Inclusive Storytelling and Gender Equity (Part 4)

And now, in the last installment of this series that explores how CMOs are committed to building more inclusive brands, I’d like to spotlight the third theme: Exposure + Access.

As a reminder: inclusive storytelling was the focus of this recent CMO series. At in-person events in Dubai, Dublin, London, New York, and San Francisco—as well as one virtual event—I asked the 39 panelists: “What is your organization’s commitment (or personal commitment) to forging greater gender equity, and how will you measure progress?”

CMOs focused on granting exposure and access to women by advocating for them in a variety of realms: in offering intergenerational support through mentorships or internships, acting as role models to women inside and outside their organizations, participating in community organizations that champion women, and serving on corporate boards. It involves transforming those historically homogenous spaces into diverse environments. “Pioneer”—used as both a noun and a verb—was a word that came to mind when hearing the commitments from this group. By paying it forward to incorporate people who have historically been excluded, these CMOs reflect the power of inclusive brands that more accurately reflect the diversity of consumers.

As you read, I encourage you to consider your own commitment to forging inclusive brands and post in the comments section below ?? When you, as a brand leader, commit to telling inclusive stories, the brand expands from presenting its existence to revealing its reason for being.

(To read all three themes, download the complete report HERE .)

To hear all six conversations, listen to the How CMOs Commit podcast on?Spotify ?or?Apple .

Note: Panelists’ quotes have been edited for clarity and brevity.

“At AllianceBernstein, DEI is two-fold. For me, in a leadership role, it’s making sure that I’m there to mentor up-and-coming, talented women. As leaders, it’s about teaching them how to have a voice and how to use that voice. The other half of this is that we, optically, seem to attract the same people from the same private schools. So, how do you get diversity of thought? How do you challenge consensus when you don’t have varied decision-making? We’ve been participating in programs with other peers to give internships to people from diverse, less-affluent backgrounds. Over time, showing and creating that opportunity will permeate.”

—Lynn Mah, SVP Managing Director, Head of EMEA Marketing, AllianceBernstein

?

“I’m on the board of a public company, and it’s been such a fantastic professional experience. Getting that access and being representative of someone very different from a gender, race, and age standpoint than what makes up a typical board has been amazing for me—and for what I’ve been able to bring to the company and how they think about running their business. I’m committed to opening the door for more women and more underrepresented women.”

—Zena Arnold, SVP, Carbonated Soft Drinks, PepsiCo

?

“The commitment from OneTen is to pursue our goal for at least a decade. Let’s really, as a coalition, work for a decade. And the big metrics are hiring and promoting. Since our founding in 2020, we have hired, promoted, or advanced more than 70,000 Black individuals. We will advance one million Black talent in the next ten years who don’t have four-year degrees to family-sustaining jobs and careers.”

—Maurice Jones, former CEO, OneTen

?

“I’m co-chair of the Council for Women’s Advocacy in the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, and we work on making sure that entrepreneurs are supported, that the business community is listening, and that we’re helping change policy for government. I also have goals to not only be a mentor to women inside 3M, but also externally. I will champion them and lift them up and make connections, so that they can find their way in the world and be very successful.”

—Penny Wise, President + Managing Director, 3M

?

“In my department at LinkedIn, we have extensive analytics on the composition of our workforce at all levels. At least once a quarter, we analyze these trends. It’s a very measurable, proactive program, and we are accountable for that. In addition to that, I am the most senior Black woman in Marketing and Communications at LinkedIn, so I take a personal responsibility to not only be a role model and to sponsor and mentor, but to do excellent work so that I can inspire others and show the way in terms of what the capabilities are.”

—Gail Moody-Byrd, Vice President, Marketing, LinkedIn Sales Solutions, LinkedIn

?

“For the first 10 years of my 30 years at ExxonMobil, I was the only woman in the room. So, the big commitment for us is to get more females and minority candidates to be making big decisions at the top. We’ve made a lot of headway, but we’ve still got a long way to go. It’s measured by a very intentional pipeline to make strides in that area, and our male ambassadors are helping champion that cause.”

—Jennifer Durgin, North American Lubricants Marketing Director, ExxonMobil

?

“I’m going to do a personal commitment. I’m grateful that I’ve spent my entire career with female consumers and female founders, as well as amazing female leaders and colleagues. I am part of a mentor program, and I am working with four female founders over the next year to help them achieve their goals. And my metric will be hours and days and sweat put into the system.”

—Simon Geraghty, VP, Portfolio Strategy, Unilever

?

“What I’ve realized is that a lot of people who have as strongly held beliefs as I tend to leave corporate businesses, take career breaks, or consult from afar. And I admire these people so much, but they tend to start equity-driving businesses from the outside. My personal commitment is that I’m going to stay. I’m going to be a CMO and then a CEO in corporate businesses—not in the impact space—and connect commerciality and growth to doing good and building a more equitable capitalism.”

—Elle McCarthy, former VP, Brand + Social Impact, Electronic Arts (EA)

?

“I was talking to a young woman I know in my office, and I could see she was not getting along with another woman in the group. I said to her, ‘Are you okay?’ And she said, ‘Yes, because I will never throw another woman under the bus. We are absolutely allowed to have different opinions—we are allowed to argue, to thrash it out. We will always commit, and we are always committed to each other.’ That’s the personal commitment we have to make: to support each other and to support the men around us to support the women. And see this as a proper way to encourage each other to do brilliantly—and not at the expense of each other.”

—Rachel Fairley, Global Vice President, Brand Marketing + Experience, HPE

?

“Affinipay is not only committed to bringing the talent to ensure that we have a diverse workforce, but actually giving them the resources and tools to have the same chance to be successful as everybody else, so they feel that sense of belonging—that’s from what you pay to who you promote. I also have a personal commitment: being a woman of color and an immigrant, it was not easy to get where I am. I feel responsible to help others have that sense of belonging.”

—Ana Villegas, CMO, Affinipay

?

“One of our commitments is to continue to advocate for equity in voice technology, which is necessary because AI and voice AI is becoming so pervasive. And if that equity doesn’t exist in technology, then people are already disadvantaged of all kinds: race, gender, etc. When it comes to gender equity in the company, we never take it for granted that our founder and CTO are women. One of my commitments is to promote the other women who are building our technology and modeling our AI. And then I’ll also give the men who surround them—whether on the business or engineering side—a place on the platform to talk about voice technology for kids and equity because it’s a conversation for all of us to have together.”

—Niamh Bushnell, CMO, SoapBox Labs