THRIVE, ACTIVATE & ELEVATE // PANELIST LINE-UP
PRIYA MANN (MASTER OF CEREMONIES)
ANCHOR/REPORTER // WDIV-DETROIT
Priya Mann is passionate about connecting with people and sharing their stories. Born and raised near Toronto, Ontario, she knew from an early age that she wanted to be a reporter. Focused and determined, Priya graduated from Brock University with a Bachelor's Degree in Communications and completed a Post Graduate Diploma from Humber College in Advanced Journalism.
She began her career as a volunteer reporter for Rogers Television Peel, in Mississauga. In 2008, her first job took her out West, to CFJC News in Kamloops, British Columbia. She worked as a video journalist - shooting, writing and editing her own stories. Priya won a prestigious RTDNA award for her story "Remembering Afghanistan." She then moved to Windsor and worked for CTV Windsor until promotion took her to London, Ontario and then to CTV Kitchener. In 2013, Priya joined WDIV-Local 4 as a reporter and fill-in anchor.
Priya is a dedicated vegetarian, loves to read, do yoga and watch documentaries. She has a cockapoo named Zen, who is not yet inspired by his name.
TALENT PANEL
VENUS J. BROWN (MODERATOR)
ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS AND PEOPLE EXPERIENCE, ASSEMBLY GLOBAL
Venus J. Brown guides the architecture and implementation of formal high performing learning development curricula and employee engagement experiences for all employee levels: individual contributor through executive. Her focus is effectiveness and efficiency, increasing competence and confidence. As Assembly Globals' internal certified International Coaching Federation (ICF) Career Coach and Diversity and Inclusion expert, using an evidenced based approach, she researched, assesses, designs, develops, delivers, and evaluates customized developmental experiences that propels cultures of high performance.
Venus has received numerous training, development and diversity awards and her work has been recognized by Training Top 125, Best Place to Work, Training Games, Employee Resource Groups (ERG) Council, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI), and Association for Talent Development (ATD). She holds degrees in Instructional Technology, Communications and multiple certifications in Insights Discovery, DiSC, Center for Creative Leadership 360, Situational Leadership II, Influencer, Hogan Derailer; DDI Targeted Selection. She is currently President, ICF Michigan; Vice President of Southfield Alumnae Chapter, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.; past Board member, United Negro College Fund (UNCF) Leadership Board, and a staunch supporter/ volunteer at the Torch of Wisdom Foundation Inc., metro-Detroit based Alternatives for Girls, Judson Canter, and Ronal McDonald House.
GREG HAWKINS
MANAGING DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS RESOURCE GROUPS & GLOBAL COLLABORATION // STELLANTIS
Greg Hawkins currently serves as the Managing Director of Business Resource Groups and Global Collaboration for Stellantis and is supporting multiple partner initiatives within the DEI organization. He is also the Program Director for the National Black Supplier Development Program. Greg has worked at Stellantis for 17+ years in numerous capacities, and has used that education, training, and experience to seek innovative solutions to complex problems.
CHANNING MARTIN
GLOBAL CHIEF DIVERSITY AND SOCIAL IMPACT OFFICER // INTERPUBLIC GROUP
Channing Martin is IPG’s Global Chief Diversity and Social Impact Officer. In this role, she is responsible for advancing IPG’s diversity, equity and inclusion objectives and continuing to strengthen the company’s progress to being one of the world’s most diverse and inclusive companies.
Channing leads IPG’s strategy on all diversity-related matters, including the continued diversification of IPG’s senior ranks and talent pipeline, collaboration and partnership with IPG’s full network of agency brands, CEOs and DE&I leadership community. In her role, she also supports the advancement of social impact strategies and practices in partnership with the leadership of IPG’s integrated ESG team.
Throughout her career, Channing has developed and executed measurable diversity initiatives that amplify employee voices, build diverse pipelines of talent, mitigate bias in hiring and performance reviews and strengthen community partnerships to reach new audiences.
Channing holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Pittsburgh and an M.S. in Public Policy and Management from Heinz College at Carnegie-Mellon University.
JOI PATRICK
SVP DIRECTOR, HUMAN RESOURCES AND DEI NORTH AMERICA // MRM
Joi Patrick is a Human Resources professional and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Lead at MRM Detroit where her main responsibilities focus on developing and implementing ways to attract, retain and develop talent. For most of her career Joi has worked as a trusted advisor while coaching managers and employees on career development. She helps lead the DEI strategy efforts for the agency along with an amazing team, while also focusing on the Recruiting and Talent practices locally for the Detroit office. Joi guides thought innovation and builds effective communication strategies by proactively researching best practices from around the network and externally to strengthen the HR team’s delivery. Joi’s true passions center around coaching and mentoring young professionals and creating opportunities for multicultural talent to be exposed and thrive in the advertising industry.
