is simple — ID&E is good for business. Research shows diversity brings more ideas, more impactful innovation, better prospective talent, and a deeper understanding of customers. A McKinsey study found companies in the top quartile of ethnic representation are 39 percent more likely to achieve financial outperformance, and companies with above-average diversity on their management teams reported innovation revenue 19 percentage points higher than companies with below-average leadership diversity.

Still, some people want to make ID&E a political issue to create fear and sow division. They use coded words like ‘woke’ and spin misleading ideas about ID&E programs giving an unfair advantage to less qualified people. This approach isn’t new. We’ve seen it before and as an African American who grew up in the south, I’ve lived it.

We need to take back the ID&E story by making it about the business case, not the rhetoric. For me it starts with my profession, and I’m issuing a challenge to my peers in our field to join me.

To change the story, start with the storytellers

You’ll hear my colleagues in marketing and communications refer to ourselves as storytellers. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the U.S. PR industry is 87.9 percent white, 8.3 percent African American, 5.7 percent Hispanic American and 2.6 percent Asian American. And a 2024 report by the Association of National Advertisers revealed ethnic representation among marketers actually declined from 32.3 percent in 2022 to 30.8 percent in 2023. For comparison, the U.S. is roughly 40 percent non-white, and our country is getting more diverse every year.

In other words, the people charged with helping brands earn trust and preference with broad audiences across multiple market segments don’t reflect the general public they’re trying to reach.

This isn’t a criticism – it’s a hard truth. And my point isn’t about statistics, it’s about impact. Our profession should be more widely appreciated as a strategic, competitive advantage, and diversity can play a big role. Teams that reflect different experiences, different communities, different cultures and different stories are better equipped to influence different audiences. Think about it. If you need to target a Gen Z audience, would you rather have someone like me writing the copy, or someone a few years out of college?

Widen your early talent pipeline

One barrier I’ve heard relates to the demographics of students coming through traditional undergraduate/post-graduate programs that feed our profession. If this is your experience, widen your search.

Several HBCUs have highly respected programs in our field. Howard University’s Cathy Hughes School of Communications in Washington D.C. offers excellent training in various aspects of journalism and communications. Florida A&M also has a well-respected School of Journalism & Graphic Communication and Hampton University in Virginia has the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications. North Carolina A&T in my home state also offers very good journalism and mass communication programs, just to name a few.

In addition, organizations like The LAGRANT Foundation (where I serve on the board of directors) and Thurgood Marshall College Fund open doors for young, diverse professionals in our field, by way of scholarships, internships and placement support. Medtronic has hosted interns from both organizations, and I’ve been super impressed with their quality and depth of talent.

Hiring for diversity is just a start. If you can’t create an inclusive culture that nurtures different perspectives and provides differentiated development experiences, the makeup of your team isn’t likely to change.

Through intentional focus on effective practices, our management team in the Communications and Marketing function at Medtronic is more than 31 percent ethnically diverse – exceeding the industry statistics I shared earlier. You can see more about what Medtronic is doing to drive impact and tell our ID&E story here.

Don’t forget your agency partners

At Medtronic we’re also intentional in our effort to increase the number of minority agencies on our preferred supplier roster and encourage all partners to take a critical view of their own ID&E goals and best practices.

Almost half the preferred partners on our PR roster are diverse-owned suppliers. We got here by using effective practices to expand the aperture of who was included in our RFP process. These suppliers are the best of the best, earning our business with their value, cost savings, expertise, and innovation. They just happen to also be diverse.

When I reflect on my career journey and those early roles in marketing and communications, I distinctly remember how it felt to be ‘one of the onlys’ in a field that was decidedly less diverse 30 years ago. I don’t take for granted the progress we’ve made but it’s time for a bold, intentional push to become a profession cast with people who reflect the multicultural audiences we’re trying to reach. I’m asking my peers in our field to put their collective weight and influence behind this push. Not for political reasons and not to achieve a representation goal, but to increase the impact of our marketing and communications work and preserve our profession’s hard-earned seat at the table.