Kaleeta McDade
Kaleeta
McDade
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Kaleeta McDade is the chief experience design officer at VML, North America. Kaleeta bridges creative storytelling, technology, design, and user experience for clients across VML’s client portfolio.
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Blackweek Announces Women's Registration Package and Pricing to Address Pay Inequities and Gender Pay Gap in Advertising
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May 20, 2024
The Gendered Pricing Seeks to Address Wage Gap Disparities for Women of Color Interested in Attending The Blackweek Economic Forum
NEW YORK (May 20, 2024)–Blackweek Economic Forum 2024 announced today its pay equity pricing, in the spirit of economic empowerment. The decision directly addresses the fact that women and women of color are still underpaid compared to their male counterparts.
Women earn an average of 16% less than men in the United States. For every dollar earned by men, women earn 84 cents. The pay gap varies significantly by race and ethnicity. In 2022, Black women earned 70% as much as white men, while Hispanic women earned only 65%. The Blackweek Founders and Steering Committee decided on a 30% increase on the regular price of registration for those not affected by the gender pay gap to acknowledge the barriers to entry for women and women of color to the industry’s elite spaces.
“We are not seeing gender equity happen fast enough in compensation and in leadership roles. In the absence of the obvious solution – immediately raise the salary of every woman and especially women of color in your company, to be at parity with men doing the same jobs – I applaud Blackweek’s approach to ticketing. Blackweek is the opportunity for our industry stakeholders to step up and put their money where their mouth is, and I look forward to seeing who does and who doesn’t,” said Cindy Gallop, Founder of Make Love Not Porn and member of the Blackweek Steering Committee.
The Blackweek Economic Forum seeks to be a groundbreaking event that will serve as a testament to a shared dedication to actively reshape the advertising and media industry. With visionary disruptors taking the mainstage and moderating discussion like Cindy Gallop, Gary Vaynerchuck, Madeline Nelson, Alia Kemet, Trevor Edwards, Kate Williams, Amber Guild, Ross Martin, Aaron Walton, this conference will become an essential platform for dismantling old paradigms and nurturing substantial transformation. Blackweek 2024 promises to be an enlightening event, focused on dissecting what’s working, identifying areas for improvement, and collaboratively devising strategies to pave the way for a more equitable and inclusive future.
Blackweek will be held at Spring Studios October 15-18, 2024. It will be focused on tapping into the economic power, potential and influence of Black and diverse consumers. The forum will be centered around disrupting and reconstructing the ad and media industry with decision makers that can turn around and enact change. This learning event will be focused on dissecting what’s working, what’s wrong, and mapping our ways to make it right. The keynotes, panels, and fireside chats, will draw a crowd of multicultural diverse professionals to downtown Manhattan ready to engage and drive action – putting the tough conversations that the industry often is afraid to have, up on the main stage.
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Shannon Washington
Shannon
Washington
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Creative, traveler, culturist—Shannon Washington is a busy woman.
Currently, Shannon serves as Global Chief Creative Officer for gotham, the global boutique creative brand in the McCann Worldgroup network of agencies. Shannon returned to gotham in 2024 to lead the creative evolution and expansion of the agency, from a legendary, 30+ year player in the beauty space, to a full-stack creative powerhouse for a new set of categories, brands and talent.
Shannon previously served as the US Chief Creative Officer, Connected Communications for R/GA US, the network’s largest and flagship region where she focused on reshaping the region’s campaign creative vision, fidelity and work culture.
At R/GA, her intersectional and craft-centric style of leadership led to a renewed creative vigor in the office, resulting in an impressive set of award wins, including a Webby Agency of The Year win, a #2 sport for AdAge’s A-list, and three impressive award seasons, with a net of campaign awards the network had not seen since 2016. Business-wise, Shannon successfully led a host of winning pitches for Uber, Sephora and TurboTax, which was the second largest win for IPG in 2023. In addition, her approach has earned her three distinctive honors: Ad-Age CCO of The Year, The AdWeek 100 and one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business.
Shannon joined R/GA after a stint in Los Angeles with Media Arts Lab, where she helped launch Apple TV+ and build a foundation for original content marketing in the Apple ecosystem, and at Deutsch Los Angeles where she led the H&R Block team. Before that, Shannon was at Droga5 NY, where she led the culture-driven “I Am What I Make Up” relaunch of CoverGirl and the launch of You Invest with Chase.
When she can, Shannon can be found actively adding to the discourse around the culture of leadership and inclusivity in advertising through panels and public conversations. When she’s not in front of a monitor, Shannon is working on adding another stamp to her passport or attempting to run a 10-minute mile.
Shannon is a proud and loud graduate of Howard University and lives in New Jersey.
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Chaucer Barnes
Chaucer
Barnes
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Chaucer Barnes is the Chief Marketing Officer of UnitedMasters Inc., where he bridges the worlds of music and advertising. His career has been marked by his ability to bridge cultural gaps and create impactful strategies for some of the world’s biggest brands. In his current role spanning Translation and UnitedMasters, Chaucer leverages his extensive background as a media planner, brand strategist, creative director, partnership architect, and independent musician to orchestrate innovative solutions that reshape brand behavior. His work aims to create a new normal in how brands and creators gain fame and influence in today’s world. Chaucer has spoken at several industry events, including the Sundance Film Festival, Cannes Lions Festival, and Tribeca Film Festival, and has been featured in Ad Age, Adweek, Fox 5 NY, and Campaign US. He has also been a guest on multiple podcasts, including Morgan Stanley’s Access and Opportunity podcast and Blavity’s Black Tech Green Money podcast. He currently serves as an executive board member of the Advertising Club of New York.
