Black C-suite marketing executives launch new alliance
CMOs from PetSmart, ViacomCBS, Prudential Financial and Amazon form new organization.
Twenty-six Black marketing leaders from the world’s most iconic brands and companies founded Black Executive CMO Alliance (BECA), an alliance designed to champion diversity at the corporate leadership level. The founding members joined forces under one banner determined to help build the next generation of C-suite marketing executives by offering their expertise to those in need.
“Many of our founding members, like me, have worked incredibly hard throughout their careers to achieve positions of leadership and quickly realized that ‘few others look like them’,” said Jerri DeVard, BECA founder and Fortune 100 CMO and board director. “I created this Alliance of Black marketing executives because it didn’t exist and is so desperately needed. BECA will challenge the corporate diversity gap and change the census by mentoring and building the pipeline of talented Black executives who will follow in our footsteps.”
The alliance serves as a vibrant forum for member Black marketing executives to share, learn, elevate and pay it forward to create opportunity, access, and change by establishing mentorship programs, first-hand executive exposure, and coaching. It will also include identifying career paths and skill opportunities to grow the Black marketing leadership talent pool.
“Those who have lived and continue to operate through the problem are often in the best position to drive change,” said Kirk McDonald, BECA founding member and GroupM North America CEO. “BECA, in the context of this moment in history, is about sharing and elevating the strengths and talents of many of our hidden leaders and our culture at a time when true authenticity and purpose-driven leadership is needed.”
BECA’s members are a perfect mix of presidents and VPs, CEOs and global heads, COOs and CMOs--all of whom bring a diverse range of marketing experience and expertise. Below is the complete list of BECA’s founding members, in alphabetical order:
Paul Alexander; CMO and chief communications officer, Eastern Bank
Nadja Bellan-White; global CMO, Vice Media
Esi Eggleston Bracey; executive VP and chief operating officer, personal care, Unilever North America
Jerri DeVard; founder, Black Executive CMO Alliance
Chris Foster; president, BCW North America
Sharon Harris; global CMO, Jellyfish
Susan Somersille Johnson; CMO, Prudential Financial
Ramon Jones; executive VP and CMO, Nationwide Insurance
Lauren Kelly; CMO, ThoughtExchange
Remi Kent; global CMO, 3M
Candace Matthews; chief reputation officer, Amway
Kirk McDonald; CEO, GroupM North America
Ukonwa Kuzi-Orizu Ojo; global CMO, Prime Video and Amazon Studios
Kimberly E. Paige; executive VP and CMO, ViacomCBS—BET Networks
Gail Peterson; senior VP and CMO, Ecolab
Bozoma Saint John; global CMO, Netflix
Ralph Santana; executive VP and global CMO, Harman International
Vicky Free Sistrunk, senior VP, global brand marketing, Adidas
Will Smith; senior VP and CMO, PetSmart
Janice Tennant; CMO, Merrell
Najoh Tita-Reid; head of global marketing, Logitech
Dara Treseder; senior VP, head of global marketing and communications, Peloton
Anton Vincent; president, Mars Wrigley, North America
Kevin Warren; CMO, UPS
Julie Spencer Washington; CMO and chief experience officer, Trinity Health
Jacqueline Woods; CMO and chief operating officer, NielsenIQ
BECA is kicking off its program in Q3 2021. DeVard tells Marcom Weekly, “Organizations can help support our mission by partnering with BECA to invest in the development of their Black marketing, sales (and adjacent areas) talent. We will look for allies to collaborate with us in the areas of internship, mentorship, scholarship and sponsorship and for organizations who are excelling in demonstrating real change.”