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Los
Angeles - Screen Actors Guild National Executive
Director/CEO A. Robert Pisano and National
Director of Affirmative Action/Diversity Angel
Rivera announced today the appointment of Donald
C. Richards as Associate National Director of
Affirmative Action/Diversity, effective January 8.
Mr. Richards will report to Rivera in Hollywood
and will be based in the Guild’s New York
office.
Richards’
appointment underscores SAG’s long-standing dedication to
inclusiveness. In conjunction with Rivera, Richards will develop
and promote educational programs, conferences, workshops and
symposia designed to
raise industry awareness regarding diversity in
television, film, and commercial programming. He will
assist in overseeing EEO/ADA compliance and the
enforcement of all SAG non-discrimination contract
provisions. “Don’s reputation as a diversity pioneer
in the advertising industry is well-known. His vast
experience and industry contacts will prove invaluable to
our efforts to serve all our members,” stated
Rivera.
Richards has more than 30 years experience in the
advertising agency industry. He spent a total of 22 years
with Leo Burnett Worldwide, one of the world’s largest
global ad agencies, where he became the company’s first
African American Vice-President and worked in Account
Management serving major clients such as Proctor &
Gamble, McDonald’s, Pillsbury and United Airlines.
Richards also served as Senior Vice President, Management
Supervisor and member of the Board at the Marschalk
Company in New York (currently Lowe & Partners) where
he supervised client businesses including brands from the
Coca-Cola Company. He also worked at DDB Needham as Senior
Vice President, Management Representative on all of the
Anheuser-Busch business at the agency. In 1990, he
returned to Leo Burnett Worldwide, as Senior Vice
President / Director of Resource Development to head up
their global diversity efforts.
Richards joins SAG from his position of President of D.C.
Richards & Associates, a consulting firm specializing
in multicultural marketing, management, workforce and
vendor strategies and tactics, where he spent considerable
time working on the U.S. Army business. A Chicago native,
he earned both his Bachelor and Master of Arts Degrees in
Anthropology and History from the University of Chicago.
He serves on the Board of Directors of the Ernest
Hemingway Foundation.
The Screen Actors Guild has a long history of advocating
equal access to employment for all its members, regardless
of their gender, ethnicity, age or physical ability. This
history includes collecting and publishing casting data
statistics provided by SAG signatory producers, educating
decision-makers through symposia, studies and face-to-face
meetings, and publishing directories and other resources
for casting professionals, and increasing access for
performers with disabilities, seniors, women and
African-American, Latino-American, Asian/Pacific-American,
and Native-American performers to casting directors. |
