CC:DC opens door for next-gen talent

ADRIANNE C Smith, chief in- clusion and impact officer at FleishmanHillard and founder of Cannes Can: Diversity Collective (CC:DC) is back at Cannes Lions to host her signature event at Inkwell Beach and to expand CC:DC initiatives, including the AYA Inclusion Awards and a new cohort of CC:DC ambassadors.

CC:DC founder Adrianne C Smith (third from left) with ambassadors Carl Celedio, Jasmine Baptiste, Reca Sims, Elise Gentry and Alexander Quick

The CC:DC Ambassadors Program offers inclusive creative talent the opportunity to participate and learn from the Cannes Lions ex- perience. “I’m so happy and I feel very empowered to be able to be in this space, to be able to gain that connectivity to individuals who can help me better do my craft,” said Elise Gentry, one of this year’s ambassadors.

“I’m so thankful to Adrianne and the rest of the team for this opportunity because these rooms really do change lives, and I’m already seeing how different things are taking root within my own journey that I can use to flourish, but also to reach out to my peers and encourage them to be the next people in these spaces.”

Another ambassador, Carl Celedio, added: “I’ve always wanted to see how I can end up going here. I thought you had to write movies, win awards or whatnot. What I like about the CC:DC scheme is it’s bringing people from under-repre- sented communities and bringing the talent over here to conferences like this to showcase their talents, and quite frankly, there’s not a lot of people from where I’m from that look like me in regards of being creative. So the fact that I’m here, it definitely does feel like home.”

As the conversation around DEI evolves — and faces pushback — Smith told Lions Daily News she is helping clients navigate through uncertain times. “You can see when you have diverse communities working for your agencies or your brands, there’s a growth trajectory,” she added.