FleishmanHillard hires Adrianne C Smith as Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer

Global PR agency FleishmanHillard has announced the appointment of Adrianne C Smith as Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer (CDIO). 

The former WPP Global Director of Inclusion and Diversity brings extensive industry experience and partnerships to accelerate the agency’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) plan. In her new role, Smith will advance FleishmanHillard’s global DE&I strategy; and continue its ambition to become the “most inclusive agency in the world”. Smith replaces Emily K Graham, FleishmanHillard’s first CDIO, who was appointed Chief Equity and Impact officer of Omnicom earlier this year. 

While at WPP, Smith guided the agency’s global community on the foundational underpinnings for DE&I strategies; and led the team responsible for building an internal global inclusion and diversity resource platform for its network of agencies. She also oversaw a collective of DE&I executives from more than 20 agencies who collaborated to share best practices and support one another on their DE&I journeys. Smith was also responsible for developing a global conscious inclusion learning and development series; focused on allyship, anti-racism, covering, bystander training and building inclusive cultures.

INDUSTRY INCLUSION INNOVATOR

“DE&I is the defining issue of our time and we must be change agents; forging new and reimagined standards, ideas, values and ways of coming together,” stated John Saunders, President and CEO of FleishmanHillard. “Adrianne is an established industry innovator with the perfect combination of experience creating high-impact forums to explore diversity solutions, and unsurpassed professional and academic experience. She will be able to help us take immediate action that elevates our organisation and creates sustainable change; for us and for our clients.”

Smith will report to Saunders and be a member of FleishmanHillard’s global leadership cabinet. She will lead the work of the agency’s DE&I taskforce to further the agency’s 2021 DE&I Plan. This includes moving DE&I to the centre, growing and retaining talent; and making DE&I intrinsic to its work, broadening its aperture and creating community connection. She will work in close partnership with Leela Stakeand Adiya Mobley, Co-leaders of True MOSAIC; the firm’s fast-growing capability specifically created to provide DE&I counsel and solutions to clients.

EXTENSIVE INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE

Commenting on the new role, Smith stated: “As an advocate and activist, my forward focused DE&I journey has been one of creating opportunities and providing access for those who have been historically left out of the advertising and marketing profession. This journey has also included educating the industry on the value of diverse human capital. FleishmanHillard’s core business is built around storytelling and shaping narratives. They have laid a solid DE&I foundation to build a sustainable practice that moves the work from intentional to impactful. I’m honoured to be a part of their journey to become the most inclusive agency in the world.”

With more than 20 years of industry experience, Smith’s career has been focused on making the invisible visible by creating opportunities for under-represented communities. She participated on the launch team for a digital sub-television network as Director of Advertising at Soul of the South Network; SSN TV – the only broadcast network to focus on the unique experiences of the 20 million African Americans living in the South. Smith was also the first Executive Director of the Howard University Center for Excellence in Advertising. There her mission was to recruit and train people of colour with non-traditional advertising backgrounds; but who had transferrable skills for the advertising industry. In fact, 68% of the participants in the programme still work in the advertising industry.

Other previous roles include Managing Director of AdHere Network/Harlem TV-CIC; Vice President of Ad Sales at the African Heritage Network and Media Buyer/Planner for Leo Burnett. Smith will also continue her work with the Cannes Can: Diversity Collective, which she founded back in 2017; to generate awareness and create access and pathways for underrepresented talent to excel in advertising, marketing, media and creative industries.