We are excited to welcome Kai Deveraux Lawson as the SVP, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for dentsu’s creative offering, which includes 360i. In this new role, Kai will be leading efforts to further our diversity, equity and inclusion strategies and programs.
Kai joins our network from from WPP, where she was most recently Global Director, Talent Partnerships. Previously, she held roles as WPP’s Global Director of Community Engagement, Global Culture and Associate Operations Director at WPP agency Essence, in addition to tenures at AKQA and Wunderman, among others. In the course of her career, she has developed and executed targeted strategies to support the growth and development of underrepresented employees, focusing on coaching for mid-level professionals, and establishing a cross-industry task force to study the nuanced experiences of Black professionals in advertising.
Since 2015, Kai has been the producer and co-host of “Mixed Company,” a popular podcast about diversity, inclusion and social equity in creative industries from the perspective of up-and-coming professionals of color. A sought-after thought leader, Kai has been a keynote speaker at conferences including The 3% Conference and ADCOLOR, and featured in publications like Adweek, Ad Age, and Refinery29. She has also been honored as one of the Trailblazers Redefining the Creative Industry by The Dots, HERoes 2020 Top 100 Women Future Leaders, The Advertising Club of New York’s 2020 Innovators Award, and the Inaugural Blacklist 100 for Cause & Community.
On joining the dentsu creative service line, Kai commented: “The stars aligned with Dentsu crafting out this approach to inclusion and culture. They’re looking for leaders like me who want change.”
Read more about Kai and her new role in Adweek.