NEW YORK, July 14, 2020 – DPAA, the leading global trade marketing association connecting out-of-home media with the advertising community, announced today that its recently created Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Board has taken substantive action on two important projects – with the IRTS Foundation and Media for All — to help build pathways to minority representation and success in the OOH industry.
The DPAA Advisory Board, launched in June, will provide the OOH industry’s first involvement with IRTS’ many diversity initiatives, including its Summer Fellowship Program, Multicultural Career Workshop, Faculty Seminars and Future Media Leader Accelerator Series. In addition, a DPAA representative will speak on OOH at an IRTS virtual event for students on August 4.
Joyce Tudryn, President and CEO, IRTS Foundation, said, “We welcome DPAA and the out-of-home community to our long-standing efforts to help build the next generation of media leaders, which we all agree must reflect the diversity of today’s media consumers.”
In working with Media for All, the DPAA Advisory Board will partner with the UK-based group to bring its world class, effective mentoring program to Canada and get DPAA members in other parts of Europe involved. Media for All was set up to help encourage more BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) talent to enter media and to provide a support and mentoring network to ensure BAME talent flourishes in the media industry.
Naren Patel, Founder, Media for All, ex-CEO of Primesight, a leading UK Outdoor advertising business, and a member of DPAA’s Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Board, said, “We are proud of our program’s success in the UK and are especially excited about sharing and exporting our best practices to Canada and European countries beyond the UK. We look forward to working with the DPAA advisory group to achieve the essential goal of increasing diversity in OOH.”
Monique Nelson, Chair and CEO of UWG, the country’s longest-standing multicultural marketing and advertising agency, and a member of DPAA’s Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Board and IRTS Board of Directors, said, “The creation of an inclusive media industry is dependent on its leaders and sectors joining together to drive progress. We are very pleased that the voice of OOH will be represented at both IRTS and Media for All; both are committed to leading the path forward for a more diverse media work force.”
Barry Frey, DPAA President & CEO and member of the IRTS Board, said, “I am proud that our advisory board already has taken substantive action aimed at moving the needle at elevating diversity in our industry. I thank IRTS and Media for All for welcoming our participation in their programs and look forward to seeing what we can develop to advance diversity in OOH.”
In addition to Patel and Nelson, members of DPAA’s Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Board include:
- Kevin Johnson, CEO of Mediacom Canada and speaker at DPAA’s upcoming Video Everywhere Canada Summit on July 15
- John E. Harmon, Sr., IOM Founder, President & CEO of the African American New Jersey Chamber of Commerce
- Jose Avalos, VP of IOT and GM of Visual Retail at Intel and member of DPAA’s Board of Directors
- Kenetta Bailey, SVP Marketing, Clear Channel Outdoor
- Heawon Yoo, SVP Marketing, Lightbox OOH Video Network
- Anush Prabhu, Chief Strategy Officer of Mediacom U.S.
About DPAA
DPAA is the leading global trade marketing association connecting out-of-home media with the advertising community, Membership in the DPAA community brings many business acceleration benefits, including a wide array of products such as “DPAA Short Connects,” “DPAA Homeroom,” “DPAA Town Hall,” “DPAA Davos” and “DPAA Task Force.” DPAA also offers members an extensive database of research, best practices and case studies; tools for planning, training and forecasting; social media amplification of news; insights on software and hardware solutions; further integration into the advertising ecosystem as part of the video everywhere conversation and marketing campaign; and more.
DPAA membership also includes admission to quarterly town hall meetings and access to curated VIP tours and meetings at CES and Cannes Lions. DPAA’s 2020 Video Everywhere Summit, the industry’s largest one-day media event, will be held Tuesday, October 13.
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