Adweek — October 08, 2017

TALENT POOL

PHOTO: RAQUEL BEAUCHAMP

Curriculum

Vitae

Director, inclusion and

cultural resonance, VML

2017 – Present

Associate director, social

media strategy, VML

2016 – 2017

Senior social

media strategist,

connections, T3

2015 – 2016

Senior social media

strategist, iCrossing

2014 – 2015

Freelance journalist

2009 – 2014

Founder and CEO,

319 Public Relations

2009 – 2012

J o b P r o fi l e

At VML, Rivera tasked

herself with heading

up cultural resonance

and diversity. Her work

touches all aspects

of the business, from

scouting and recruiting

diverse talent for HR to

overseeing client strategy

to ensure messaging

is inclusive to all

consumers.

How She

Got the Gig

Rivera joined VML nearly

two years ago to work

on social media strategy,

but after helping create

the agency’s inclusion

and diversity council and

leading a presentation

about Black Twitter,

VML’s head of HR saw

a larger opportunity for

Rivera to completely

revamp the way the

agency thinks about

culture and diversity.

Pro Tip

Rivera’s advice to

businesses: It’s important

to not just listen to

employees when they

speak, but to truly hear

what they have to say.

“Give a voice to the

voiceless and say there’s

more talent in places we

are not looking,” she said.

Whether she was launching

her own PR agency or

overseeing social media

strategy at digital fi rms like

iCrossing and T3 or covering

entertainers as a freelance

writer, God-is Rivera has

always been passionate

about including people of

all cultures, ethnicities and

backgrounds not just in the

marketing industry, but

in the creative work that

agencies produce.

It’s that same drive that

led Rivera to her current role

as the director of inclusion

and cultural resonance at

VML, where she focuses on

bringing diverse talent into

the agency while also helping

clients create messaging for

a diverse audience.

“I don’t think that agencies

are paying enough attention

to resonating with cultures.

It’s not a tool you can buy,”

said Rivera, adding, “As the

advertising industry, we have

to understand that we only

have a sliver of the story.”

After joining VML in 2016

as an associate director

of social media strategy,

Rivera immediately began

thinking of ways to ensure

that messaging for brands

ranging from Motorola

to the NBA was speaking

to consumers from all

socioeconomic backgrounds

and ethnicities.

About one year into the

job, Rivera encouraged the

agency to have an open and

honest conversation about

race and what it meant to be

black in the U.S., helped to

launch VML’s inclusion and

diversity council, and gave a

company-wide presentation

on Black Twitter’s role in

culture and what the agency

could learn from it. Her

wide-ranging skills—“I was

still working on channel

strategy while really helping

to build out and formulate

inclusion and diversity,”

she recalled—led to the

creation of her current job,

a truly unique position that

spans both the HR and

business sides.

“I want to know that

whatever I do in this industry

to change things, I took on

the responsibility that we

have to put out an ad that

millions of people will see

[and know that] we took it

seriously,” she said.

God-is Rivera

DIRECTOR, INCLUSION AND

CULTURAL RESONANCE

32 OCTOBER 9, 2017| ADWEEK

AT VML, RIVERA HELPS FOSTER DIVERSITY INSIDE THE

AGENCY AND AMONG CLIENTS. BY KATIE RICHARDS