Celebrate Black History Month and Be an Ally on LinkedIn

Black History Month ends next week but we can continue to have conversations as well as celebrate, recognize and be allies of our colleagues and peers year-round.?

The diversity gap still exists in 2023 especially in leadership roles.

According to an article published by Spotcovery as of Jan. 2023, there are currently only 7 Black CEOs at Fortune 500 companies, two women and five men, barely making up 1% of leaders in this group.

Marvin Ellison , Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer at Lowe's Companies, Inc.

Rosalind Brewer, Chief Executive Officer at Walgreens Boots Alliance

Thasunda Brown Duckett , President & CEO at TIAA

Frank Clyburn , Chief Executive Officer and Board Director at IFF

Robert Reffkin , Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Compass

David Rawlinson II , President and Chief Executive Officer at Qurate Retail Group

Calvin Butler , President and Chief Executive Officer at Exelon

If you know of additional Black CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, please share their names and company in the comments of this newsletter.

Since we are talking about celebrating Black History Month and being allies on LinkedIn, here are some tips:

1. Follow these CEOs on LinkedIn
2. Comment on or share their content
3. Create a post about their impressive achievements

Additional LinkedIn tips:

?? Collaborate with Black content creators on LinkedIn to host events, create posts or articles.

?? Promote Black owned businesses and service providers?in posts.

?? Spotlight Black leaders or creators in your industry or employees or colleagues.

• Check out this post by Missy Forlani

?? Attend, promote and invite your network to Black History Month community events and activities.

• Do register for and share my Black History Month event on Feb. 28th.
• Check out this fun, family friendly activity, an Augmented Reality, 3D History Tour by the Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) , From the Ground Up: Black Architects and Designers exhibit, co-created by one of the members of my LinkedIn Thought Leadership Academy , Julia C. Beabout, P.E. (贝朱琳） and her team at Novaby

?? Comment on and/or re-share posts with your insightful thoughts from Black influencers, leaders, creators and connections in your network.

?? Comment on and/or re-share posts or articles talking about Black History Month like this newsletter.

?? Share photos of your team celebrating Black History Month in a post.

• Check out this team celebration Black Excellence image by one of my LinkedIn clients Power Personnel

?? Create a post to highlight Black organizations that your company or you support.

?? Follow Black leaders, influencers, creators and thought leaders in your industry.

?? Write recommendations , endorse skills and give kudos to connections in your network that you have worked with.

Have any suggestions to add? Let me know in the comments.

PRO- TIP 1

Make sure you acknowledge and tag the relevant people and organizations you mention in your posts.

PRO- TIP 2

Use relevant hashtags in your posts?

These are the popular ones

#BlackLivesMatter 70,720 followers

#BlackHistoryMonth ? 9375 followers

#BlackExcellence ? 13,683 followers

But you can also help create dialogue raise the visibility and followers by using these hashtags

#BlackCEOs

#BlackWomenLeaders

#BlackWomenLead

#BlackLeadership

#BlackBusinesses

Join me for my LinkedIn for Thought Leaders Audio Show to celebrate Black History Month and kick off Women's History Month with three women leaders and members of my Her Success Society * and LinkedIn Thought Leadership Academy ,?Braughnwynn "Bibi" Brown, M.B.A. ,?Brandi Stephens ?and?Lisa R. Mitchell, MBA .

They will share their experiences, perspectives, as well as suggestions on how individuals, companies, communities can be allies for minorities and make Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging part of the workforce not just during Black History Month and Women's History Month but throughout the year.

RSVP HERE

*Her Success Society is a membership for diverse purpose driven professional women who are looking to build, grow or elevate their personal brands, thought leadership and visibility, so they can create impact, influence and get the opportunities they want.

Learn more and sign up here

**LinkedIn Thought Leadership Academy is an add on to Her Success Society for members who are looking to showcase and elevate their personal brands, content and thought leadership and grow a network of their target audience, partners and peers on LinkedIn.

Learn more and sign up here

OTHER NEWS

?? I was recognized as one of the 15 LinkedIn Experts in San Francisco for 2023. Here is my post about it .

?? My LinkedIn for Thought Leaders YouTube channel has 1.3K plus subscribers. If you want weekly tips, how-tos on how to leverage LinkedIn's tools to optimize your profile and stand out as a thought leaders, do subscribe to it.

??I hosted my first in-person event in San Francisco since the pandemic at Alchemy this month.

The event included a workshop on LinkedIn for the C-Suite, a presentation by Elan Halpern on Web3 and a panel discussion with women leaders including Lisa Love , Braughnwynn "Bibi" Brown, M.B.A. , Gretel Tortolani , Navya Rehani Gupta , Gelena Sachs moderated by Rachael Gingery

Read my post about it here

?? I hosted my first How to Succeed with Employee Advocacy on LinkedIn virtual workshop yesterday.

?? To celebrate International Women's Day, I am hosting a free virtual workshop to empower women leaders and aspiring leaders to leverage LinkedIn to stand out.

RSVP for How Women Leaders can Build their own table on LinkedIn on March. 7th at 10am PST.

?? My LinkedIn coaching, consulting and training services are finally up on my website. I have some spots available for new clients.

Found this newsletter helpful? Do subscribe to it and share this with your network.

#DiversityEquityAndInclusion

#LinkedInTips

#BlackHistoryMonth2023