Joi’s super power is empathy – an understanding and mindfulness of others feelings, helping to build an informal chemistry even in the toughest circumstances. Joi believes we’re all simply learning together and as people we are certainly better together.
PAM YANG
EXECUTIVE CAREER COACH, PY CONSULTING & CO-FOUNDER //AGENCY DEI
Pam's mission is to create more work-life joy so we can help solve our world's greatest problems. She's a strategist and marketer turned Executive Coach and Equity Advocate. Her coaching and speaking help people be their fearless selves so they can be the brave leaders of their lives, careers, and communities. She co-founded Agency DEI to track progress in workforce equity. In a past life, she dreamt of being NBA Commissioner, which led to 16 years in brand strategy and marketing at the NBA, ESPN, Nike, and R/GA. She no longer wants to be Commish and is now focused on leveraging curiosity, compassion, and care to save our world.
CREATIVE PANEL
FRAN WESTBROOKS (MODERATOR)
PRESIDENT AND MANAGING PARTNER // BOULEVARD
For over 15 years, Fran Westbrooks has led the largest multicultural agency in the country as an award-winning, SVP, Executive Creative Director in Detroit and New York, helping build global brands such as Chrysler, Chevy, Ford, Lincoln, HAP, Wal-Mart, Corona, Verizon, and Subway. Known for his strategic and creative thinking, Fran garnered recognition in the industry for finding uncontested market space and opportunities for his clients' brands.
As a pivotal architect in the multicultural space, Fran foresaw a shift in the industry, changed hats and is now founder, President and Managing Partner of Boulevard, an advertising, marketing and design agency that develops fully integrated marketing strategies, messaging and content for an ever-evolving market. Boulevard's current clients are Jeep, Girl Scouts, Detroit Tigers, HAP, Henry Ford Health Systems and Compassion International.
DANNY ROBINSON
CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER // THE MARTIN AGENCY
Danny Robinson brings a blend of creative and business acumen to The Martin Agency, where he oversees brands including GEICO, OREO, DoorDash, UPS, and Old Navy. He helped lead the agency to back-to-back Adweek Agency of the Year wins in 2000 and 2021 and was recently named Campaign US Agency Head of the Year; Ad Age's CCO of the Year; and honored on Adweek 50 and Campaign US 40 Over 40 lists. An accomplished artist, pop culture aficionado, and former DJ, Danny was once voted by the Stand Up NY Comedy Club as "one of the funniest men in advertising."
WILSON SANTIAGO-SOLER
SENIOR MULTICULTURAL CAMPAIGN MANAGER - HISPANIC //ROCKET CENTRAL
For the past 20 years, Wilson Santiago-Soler has been working in executive sales, non-profit and marketing strategy roles that support minorities with different types of financing. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Wilson has degrees in Marketing, Human Resources, and a minor in Development of New Business from the University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez Campus. In 2018, Wilson created the first multicultural role inside the Quicken Loans/Rocket Mortgage marketing team. Since then, he has been leading the Hispanic marketing strategy creating diverse, inclusive, and culturally relevant messaging for the diverse audiences while growing its diverse business portfolios. Last year, Wilson was recognized by HispanicAd as a 2022 Hispanic Market Thought Leader.
HEAD OF MULTICULTURAL MARKETING // CADILLAC
Juanita Slappy is an award-winning marcom professional with a personal commitment to serving multicultural audiences. In her current role she leads efforts to drive measurable business results, develop impactful content, and secure strategic partnerships for the iconic Cadillac brand.
Juanita joined General Motors in 2017 as a lead in Diversity Brand Communications. Since then, she has also led initiatives and teams in Program Operations, managing key reveal and launch events for the GM suite of brands and in Global Product Development and Innovation & Growth.
With more than a decade of multicultural marketing and communications experience serving in leadership capacities at two of North America’s premier multicultural agencies, Juanita has consistently delivered culturally relevant campaigns. She directed Ford and Lincoln’s multicultural public relations and experiential efforts via agency alignment with Uniworld Group.
Prior to supporting Ford, she served in various communications capacities via GlobalHue, a full-service multicultural advertising agency, with clients such as FCA (Chrysler), U.S. Navy and Walmart, among others. Juanita has contributed to national publicity and experiential efforts for ESSENCE Festival, Super Bowl XL, Detroit Grand Prix and a host of others including working with talent such as Regina King, Big Boi, Winnie Mandela, Maffio, Melissa Butler and others.
MEDIA PANEL
TARSHENA ARMSTRONG (MODERATOR)
DIRECTOR, DIVERSITY MARKETING AND DEVELOPMENT // GENERAL MOTORS
Tarshena Armstrong is the Director of Diversity Marketing & Development at General Motors, leading the task of driving measurable business results for multicultural audiences and human capital development initiatives to develop future modern marketers.
