Empowering AAPI Leaders
High Tides Consulting’s pilot program success at vmly&r
A Case Study By Marie Deveaux
ABOUT THE CLIENT
SNAPSHOT
VMLY&R is a leading global marketing and advertising agency that strives to create innovative solutions for its clients. As part of a commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace culture, they recognized the need to empower their AAPI leaders and provide them with a dedicated space for personal growth and career advancement.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
While VMLY&R valued the diversity within the organization, we identified the need to address specific challenges faced by AAPI leaders. We aimed to create an environment where these leaders could explore themes of personal power, authority, self-advocacy, and career pathing. Additionally, we sought to break free from existing stereotypes and tropes associated with AAPI professionals, such as the model minority myth, glass and bamboo ceilings.
PRIMARY PROGRAM OBJECTIVES
We focused on five primary objectives to accomplish this:
- Acknowledge AAPI leaders at mid-level management and create a space for participants to explore themes of personal power, authority, self advocacy and career pathing.
- Foster a community environment that enables a broader network of support for all participants.
- Provide participants with strategies and tools to self-advocate, and to lead authentically and meaningfully with purpose.
- Empower participants with frameworks to engage active sponsors to elevate their objectives with self identified intentions for their career trajectory including increase in authority, responsibility, and job remit.
- Facilitate participants’ use of tools and resources to acknowledge one another in the full complexity of their ethnic identities and experiences, outside of existing tropes or stereotypes (model minority myth, glass & bamboo ceilings).
Data collected at the program outset and conclusion was collected to inform future and more robust iterations of the Ascend program experience.
Client: VMLY&R
Industry: Marketing and Advertising
Product/Service Used: High Tides Consulting's Cohort Leadership Experience, "Lifting Leaders"
Results: Tangible advancement in leadership skills, increased self-advocacy, and a sense of community among AAPI leaders
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CREATING THE LEARNING PATH
In February 2022, the Head of Culture at VMLY&R’s parent agency, WPP, reached out to High Tides Consulting with a vision of creating a cohort leadership experience for an AAPI affinity group. High Tides Consulting, renowned for their expertise in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and crafting cohort learning programs, partnered with Head of Culture and a cadre of VMLY&R program sponsors to design and implement a pilot program based on the Elevate program (a similar High Tides Lifting Leaders Program experience curated for Black female leaders years prior in partnership with WPP).
VMLY&R had already hired an external consultant to conduct listening tours and gather data from AAPI leaders across the agency and parent company to best understand current challenges and needs amongst the target population. High Tides partnered with that internal consultant to analyze the qualitative data collected and begin the design of the custom learning experience.
High Tides Consulting developed a comprehensive program that included six weekly group sessions, each lasting 90 minutes. Using existing High Tides frameworks for addressing race-based trauma and leadership development in the workplace, each group coaching session was designed to address one or more of the primary challenges articulated in the focus group data. These sessions provided participants with the strategies, tools, and resources to self-advocate, lead authentically, and navigate their career paths with purpose. The program also offered participants active sponsors who supported their objectives, such as increasing authority, responsibility, and job remit.
RESULTS AND BENEFITS
The pilot program’s impact on VMLY&R’s AAPI leaders exceeded all expectations. The shift in the participants’ perception of AAPI community and agency were seen in:
Identity:
My unique cultural and ethnic, and/or religious perspective adds value to my contributions in the workplace (delta of 1.0)
Sponsorship
I know and understand the difference between managing, mentoring, coaching and sponsorship and am able to utilize each towards the progression of my career goals (delta of 0.9)
Workplace Resilience
I have the tools I need to address microaggressions in real time when they occur (delta of 0.7)
A summary of the qualitative responses, outcomes and benefits experienced by the participants included:
1.Personal Growth and Empowerment:
Participants reported tangible advancements in their leadership skills, which empowered them to advocate for themselves and their career goals. According to the survey data, one participant expressed, “Being ‘seen’ — both as someone in the AAPI community and as a potential leader due to the value my work provides — provides me with the confidence to push even further.”
2. Enhanced Leadership Skills:
Participants reported tangible advancements in their leadership skills, which empowered them to advocate for themselves and their career goals. According to the survey data, one participant expressed, “Being ‘seen’ — both as someone in the AAPI community and as a potential leader due to the value my work provides — provides me with the confidence to push even further.”
3. Sense of Community and Support:
The cohort program fostered a strong sense of community among AAPI leaders at VMLY&R. Participants valued the dedicated time spent with their peer group and accountability partners. However, participant feedback also highlighted the importance of more community-building activities and connection time. One participant remarked, “We need more community building within AAPI employees. I’d like to feel a greater sense of community here.”
Doing this really inspired and opened me up to want to get more involved at the agency within our EI&B space.
PARTICIPANT FEEDBACK
The feedback received from participants emphasized the positive impact of the program. Many participants expressed their appreciation for the connections made and the sense of belonging they experienced. One participant stated, “I love the community of people I’ve met and gotten to know and can’t wait to meet some of them in person one day!”
CONCLUSION
The partnership between VMLY&R and High Tides Consulting for the pilot program showcased the effectiveness of the cohort leadership experience in empowering AAPI leaders. Through this initiative, VMLY&R demonstrated its commitment to DEI, fostering an inclusive culture, and providing a platform for the personal and professional growth of AAPI leaders within the organization.
At the conclusion of the program High Tides met with the full sponsorship team at VMLY&R once again to discuss their deltas and needs as a result of the 12 month engagement. Many acknowledged increased levels of company engagement from the program participants, citing more active involvement in the company’s Asian ERG program, B. East as well as more vocal self advocacy amongst participants in a variety of settings.
The agency remarked they would be taking the results to their executive leadership team to advocate for continued support of the AAPI community and ongoing professional development activities to leverage the momentum created during the High Tides partnership.
High Tides remains a resource as the team continues to support the AAPI community, both through ERG programming and coaching support for DEI and ERG program leads.
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