June 10, 2020
We Have Work to Do.
Black Lives Matter. We're taking action.
It’s long past time to overthrow the status quo and dismantle the systemic injustice in our country. That starts, but doesn’t end, with advocating for and positively representing Black people in our staffing, culture, and the stories we help our clients tell. We are a predominantly white organization with all-white leadership. We realize we have work to do. We know that lip service doesn’t lead to lasting change. Action does.
OBP staff across the agency volunteered to take part in making change through several areas of focus.
- Investing in creating opportunities for Black talent in the industry. We’ll work with our clients and partners such as 4-H, FFA, Southeast Tourism Society, MAGNET and the 4A’s to invest in scholarships for Black students that pave the way for opportunities in our industries.
- Increasing representation of black people in marketing communications materials. We commit to recommending that our clients consider increasing the positive depiction of Black people in advertising and communications materials.
- Increasing our proactive recruitment of Black talent. We commit to working with local universities and the industries we serve to proactively increase recruitment of Black internals and Black candidates for positions at all levels.
- Investing in Black students in our communities. We commit to working with local schools and colleges in St. Louis, Kansas City and Nashville to support mentorship for Black students and the donation of learning materials that depict Black people, their experience and their history.
- Investing in Black-owned businesses in our communities. We commit to prioritizing Black-owned businesses in St. Louis, Kansas City and Nashville when evaluating potential vendors, and exploring opportunities to offer pro-bono marketing communications services.
We look forward to providing updates as our passionate working-group teams across the agency make progress over the next few months.
