Thursday, May 12 at 1:00 p.m. ET

Register now. 

The bullhorn of social media, combined with a combustible cultural landscape, has created an environment where consumers are encouraged and empowered to use their voices more assertively to leverage their spending power. Brands with diverse customer bases can find themselves in the crosshairs of conflicting opinions that result in pressure from customers.

A toy gun, a cosmetic product, or vacation destination, for example, can connote starkly different things, positive or negative, to different people depending on where they live, how much money they earn, their age, gender, physical abilities, politics, and, quite possibly, race.

Navigating such complexity is a growing challenge as Americans become more divided on social and cultural issues, and more vocal.  A token nod to diversity and inclusion that might have covered a brand in 2020 will be woefully insufficient in 2022. This session will facilitate a robust conversation designed to help brands navigate conflicting ideologies within their customer base.

Panelists for this session include:

• Angela Hayes, SVP, Diversity and Inclusion at Brodeur Partners (moderator)
• Tori Ross Poole, Vice President and Head of DEI at Inkhouse
• Terrell Lamont Strayhorn, PhD, Founder and CEO, Do Good Work Educational Consulting and former Provost, Virginia Union University

Register HERE.

This event is FREE for all attendees.

About the Speakers

Angela Hayes, SVP, Diversity and Inclusion at Brodeur Partners

Angela Hayes is an accomplished public relations leader with extensive expertise in brand development, product lifecycle strategy, nonprofit fundraising, multi-cultural engagement, corporate social responsibility, and cause marketing. She has helped numerous organizations, ranging from grass-root nonprofits to multi-national corporations, navigate through major revitalization initiatives by building communications strategies to better position them for growth.

Hayes is a 27-year veteran of the communications industry. As the senior vice-president of Diversity and Inclusion at Brodeur Partners, she provides strategic oversight of the organization’s plans to ensure inclusivity and reach diverse stakeholder groups.

Previously, she spent 17-years leading integrated communications planning for the American Cancer Society, where she led the team of PR professionals charged with building relevance for the Society’s 850M fundraising portfolio. She helped achieve incremental revenue growth with key strategic corporate partners, including brands such as eBay, Chevy, Lane Bryant, the NFL, Pantene and Shoe Carnival.  Additionally, Hayes led planning for the organization’s first ever integrated multi-cultural consumer engagement strategy, helping to increase engagement and revenue across the Society’s diverse key constituencies in support of its award winning “More Birthdays” brand revitalization.

Tori Ross Poole, Vice President and Head of DEI at Inkhouse

Tori is a Vice President at Inkhouse where she leads both internal DE&I efforts and accounts with a focus on building the agency’s multicultural program. Recently, Tori completed Bentley University’s Executive Education Diversity & Inclusion program and she’s using those learnings, along with other ongoing coursework, to build out DE&I strategies and Inkhouse’s new multicultural PR offering. Tori finds what’s possible in the middle of difficulty, she knows how to build consensus, she’s committed to finding common ground and she has grace for when people make honest mistakes. She has built up a reservoir of trust among our Inkhouse community and loves getting to do this important work. Outside of Inkhouse, Tori is the mom of a toddler boy and spends most of her time championing his adventures and fun-loving spirit.

Terrell Lamont Strayhorn, PhD, Do Good Work Educational Consulting and former Provost, Virginia Union University

Terrell Lamont Strayhorn, PhD is one of the most prolific and influential contemporary scholars in the fields of higher education, urban education, and the academic study of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB). Named one of the country’s “Top Diversity Scholars” by Diverse:Issues in Higher Education and a “Bridge-Builder” between academic- and student affairs by ACPA’s Commission, Strayhorn has authored 11 books and over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and nationally-circulated reports, including A Pledge of Allegiance to America’s Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs). His research has been cited, circulated, or funded by the most premiere sociopolitical agencies in the world including Lumina Foundation, Annie E. Casey Foundation, National Science Foundation, and European Association of Institutional Research (EAIR), among others. He has served as ACPA Director of Research & Scholarship, Chair of AERA’sResearch Focus on Black Education Special Interest Group (SIG), Chair of ASHE’s Council on Ethnic Participation and currently serves on the Children’s Defense Fund’s Research Advisory Board for Freedom Schools. A respected thought-leader, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, Huffington Post, and Diverse often quote his perspective and research findings. He has advised hundreds of university presidents, school leaders, and corporations on ways to boost belonging, achieve DEIB targets, and improve organizational health. Professionally, Strayhorn has served in a number of significant faculty and academic leadership roles at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, The Ohio State University, LeMoyne-Owen College, and most recently, Virginia Union University where he worked as Provost, Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs, and Director of the Center for the Study of HBCUs. He earned his bachelors in music and religious studies from the University of Virginia (UVA), masters in education policy from UVA, and a PhD in education from Virginia Tech.