The FORWARD Summit at the USC Marshall School of Business returned in its third iteration in a whole new format. The DEI half-day conference, held on Feb. 26, invited Black and Latinx business leaders and Marshall students and faculty to meet in the metaverse.
“This year is the first time that USC Marshall is hosting a conference in the metaverse. With uncertainty around COVID, we wanted to host the event safely and virtually while mimicking as much of an in-person experience as possible,” said Alganesh Tamyalew MBA ’22, president of Black Graduate Business Leaders (BGBL), who organized the event with Megan Ortegon MBA ’22, president of the Latino Management & Business Association (LMBA).
Hosted by BGBL and LMBA, the FORWARD Summit featured three panels, presentation of five scholarship awards with recipients receiving up to $5,000 toward tuition and fees, and plenty of time for networking amongst avatars. A special component of the virtual campus was a Black History Library, where attendees could explore interactive booths focused on Black and Latinx writers, journalists, songwriters and more. For instance, the writers booth provided access to a reading list that linked to Black-owned bookstores to purchase the books.
“LMBA and BGBL wanted to ensure that this event created a lasting legacy of community and scholarship for all Black and Latinx business leaders in the Marshall community and beyond,” Tamyalew said. “As these leaders continue to pave the way for future generations, this event was uniquely designed to elevate their voices and inspire all communities of color to continue charting their business paths and breaking barriers.”
The three panels focused on Entertainment, Entrepreneurship and the C-Suite. “We chose these panels based on surveying students to learn what industries and topics they were most interested in,” Tamyalew said.
“The FORWARD Summit was a resounding success. From hosting in a groundbreaking virtual event space in the metaverse, to the outstanding speakers ranging from venture capital, CEOs, nonprofit, financial services and beyond, we think this event fulfilled its mission to inspire upcoming business leaders from Black and Latinx communities."—Megan Ortegon MBA ’22
Among the speakers on the Entertainment panel, Diversity in the Business of Entertainment, were Naledi Nyahuma Seck MBA '11, VP of DEI at The Orchard, Sony Music’s media distribution subsidiary, and Elizabeth Randall, SVP of digital strategy at Hemisphere Media Group, the only publicly traded pure-play Spanish-language media company in the United States.
During the discussion, Courtney Zhang, senior consultant at OnPrem, noted that a positive impact of technology companies like Amazon, Netflix and Apple getting into the entertainment business is increased diversity. “Technology is traditionally more diverse in general because there’s more diverse representation there. I think because media, entertainment and technology are meshing together, there is a trend of the whole workplace becoming more diverse,” she said. “I think the trend is definitely positive.”
In the Q&A portion, the speakers offered advice on some perhaps unexpected things they found most instrumental in moving their careers in entertainment forward. Kasturi Shan, senior director of publicity at Interscope, emphasized networking laterally, and not always up. Matthew Lawler, director of digital media at AEG, stressed the importance of advocating for yourself, communicating your values and finding a mentor, while Randall added that your mentor does not have to look like you. “Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and get in front of people who are completely unlike you,” Randall said.
The Entrepreneurship panel, Raising Capital While Black/Latinx, brought together a mix of startup leaders and investors, including Lawrence Cisneros, co-founder and CEO at Drnxmyth, the first bottled cocktail company that uses proprietary bottling technology to deliver fresh craft cocktails, and Brittany Davis, general partner at Backstage Capital, a VC firm focused on investing in startups led by women, people of color and LGBTQ+ founders.
The C-Suite roundtable, The Path to C-Suite, featured Black/Latinx leaders in a variety of industries, including Gary Perez, president and CEO of USC Credit Union, and Calvin Lyons, president and CEO of Special Olympics, Southern California.
“The FORWARD Summit was a resounding success,” Ortegon said. “From hosting in a groundbreaking virtual event space in the metaverse, to the outstanding speakers ranging from venture capital, CEOs, nonprofit, financial services and beyond, we think this event fulfilled its mission to inspire upcoming business leaders from Black and Latinx communities. We can't wait to see what next year has in store.”
