Throughout March and April, Plus Company is hosting a series of open houses dedicated to helping emerging Black talent get their career started in advertising, with support from nine of its agencies.
As a part of Plus Company’s EDI strategy, the initiative aims to help Black talent overcome systemic barriers in the industry by offering connections and expert advice to support career growth. Four open houses will take place, starting in Montreal on Mar. 13, followed by Toronto, Quebec and Vancouver.
The idea came after Plus Company hosted a Black History Month event focused on building bridges between black visual artists in canada and the industry by increasing awareness of collaboration opportunities, explained Cossette SVP business, Jean-Hugo Filion. “We presented the work of local Black talents. There was a lot of momentum around that. And then we realized, why don't we follow up with an open house where we can invite young talents to come visit us? Have access to key leaders, get some training, coaching, and a chance to really show their work and discuss how they can access an interesting job opportunity at our agencies.”
To spread the word, Plus Company’s nine participating agencies—Cossette, CossetteMedia, Jungle, Citizen Relations, Middle Child, We Are Social, Visionnaire, Magic Circle Workshop and Level 11—posted on LinkedIn, reached out to Universities in the cities where the open houses will be hosted, as well as associations with the Plus Company network who have access to communities that would benefit from the invitation.
“We're all aware of the barriers and challenges that Black talents face and so for us, it's a matter of not only seeing the problem, but turning it into action,” said Filion. “I hope that we can make a difference at the collective level, but also for individuals because we’ll be meeting dozens of people and hopefully we can create that difference for emerging talent.”
Each event will include presentations by Black talent within the Plus Company network, followed by discussion and Q&A. After that attendees can speak with industry experts one on one and review their resume or portfolio, before a final opportunity to network with the group at large.
The hosting agencies will adjust the number of experts present to accommodate attendees, in order to ensure everyone has access to one on one support. The Montreal event, hosted by Cossette, plans to have 15 to 20 professionals on site.
