Women's Equality and Why it Benefits Us All
Equality benefits us all and it's defined as the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities. TalentBlvd aims to promote gender and racial impartiality by providing opportunities that create fairness in the multimedia industry. Today, for Women's Equality Day, I'm dedicating this post to share our belief at TalentBlvd that diversity and female leadership is a good ROI for the industry and that representation matters in the markets we serve.
The origins of these beliefs are founded through personal experiences and professional observations. Over the past 35 years I've enjoyed leadership positions in healthcare, data and analytics, automotive parts, service and retail, industrial maintenance supplies, and executive coaching/consulting in many other industries. These experiences shaped who I am as a leader and in many difficult situations, I learned what great leadership looks like. There were however many times I was troubled with what I saw.
I have seen discrimination based on age, race, body shape, disability, and without question, gender.
Sometimes it was hidden behind closed Boardroom doors but sometimes it was out in the sunlight, open for all to see. Like everyone reading this post, there were many times I needed to question my own beliefs and values. These experiences were formative.
The Birth of TalentBlvd
When I set out to create TalentBlvd in 2017 and then TalentBlvd.com in 2021, I identified two important values for the future organization:
- We are Mission oriented and the organization's heart and soul is that of a servant. Monetization and 'things' come second. Our belief is that if we serve people and add value, we won't have to worry about 'things'.
- We hold ourselves accountable to be equitable. Fairness and impartiality come with familiarity. We reflect the markets that we serve. We look like the market, talk like the market, live in the market and understand the market needs.
Data as Evidence for Equality
When it comes to broadcast media journalism, the market tilts female as does the US workforce population. The Dept. of Labor and US Census Bureau tells us the demographics of our markets are roughly 70% White, 18% Hispanic/Latino, 13% Black/African American, 6% Asian. Numbers are greater than 100% because of multiple affiliations when self-selecting. (White/Latino for example)
Today in just our 5th month at TalentBlvd.com, our leadership team very much reflects the markets we serve. TalentBlvd.com’s mentors, advisors and coaches are, in its majority, female. These exceptional women represent very diverse backgrounds and experiences. They are accomplished role models for the industry’s young journalists and are recognized for their amazing personal and professional accomplishments. They persevere in a world that hasn't been equitable, or even kind to them.
They include National Network Anchors at BNC, Telemundo, Estrella, also Fox Sports Anchors/Sideline/Team Reporters, 20 year+ local Main Anchors, Executive Multimedia Producers, and successful Multimedia Entrepreneurs.
These women and the balance of the leadership TalentBlvd strive to be an industry ally as we advocate and push for the equality of women in our industry. Today is the day that we celebrate our progress toward women’s equality but we also recognized we still have a long way to go. In that light, we will continue to hold up our female role models and celebrate their successes despite decades of bias and discrimination. We will continue learning from them and champion female equality because equality benefits us all. We all can’t win unless we all can win.
Bravo! #WomensEqualityDay