Talent Forward Alliance

Description and Purpose

The Talent Forward Alliance welcomes members from the marketing, agency, HR, academic, and diversity communities to work together on today’s most pressing talent challenges. Talent is a key driver of growth, so it’s imperative to invest in the people who drive businesses, brands, and our industry. The Talent Forward Alliance provides a forum for best-practice sharing and peer-to-peer networking to help address the talent crisis our industry faces.

Talent Weeks

Instead of meeting once a quarter, the Talent Forward Alliance offers structured Talent Weeks three times a year in New York City. Since talent affects multiple stakeholders, teams can participate the entire week or a few specific days.

Key Discussion Topics

The Talent Forward Alliance is comprised of four structured work streams, built around diversity and inclusion:

• Rebuilding Reputation with Students: Focuses on enhancing the industry’s reputation with the next generation of students who we want to become the future leaders of our industry
• Reconnecting with Academia: Focuses on helping the industry develop deeper, more structured relationships with the academic community to influence change
• Reskilling the Organization: Focuses on building skills and marketing capabilities to drive business and brand growth
• Recruiting and Retaining with Purpose: Focuses on the specific strategies and tactics to recruit and retain the best talent for our industry

Co-Chairs

• Rebuilding Reputation with Students: Stinson Parks, ESPN; Bruce Kalfus, ESPN; Carlos Zepeda, Belvedere; and Marc Williams, Creative Director
• Reconnecting with Academia: Ginger Coffey, Cisco; Jobert Abueva, Educational Testing Service; Aniko DeLaney, BNY Mellon; and Dawn Lerman, Fordham University
• Reskilling the Organization: Denis Sison, J&J; Deirdre Robinson, Verizon; Lisa Thorner, P&G; and Samantha Hammock, American Express
• Recruiting and Retaining with Purpose: Andrea Shiah, American Express; Jodi Harris, Anheuser-Busch; Eileen Benwitt, Horizon Media; and James Fortsch, McCann

Leadership Initiatives

• Bridging The Talent Disconnect: Charting Future Pathways to Growth: This study from the ANA Educational Foundation (AEF) is the first to explore all three of its stakeholder perspectives: industry, academia, and students. It concludes that students are unclear about career paths in marketing and advertising and question whether it constitutes “meaningful work.” Universities are scrambling to develop curricula that anticipate rapidly changing industry realities and produce graduates with relevant skills and critical thinking capabilities. And marketers and ad agencies struggle to decipher the millennial mindset while being frustrated that recent graduates are often unprepared to enter the field. A link to the study can be found here.

• The Diversity Disconnect: Charting More Inclusive Pathways to Growth: In 2017, the study “Bridging the Talent Disconnect: Charting Pathways to Future Growth” identified significant structural disconnects between academia and industry. The follow-up 2019 qualitative study uncovered the same structural disconnects when analyzing this issue through a diversity lens, specifically racial diversity. A link to the study can be found here.

• The MADE Program: The MADE (Marketing and Advertising Education) summer internship sourcing program originated from the findings uncovered in the study “Bridging the Talent Disconnect: Charting Pathways to Future Growth.” There was a resounding call across all key stakeholders surveyed in the study — students, academia, and the industry — about the need to have a robust internship experience as a critical step to future entry-level employment in the advertising and marketing industry. A link to more information can be found here.

• Certified ANA Membership Program (CAMP): This program ensures you and your team meet the ANA standard for today’s multi-faceted marketer. The program combines comprehensive brand marketing strategy with customer-centric techniques and digital, data, and analytics training. With the ANA’s certification program, individuals and/or entire marketing teams will be activated to elevate their marketing campaigns with insight into marketplace drivers and best practices, from strategy, to execution, to attribution and success metrics. A link to more information can be found here.

• Campus Speakers Program: Offering a powerful partnership between industry and academia, AEF’s Campus Speakers Program (formerly Inside Advertising Speakers Program) sends advertising and marketing practitioners onto college campuses nationwide to engage with students and faculty This academic year, AEF speakers participated in more than 200 programs, covering such topics as multicultural advertising, advertising ethics, gender portrayals, and digital/analytics. Speakers are carefully chosen and programs customized to meet mutual objectives. A link to more information can be found here.

• Visiting Professor Program: Since its inception, more than 500 professors have participated in the AEF Visiting Professor Program (VPP). The goal of the VPP is to enhance professors’ understanding of current developments and practice in advertising and marketing to inform their teaching and research. It is also a forum for professors to exchange learning, and to create long-term relationships with agencies and marketers. Learn more about the 2019 VPP. A link to more information can be found here.