Igniting Today’s Leaders: The BrandLab Gala 2023
The BrandLab’s Ignite Gala 2023 drew an impressive 300+ people — nearly double the number of attendees from the 2022 Gala — to the Heritage Center for an evening of inspiring speakers and storytelling intended to ignite and support change.
The organization’s mission is to change the face and voice of the marketing and advertising industry by introducing, guiding, and preparing the next generation of problem solvers. The event content and cadence covered these elements, ultimately serving to empower young talent from Indigenous, Black, Brown, AAPI, and Hispanic/Latinx backgrounds.?
State of the Industry?
The Gala showcased how The BrandLab (TBL) thinks about and implements their vision of people of color launching sustainable careers in workplaces of inclusivity and belonging. The opening remarks by Kelli Williams , The BrandLab CEO, highlighted five key findings from the State of the Industry report including the lack of BIPOC leadership in workplace drastically impacts workplace culture, and the still existent gap between the positive intent of the organization and the actual impact and follow-through. All findings set the understanding for the data and the current state of DEI&B.
Igniting Today’s Leaders
The evening then moved into Anthony Silva ’s story and share. Silva is a Las Vegas Native and TBL alumni who previously interned at Broadhead and Best Buy and embraced a joint apprenticeship opportunity at Planned Parenthood & Knock over the four years he was with TBL. He built his messaging to the audience around three words: inspire, influence, and innovate, weaving in his and his grandmother’s connected story of profound moments that brought these words to life for him. He closed by circling back on the importance of one more “I word and its action: igniting today’s leaders.?
Make It Easier
Miss Shannan Paul , the evening’s emcee, stepped on the stage again. Flowing from the generational story just shared, she reminded the more seasoned of those in the room to not stay in the hard that it was [to be a person oppressed, fighting for equity] and continue to impart that same path or trajectory for our younger generations. Rather, we should accept that it was hard for us, harder than necessary; but let’s not believe that is must be equal amounts of hard for this generation. It’s totally okay to make it easier.
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On that note, Miss Shannan moved into live auction mode with Michael Wurth (MNM) . Items for bid found their lucky new owners in moments. The energy continued with a warm welcome for the keynote speaker, Tiffani Daniels , managing director of the Minnesota Business Coalition for Racial Equity (MBCRE). Tiffani is charged with advocating for equity and addressing racial disparity in Minnesota, a role she didn’t initially feel she aligned with due to her focus as a marketing professional with experience in global advertising agencies. That shifted as she realized the reasons she was very ready for the role.?
Her readiness is not surprising, given this mantra Tiffani noted: stay ready so you don’t have to get ready. Her share of the evening included inspiration for younger people, reminding them that it’s rare to start right out of college with a dream job. She reminded all of us to take chances on people and that there’s no shame in our story anywhere. And this: a movement needs all kinds of leaders – lead from exactly where you are.
This mindset and action is key, Tiffani noted, because at the current rate it will take two decades to transform this industry. We don’t have that amount of time.
As individuals we can all?1. Be curious 2. Get creative 3. Take care.?
Post standing ovation for Tiffani, Kelli closed out the structured portion of the evening and welcomed people to the dance floor. The Gala seemed to be a pause in time on October 12 to look at progress, recognize gaps and the ongoing work, dine and dance in community, and then… get back to work.
Next check in: The BrandLab’s Fearless Conference, May 2, 2024. Details and registration coming soon.
--- Event recap provided by Jen (Gilhoi) Veralle of Sparktrack LLC , who covers events so event hosts and attendees can continue the event inspiration beyond the event itself. Find her on LinkedIn Jen (Gilhoi) Veralle or online at sparktrack.com. The summary captures the spirit of sharing and the themes of the event in a quick, digestible way so that attendees can refer to it and take action; it also allows the host to archive what was shared and build on that for future events and use in marketing promotions.