Armstrong has demonstrated professional excellence within the Automotive industry for over 16 years. After joining General Motors in 2006 as a marketing intern, she furthered her automotive career as the previous Business Planning Manager for General Motors’ Chair & CEO, where she was responsible for leading portfolio studies and the long-term growth strategy for the organization.
In 2023, Armstrong was an honoree for The Michigan Chronicles - Women of Excellence. In 2022, Armstrong was appointed to the General Motors Inclusion Advisory Board and recognized in the Deloitte 2022 Rising Leader Collective, 2022 DBusiness Magazine 30 In Their Thirties, 2020 Michigan Chronicles “40 Under 40” Honoree and was featured in the Working Mother’s Magazine representing GM as the Best Companies for Multicultural Women.
An advocate for Multicultural Marketing and ensuring equal representation in the workforce, Armstrong has participated in events and initiatives such as the Kellogg Business School “CMO” Executive Education, Rainbow Push Automotive Coalition, AdWeek, ANA Global Day of Learning, GM African American Ancestry Network Celebration, and GM Diverse Media Summit.
BRIA BRYANT
GLOBAL CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER // ASSEMBLY GLOBAL
Bria Bryant is an industry leader with a broad range of experience driving record-breaking growth for publicly and privately held companies across a variety of sectors. In 2022, Bria Bryant joined Assembly as Global Chief Marketing Officer, playing a critical role in the next stage of transformation and growth for the agency and elevating its proposition all around the world. Prior to that, Bryant worked at Havas Creative as the North American head of communications, MSL overseeing the award-winning Procter & Gamble Feminine Care portfolio, and Footsteps Group and Haute Behavior, a boutique experiential marketing and public relations agency she co-founded.
Dedicated to aligning brands with purpose, Bryant supported the culture-shifting Always #LikeAGirl work, facilitated a Tampax partnership with UNCF aimed at tackling the Black maternal healthcare crisis by ushering in a new wave of Black female doctors, and launched the Gillette “Master of Style” campaign with a partnership with 100 Black Entrepreneurs to support future barbers.
Outside her professional efforts, Bria is an outspoken advocate who spends her time giving back to her alma mater, Spelman College, and other HBCUs.
SHEEREEN M. RUSSELL
GROUP VICE PRESIDENT, ADVERTISING SALES AND CLIENT PARTNERSHIPS // WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY
Sheereen M. Russell serves as Group Vice President, Advertising Sales and Client Partnerships, Warner Bros. Discovery. Sheereen is responsible for driving sales, educating marketers, and developing content and data-based solutions to engage brands and consumers across Warner Bros. Discovery's portfolio of cable, social and digital platforms. She is responsible for driving the company's commitment to diversity and inclusion in front of and behind the camera, while partnering closely with programming and merchandising teams across all platforms to develop diverse and inclusive content and sponsorship opportunities.
In 2020, Sheereen was named to the board of the New York Women in Communications as Vice President of Memberships, joined the Ad Age Diversity Council, spearheaded OWN's partnership with ANA's SeeHer, was a 2020 ANA Multicultural Awards Judge, and was named to the Cablefax 2020 Diversity List. In 2019, Sheereen was recognized as one of Ad Age's "Women to Watch." In 2018, NAMIC identified Sheereen as a "Next Generation Leader." Sheereen serves on the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC) and the New York Women in Communications (NY WICI) Board of Directors.
Sheereen earned a B.A. in Communications with a Minor in Journalism from Wake Forest University.
NICOLE SEBREE-HENRY
SENIOR DIRECTOR, MULTICULTURAL MARKETING // ROCKET CENTRAL
Nicole Sebree-Henry is a marketing professional with 20 years of experience, she has provided national visibility through marketing for Fortune 500 brands such as Ford, Walmart, and FedEx.
Nicole currently is the Senior Director, Multicultural Marketing for Rocket Central. There, she is working to bridge the homeownership gap between people of color and the general market. She also owns The Marketing Connect, LLC, where she has consulted on marketing campaigns for brands such as McDonald’s and Cricket Wireless.
Her accomplishments include launching the award-winning show, Absinth for Caesars Entertainment Las Vegas and she is a multi-year winner of best consumer engagement at the Essence Festival, representing Ford. She has helped brands contribute over $25 million dollars to HBCUs.
Her marketing background spans from automotive to gaming to retail. She has worked in both multicultural and general market advertising.
A Detroit native, she has sat on the Board for the Boys and Girls Club of Toledo. She is a member of Adcraft Detroit and a presenter for the Association of National Advertisers (ANA).