The primary objectives of Diversity in the District 7 are 1.) to increase minority representation in each of the Seventh District's club/federations to mirror the market mix and 2.) to increase employment opportunities for minorities in the industry.
In the coming months, I will share with you several ideas that the Seventh District has developed to help with the second objective (increase employment opportunities for minorities in the industry). But here are a few ideas you can implement now to help your club's diversity efforts.
First and foremost, establish a minority position within your club. A board member or someone from your general membership may fill this position, but you need someone who can devote his/her sole efforts to diversity.
Next, take a look at your membership. Does it reflect your market mix? Do you know what your market mix is? You can go to www.census.com to find out population information. After you go to the site, click on fact sheet (located on the left-hand navigation bar), then type in your state (you can also narrow this down by city). Demographics highlights from Census 2000 will appear. For instance, in Louisiana, total population in 4,420,711. This figure breaks down to the following demographics:
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Take a look at your membership and see if it mirrors the minority percentages in your market. If not, you can set some goals based on these numbers and work toward better minority representation in your club.
Now that you've set some concrete goals, look within your community and develop and maintain ongoing relationships with minority organizations. Perhaps this is through forming a minority advisory committee, teaming up with minority-owned media or getting your club involved with a minority-run mentoring program. Once this relationship is forged, talk top the people you meet and tell them why your diversity initiatives are important to the advertising community and ask for suggestions in getting (and keeping) a diverse membership mix in your ad fed. |
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