When Lisa Osborne Ross assumed the role of CEO of Edelman U.S. in April, she set a goal that 30% of the public relations firm’s workforce and 20% of its leadership would be Black, Indigenous and people of color by 2022.
It didn’t take nearly that long. The more than 6,000-person global communications firm — which brought in $840 million in revenue in 2020, 63% of that from her U.S. division — surpassed its 30% hiring goal this past September and is nearing its 20% leadership goal.
Achieving these goals required Edelman leadership and staff to be intentional about their actions every day, Ross says.
“In every engagement, we asked, ‘How representative is your team?’” she says. “We had to go through a major reorientation culture shift to get people to understand why we are making these changes.”
As part of that mission, Ross helped created Edelman’s Covid-19 and Racial Justice task forces, which combined have worked with more than 400 clients to guide their…
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