M+E Daily

Jeanine Liburd, chief social impact and communications officer for Viacom’s BET Networks has been named the closing keynoter of the virtual Oct. 7 SoCal Women’s Leadership Summit event, running 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. PT.

Her fireside chat with Lori H. Schwartz, principal of StoryTech — “Driving Social Impact and Empowering Women of Color in the Media and Tech Worlds” — will reveal the lessens she’s learned curating and leading initiatives that aim to empower and measurably impact the Black community. Attendees will hear how she is working with the network’s corporate communications, social responsibility and events teams to drive change throughout the organization.

Liburd’s insights will be preceded by a full day of main stage and breakout track programming at the annual event:

The main stage programming kicks off with a keynote by Jeanne Holm, chief data officer for the City of Los Angeles and senior technology advisor to mayor Eric Garcetti.

Her presentation — “Stories From a Technology Informed Diversity Journey” — will show how data and analytics have informed the city’s programs, and how Holm’s data work for Los Angeles can provide a roadmap for starting your own organization’s diversity and equity journey.

She’ll be followed by Vicki Dobbs Beck, executive in charge at ILMxLAB, and Erin McPherson, head of content acquisition, strategy and programming for Verizon, who will take part in the presentation “Leading Through COVID-19: Remote Work Now and Beyond,” where they’ll discuss remote work challenges most impacting your organization and the best practices to get people safely back to work. Nadya Ichinomiya, chairwoman of the WiTH Foundation and executive director and head of Agile Center of Excellence for Sony Pictures Entertainment, will moderate.

Attendees of the summit will then have four breakout sessions to choose from — — “Professional Development,” “Mentoring & Networking,” “Community,” and “Diversity, Equality & Inclusion” — with studio execs, vendor reps, and diversity experts offering a bevy of insights into the state of today’s M&E industry. For details on the breakouts, click here.

Following Liburd’s closing keynote, attendees will have one last mainstage treat before the day ends: “Moving Through Critical Times: A Conversation with WiTH’s Women’s Leadership Award Winners,” with Theresa Miller, treasurer of the WiTH Foundation and EVP and CIO for Lionsgate leading a discussion with Susan Cheng, EVP of content technology and operations, and founder and leader of WarnerMedia’s Internal Diversity & Inclusion Steering Group, and Cindy McKenzie, CIO of Deluxe Entertainment Services Group. They’ll look at the skill sets needed today to manage remote teams, implement new technologies, inspire communication, and maintain a strong and supportive culture.

The SoCal Women’s Leadership Summit is presented by Women in Technology Hollywood (WiTH), with Key Information Systems as the title sponsor, and produced by MESA. WiTH’s corporate donors include Amazon Web Services, Cognizant, Deluxe, Expert System, FilmTrack, Los Angeles Duplication & Broadcasting, and Signiant. For the full program, click here.

To register, click here.

To sponsor SoCal Women’s Leadership Summit 2020, contact Evie Silvers at [email protected], or Garrett Finley at [email protected].