Diversity and Inclusion
In building and promoting diversity and inclusion throughout our organization, we intend to be the world’s most inclusive network of marketing services companies.
We are invested in this cause for two reasons. First, it’s the right thing to do. Equally important, there is a strong business case for a culture of inclusion. When we fully harness the power of diversity, we become better partners to our clients, a more attractive destination for future generations of employees, and a company positioned to build on recent success in growing our business and creating value for shareholders.
In order to achieve these objectives, we began by putting in place the industry’s first office of global diversity and inclusion in 2003. That team supports Interpublic’s corporate organization and our operating units on many of the initiatives. Some our work and programs in this area include:
IPG Network Diversity Council
This committee is composed of CEOs from Interpublic business units and chaired by Interpublic’s CEO. The Council meets three times annually to report on company-wide and agency-specific diversity and inclusion programs. It reviews metrics to determine the effectiveness of these programs and serves as a forum where leaders can share best practices and prioritize the resources required for further progress. The group reports to our board of directors, whose assessment of each agency’s results is factored into senior level executives’ compensation.
A More Inclusive Board of Directors
In 2007, Jocelyn Carter-Miller agreed to join our board. Ms. Carter-Miller is President of TechEdventures, a community empowerment firm that educates children, families and the community through charter schools and community-based programs. Also in 2007, Mary J. Steele Guilfoile joined our board and agreed to serve on its audit committee.
The InterAct Associates Fellowship Program
Launched in 2004, this two-year fellowship program seeks to recruit, retain and develop an internal pipeline of multicultural talent with multi-disciplinary experience. Now in its fourth year, the program is going stronger than ever – we’ve seen more than 35 recent graduates move through its ranks, with most all of these individuals hired by Interpublic agencies at which they’ve worked. Without fail, they have proven to be outstanding assets to our companies, working on key client assignments and creating work that’s getting notice and driving business results.
Business Resource Groups
In late 2006, we brought together small groups of representatives from several agencies to help jump-start the organization of cross-agency, employee-driven groups. Since then, two groups have emerged – the Women’s Leadership Network and MERGE (Multicultural Employee Resource Group for Excellence), both sponsored by senior-level IPG executives.