Steps to Success: How The Creative Ladder is bridging gaps in the advertising industry

A new non-profit is launching with the goal of uplifting marginalized voices in creative fields. Opening its doors in fall 2022, The Creative Ladder aims to help “discover and elevate the talent of the future” by providing up-and-coming talent from all backgrounds access to industry mentorship, training and career-building support.

“In the creative field, awareness is key and representation matters,” says CEO Dionna Dorsey Calloway, who co-founded the organization alongside David Griner, co-founder and Chief Content Officer, and Ryan Reynolds, famed Canadian-American actor.

“Ideally,” she continues, “we want to foster empowerment and growth through training, networking and learning experiences that will ultimately make it clear that there’s not a talent deficit, but rather an opportunity deficit in the creative industry for generally marginalized communities.”

The concept behind The Creative Ladder took shape after Griner met Reynolds while working as an editor for Adweek magazine. At the time, Reynolds was pursuing initiatives to create a more inclusive industry in Hollywood – such as the Group Effort Initiative he founded alongside his wife, Blake Lively, which works with Netflix to place underrepresented talent in major film production roles.

“They both share a passion for making creative industries more accessible and inclusive and quickly realized a similar effort for the marketing and design worlds could help elevate a diverse new generation of leaders into the creative business world,” Calloway recalls.

A website has been set up for The Creative Ladder at creativeladder.org. It features a video of Reynolds sharing his motivation for joining Calloway and Griner in this initiative.

“We started the Group Effort Initiative to increase inclusion in the entertainment industry among BIPOC and underrepresented communities, and it’s been hugely rewarding,” he says. “That’s why I’m proud to be co-founding The Creative Ladder. It’s to marketing what Group Effort Initiative is to the entertainment industry... We’ll be talking to students, connecting talent to mentors, providing training opportunities and just a whole lot more.”

Breaking Barriers

The Creative Ladder was born from the understanding that more can be done to foster diversity in creative careers. This was made even clearer in a study its founders conducted among hundreds of creative professionals, which found that 78 per cent of people of colour were unaware their careers even existed after graduating high school, and 92 per cent believed standard recruiting practices are keeping the workforce from becoming more inclusive. Equally compelling were findings that revealed 80 per cent of creative students surveyed hadn’t been offered leadership training in any consistent way and that, when promoted, they often feel abandoned and set up to fail.

“That’s why it was important that our programming offers affordable leadership training from today’s most innovative industry leaders geared toward the needs of rising talent and their industries,” insists Calloway.

There are several ways that the founders hope to make good on its mission. When it opens, The Creative Ladder will offer a variety of services, including:

• Student outreach: Visiting high schools and colleges to spark awareness for careers in creative fields.
• Virtual leadership training: A six-month virtual program welcoming students to engage with peers, discuss their industry issues and barriers, receive valuable lesson plans and draw insights from industry experts.
• Seminars and workshops: A mix of in-person educational events and virtual opportunities that will connect students with leaders from various fields, including marketing, media, design, advertising and commercial production.
• Consulting and custom events: Targeted training and awareness events designed to bolster industry inclusivity.

“Through our programming, our goal is to find, elevate and empower tomorrow’s top talent,” says Calloway. “While this seems like a rather large lift, we’re encouraged and confident we can make an impact. We believe that by spreading creative career awareness, we can help recruit, train and upskill the next generation of talent while removing long-standing barriers in their path and connecting them to employers in ways that make sense for today.”

Sidebar: Talent on Board

The Creative Ladder will lean on the support of leaders across the industry. That includes a board of directors comprised of successful creatives ready to impart their insights and support to the organization’s students. They include:

Orchid Bertelson, Chief Operating Officer, Common Thread Collective
Danny Robinson, Chief Creative Officer, The Martin Agency
Rahel F. Rasu, Chief Communications Officer, Mediabrands
Claude Silver, Chief Heart Officer, VaynerMedia
Nancy Reyes, CEO, TBWA\Chiat\Day New York
Thas Naseemuddeen, CEO, Omelet
Carmen Rodriguez, MD & Global Partner, Gut
Colleen DeCourcy, Chief Creative Officer, Snap Inc.

Written by Matthew Bradford