To Lead Global Inclusion & Diversity Department
The One Club for Creativity, the world’s foremost nonprofit organization whose mission is to support and celebrate the success of the global creative community, has promoted Lauren Cole to lead its wide-ranging One ID inclusion and diversity department.
In her new role as Senior Diversity Program Manager, Cole will oversee all of The One Club’s global inclusion and diversity programs and events. She joined the club two years ago as program manager, and previously held HR and talent recruiting positions at iCrossing, Hill+Knowlton Strategies and MSLGROUP.
Central to One ID are the four-day Creative Boot Camps, where multicultural students from diverse backgrounds around the world showcase their creative talents by working directly with the industry’s best agencies and creatives on client briefs. Creative Boot Camps will take place throughout this year in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Austin, Cape Town, Chicago, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Mumbai, New York and San Francisco.
Cole will also head up the club’s annual “Here Are All The Black People”, a full-day inclusion and diversity event in New York with speaker sessions, mentoring, portfolio reviews, recruiting booths, networking and live talent pitch competition that provides a space for multicultural creative professionals, students and recent graduates to enrich their careers and explore new opportunities.
The third component of the department is One ID collaborations, where The One Club works directly with like-minded organizations such as ADCOLOR and the 4As M.A.I.P. (Multicultural Advertising Internship Program) to increase diversity in the advertising, design and media industries.
“The One Club for Creativity has a long-standing commitment to providing global programming that helps solve the industry’s diversity problem as opposed to just talking about it,” said Kevin Swanepoel, CEO. “We created our One ID department more than a decade ago, and Lauren has played a key role in its development over the past two years. She has the skills and experience to take this programming to the next level and help us provide even greater value to the industry.”
“Inclusion and diversity can no longer be only window dressing,” said Cole. “Our goal is to help make the ad industry a place where all types of people can get a foot in the door and thrive. We’re making that happen with programming for diverse students and mid-career professionals, and look forward to expanding the scope and quality of these offerings in the future.”
As a nonprofit organization, The One Club’s purpose is to give back to the global creative community. Revenue generated from its global awards shows — The One Show and ADC Annual Awards — is directed right back into the industry to produce nearly two dozen annual education and professional development programs for creatives at all levels of experience. No other organization gives back to the advertising and design industries with a comparable level of comprehensive educational and development programming on a global basis.