On the brand side, household names including Molson Coors and Ford have recently shelved DEI initiatives started in the wake of protests over the police killing of George Floyd. Agency leadership, meanwhile, is going backward: in 2021, 73% of agency C-suite employees and owners identified as white, in 2022 that number increased to 90% per the 4A’s.
The cultural fluency of both agencies and clients has been under fire this week too, with Heinz pulling an ad criticized by some for being racially insensitive.
For Anthony, DEI is about more than corporate responsibility and altruism; it’s about unlocking “the new mainstream.”
Pew Research forecasts the Black population in the U.S. — native and foreign-born — is expected to grow from about 49 million people, or 13.3% of the population, in 2030, to 60.6 million people, or 15% of the population, by 2060. Per the UN, more than one in four people globally will be African in 2050. Elsewhere, the U.S. census predicts 1 in 4 Americans will be Latinx by 2060.
“[People of color] are over-indexing in every aspect of consumerism globally. That warrants a prioritization of us,” Anthony said. “There is this tremendous opportunity to educate, but not alienate.”
“I’ve [been asked] a lot of questions, like: ‘Can I go to Blackweek if I’m white?’” he added. “Part of the reason why we called it Blackweek is because we feel that Black culture is the most inclusive in the world… the invitation is open to everyone and anyone who wants to learn about those rich investments we make in culture and how to tap into it.”
Intentional Inclusivity and Blackweek 2025
Inclusivity has been a throughline for the founders during the planning stages. Nelson pointed to the program’s discounted ticketing initiatives as “another layer of being intentional.”
One such discount was ideated by Cindy Gallop, former BBH U.S. chair and founder of Make Love Not Porn, who is a member of the conference’s steering committee. To address inequity in compensation and leadership roles women and women of color for can attend $839, a rate 30% lower than Blackweek’s regular executive package.
Originators also raffled off 50 passes on social media to give unemployed people or those who couldn’t afford a ticket the opportunity to attend. Entrants who weren’t selected for this could still purchase tickets at 50% off.
