Inaugural Board to Focus on Increasing Diversity across the Digital Media and Marketing Industries & Close Workforce Skills Gap
PALM DESERT, Calif. – Nine prominent leaders from across the interactive and diversity landscape have joined the IAB Education Foundation’s inaugural Board of Directors. They will work alongside AOL Chairman and CEO Tim Armstrong, who serves as Chairman of the IAB Education Foundation Board, as well as the Foundation’s General Manager Michael Theodore, to tackle the twin problems of lack of diversity and a growing skills gap in the digital media and advertising industries.
“These distinguished leaders—the Foundation’s first Board of Directors—will be vital in helping to create a robust workforce that can sustain the digital media and marketing arena for years to come.”
The new members of the board include:
- Jennifer Creegan, General Manager, Operations, Microsoft
- Tiffany Dufu, Chief Leadership Officer, Levo League, and former President, The White House Project
- Phyllis Ehrlich, Senior Vice President, Chief Client Solutions Officer, Time Warner Cable Media
- Bruce Gordon, Executive Mentor, Merryck & Co
- Patrick Harris, Director of Global Agency Development, Facebook
- Maureen Jules-Perez, Senior TechnDirector, Enterprise Services, AOL
- Michael Kassan, Chairman and CEO, MediaLink
- Freada Kapor Klein, Founder, Level Playing Field Institute, and Partner, Kapor Center for Social Impact
- Stephen Kim, Vice President, Global Accounts, AOL
These board members will take active roles in the development of the IAB Education Foundation’s iDiverse initiative, which is focused on increasing racial, gender, economic, and cultural diversity in the interactive advertising workforce through education, certification, and job placement. In addition, they will support a host of other efforts undertaken by the Foundation—research, outreach programs, and development of best practices, all designed to ensure a strong talent pipeline as the $50 billion digital media and marketing landscape evolves.
“We are standing in front of a problem that can and will change,” said Armstrong. “The internet has changed the way the world works, and we are organizing the industry to change the way diversity works with iDiverse. Join us.”
“Our industry is poised for tremendous growth and we need a skilled workforce pool that can meet that demand,” said Theodore, General Manager of the IAB Education Foundation, who also serves as Senior Vice President, Learning and Development, IAB. “These distinguished leaders—the Foundation’s first Board of Directors—will be vital in helping to create a robust workforce that can sustain the digital media and marketing arena for years to come.”
Incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, the Foundation is equipped to take tax-deductible contributions from individuals and companies and is funded from a variety of sources including corporate and individual supporters, donations, workforce development grants, and IAB itself.
For more information, please visit iab.com/idiverse.
About IAB
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) empowers the media and marketing industries to thrive in the digital economy. It is comprised of more than 650 leading media and technology companies that are responsible for selling, delivering, and optimizing digital advertising or marketing campaigns. Together, they account for 86 percent of online advertising in the United States. Working with its member companies, the IAB develops technical standards and best practices and fields critical research on interactive advertising, while also educating brands, agencies, and the wider business community on the importance of digital marketing. The organization is committed to professional development and elevating the knowledge, skills, expertise, and diversity of the workforce across the industry. Through the work of its public policy office in Washington, D.C., the IAB advocates for its members and promotes the value of the interactive advertising industry to legislators and policymakers. Founded in 1996, the IAB is headquartered in New York City and has a West Coast office in San Francisco.
