Agency Allyship: A New Model For Change

BY / BARBY SIEGEL ZENO GROUP WITH TENESHIA JACKSON WARNER, FOUNDER + CEO, EGAMI GROUP

I have spent more than 30 years in agency life. I am a highly competitive person — and have been from the start of my career. And while my competitive spirit is more than alive and well today, the most gratifying experience of my career has been pioneering the concept of Agency Allyship with my partner and now friend Teneshia Jackson Warner, founder and CEO of the award-winning, multicultural communications agency EGAMI Group.

After the murder of George Floyd, companies and agencies committed to more intentionally hire, advance, and champion people of color (as did Zeno). And with that came much discussion of the numbers — how many people of color are in the organization, how many are on the leadership team, and so on. While the numbers are an important measure, I felt there was more to be done — different types of action that would disrupt how we approach diversity, equity, and inclusion in business generally — and in communications and marketing more specifically — to drive more immediate impact. So, I called Teneshia — someone whom I admired from afar for years. I suggested that we could do something meaningful and somewhat unexpected together. Teneshia shared the unprecedented demand she was encountering in the second half of 2020, companies realizing their responsibility to do more to advance DEI inside and outside their organizations. To scale EGAMI, Teneshia was seeking an infusion of capital into the firm she built from scratch over the last 15 years, now representing some of the world’s largest companies. As we explored further with our teams, we were exposed to the systemic challenges and inequities that minority business owners face; access to capital and resources, a daunting, cumbersome process that restricts growth and limits long-term viability. Case in point: In the first half of 2021, black startups received just 1.2 percent of the $147 billion in venture capital invested.

Over the next several months, Zeno and EGAMI worked on the formation of an exclusive partnership and a strategic

Barby Siegel is the chief executive officer of Zeno Group, the award-winning, global integrated communications agency. Barby is a PRWeek Hall of Fame and Hall of Femme dual honoree. She is a member of the USC Annenberg Center for PR Board of Advisors.

investment that would provide new capital, resources, and mentorship to scale EGAMI while remaining an independent, minority business enterprise. We called this a “new model of collaboration for change.” This past summer at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, with almost one year of learnings under our belt, we re-framed our model as Agency Allyship to inspire others also eager to advance new ideas and creative solutions.

We define Agency Allyship as: “two (or more) agencies aligned in their unwavering and selfless advocacy, focused on fueling one another to push through and eliminate systemic barriers.”

Put another way, Agency Allyship is built on a shared belief in what each other can accomplish and a commitment to help each other get there in meaningful ways — measured by a different type of currency; moving from the transactional to the transformational.

Teneshia describes Agency Allyship as “one key to unlocking the power of inclusion and diversity in our industry, while ensuring BIPOC owned agencies and their talent not only have a place, but a path to thrive.” And she adds, “Dreamers don’t let other dreamers dream alone.”

While operating as separate agencies, Agency Allyship has manifested in myriad ways. For EGAMI, the investment has enabled a focus on building and developing talent as well as deploying new technology to improve agency operations, while for Zeno the partnership has enriched the firm’s understanding of the increasingly complex multicultural communications landscape and what it takes to run and grow a black-owned business.

It is our hope that more agencies, big and small, will find their Agency Allyship. Here are four guiding principles: 1. Seek to understand the barriers facing

BIPOC-owned firms and how your agency can help overcome them. 2. Craft a mutually beneficial approach that strengthens each agency, built on trust and a shared commitment to cultural competency and DEI with measurable goals. 3. Make a long-term commitment with the understanding of what is important to each agency partner, and in so doing ensure that each agency continues to flourish in its unique way. 4. Go beyond the numbers to value mentorship, advocacy, and access to resources.

And if your Agency Allyship turns into a trusted friendship as has ours, then the possibilities are indeed endless for those who rely upon us to lead a new way forward. ▪