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Aaron Walton
Aaron
Walton
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Recognized as a trailblazer and thought leader, Aaron Walton’s focus on innovation and cultural engagement has transformed traditional marketing and advertising strategies. As the CEO / co-founder of Walton Isaacson (WI), a full-service advertising agency, Aaron’s focus is squarely on identifying unseen opportunities rooted in cultural insights and connections. In recognition of his contributions to and ongoing impact on the industry, Aaron was inducted into the AAF Advertising Hall of Fame Class of 2023.
Founded in partnership Earvin “Magic” Johnson, WI has built inventive and dynamic relationships with brands such as Lexus, McDonald’s, American Airlines, The Home Depot, PNC Bank, and Amazon.
His leadership in the advertising community has led to several industry Board positions including a 2024 appointment to the American Advertising Federation, and 2023 appointments to The Ad Council and the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s).
Steering Committee
Steering Committee
Felecia Hatcher
Felecia
Hatcher
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Leading Fortune 100 corporations, premier global tech entities, renowned foundations, and diverse communities worldwide consistently seek out Felecia Hatcher for her expertise in fostering inclusive innovation and facilitating transformative personal growth. As an internationally acclaimed transformational speaker and author, Felecia orchestrates spaces, curates events, and designs courses that empower business professionals, innovation pioneers, and entrepreneurs. Through her guidance, they not only amplify their impact but also confidently stride into their unique Zone of Genius.
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Katie Williams
Katie
Williams
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Katie Williams is the US Chief Marketing Officer at Haleon. In this role, she works to shape the future of consumer experiences with our iconic portfolio of Haleon brands like Advil, Sensodyne, Tums, and Centrum. She is a leader in CPG marketing with extensive experience and proven success in delivering growth, creative courage, digital transformation, and employee development. She is best known for her relentless focus on equity and inclusion as a critical pathway for business and brand growth.
Katie joined Haleon in 2020 with +20 years of CPG experience at companies like Procter & Gamble where she started her career in R&D, Kraft Foods and most recently Mondelez International where Katie was charged with modernizing the brand and consumer engagement approach across the North America portfolio as the VP of Marketing Transformation. Prior to this role, Katie held various commercial and enterprise marketing roles at Kraft and Mondelez helping to build brands in the US and globally including such iconic brands as Oreo, Ritz, Sour Patch Kids, and Halls.
Katie earned a bachelor’s degree from Purdue University and an MBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.
Katie lives in Montclair, NJ with her two sons CJ (14) and Chase (10) and her husband of 20 years Cameron.
Steering Committee
Steering Committee
Alia Kemet
Alia
Kemet
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Alia serves as the Chief Marketing Officer of Shipt, a subsidiary of Target and a leading same-day delivery service. With a comprehensive role, she directs all aspects of marketing, brand management, and consumer experience, including creative direction, production, advertising, consumer strategy, membership loyalty, and insights. Drawing from over 25 years of marketing expertise acquired from notable positions at McCormick & Company, IKEA, Whole Foods Market, and BET, Alia’s leadership has earned her industry accolades such as Adweek’s Brand Leader of the Year and inclusion in Ad Age’s Leading Women Class.
Beyond her professional achievements, Alia holds influential roles within the advertising community, serving on esteemed boards such as the National Advertising Review Board, and the University of Maryland Flex MBA Advisory Council. Committed to community service, she actively engages with organizations including Top Ladies of Distinction, Inc., Girl Scouts Council of America, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, and serves on the Maryland Food Bank Board of Directors.
Alia’s passion extends beyond her professional endeavors; she has produced The Phenomenal Grit podcast, hosting insightful Career Conversations for Women of Color. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from Howard University, and amidst her 25 years of marriage, she is a devoted mother to four children.
Steering Committee
Steering Committee
Trevor Edwards
Trevor
Edwards
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Trevor A. Edwards, former President of the NIKE Brand. He resigned from his position in August 2018. Mr. Edwards was responsible for leading all category and geographic business units, the Jordan Brand and Action Sports, which includes Hurley International LLC, Digital Sport and brand management throughout the world as well as leading NIKE’s wholesale, retail and e-commerce operations.
Mr. Edwards was previously Global Brand & Category Management Executive Vice President, where he was responsible for helping to drive the NIKE Brand growth strategy by leading its category business units globally. Mr. Edwards joined the company in 1992 as a Regional Marketing Manager and has held senior marketing positions in the Americas, the Europe/Middle East/Africa region, the U.S. and Global Brand Management. Mr. Edwards has led some of the brand’s most significant break-through innovations, including spearheading the creation of Nike+, a revolutionary sports training experience that connects digitally enabled footwear with digital services. He has also helped transform the digital landscape and position Nike as a leader by using social media to connect with consumers globally.
Mr. Edwards earned a BA, business, 1984 and MBA, international marketing and finance, 1989 from Baruch College.