Unstereotype Alliance Global Member Summit 2022

On 17 and 18 November, the Unstereotype Alliance held its annual Global Member Summit with the theme of ‘Raising the bar’.  An array of world-class speakers were included across the two-day agenda held in the Economic and Social Council Chamber at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. 

Comprised of keynote speakers and panel discussions, attendees heard from leading voices across a broad spectrum of industries including film, advertising, business, and professional sports on how they are tackling systemic stereotyping across the world. Members also joined breakout groups to discuss Strategic Action Platforms that will help shape the future direction of the Unstereotype Alliance. The event featured topics spanning masculinities in advertising, concepts of body positivity across the world, the representation of women in sports sponsorship, to unstereotyping media, tackling the digital patriarchy and leveraging youth partnerships to grow a movement, and many more. Attendees joined from over 15 countries and each of the Alliance’s 12 national chapters were represented throughout the programme.

The event kicked off with a rousing Open Plenary Session which included an address from Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and UN Women's Deputy Executive Director Anita Bhatia, and a rich discussion with the Unstereotype Alliance Deputy Vice Chairs; Heide Gardner, Global Culture and Social Impact Consultant, IPG; Dale Green, Global Director - Purpose Marketing, Mars Incorporated and Aline Santos, Chief Brand Officer and Chief Equity Diversity & Inclusion Officer, Unilever and moderated by Seth Rogin, CEO, Magnolia Media Partners and co-Chair of the Oxford University Saïd Business School's Future of Marketing Initiative . The session also featured acandid discussion between Jess Weiner, CEO & Founder of Talk to Jess, and Munroe Bergdorf, UN Women UK changemaker, activist, model, British Vogue Contributing Editor and soon-to-be, published author.  Also featured were several inspiring keynote speakers, listed below

• Emily Caruso, Executive Vice President, United Minds
• Sara Denby, Head of the Unstereotype Alliance Secretariat, UN Women  
• Jaime Garcia, I&P Global Methodology Lead, Social Progress Imperative
• Rachel Lowenstein, Global Head of Inclusive Innovation, Mindshare
• Dan Seymour, Director of Strategic Partnerships, UN Women
• Aldijana Šišić, Chief, Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships, UN Women

Watch the Open Plenary Session here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6O0Vy5X2So&t=2133s

Also speaking at the event were Mark Getty, Co-founder and Chair of the board and Dr Rebecca Swift, VP, Global Head of Creative Insights from Getty Images who unveiled the 'Looking Back, Moving Forward'  exhibit during an evening reception. The Getty Images installation, developed in association with the Unstereotype Alliance, features a mural of print advertisements depicting women across 75 years from the post-WWII period to the present day. The ads highlight the role imagery has played over the decades with the evolution of photographic styles and visual depictions representing the social trends of the time. After the launch at the Summit, the exhibit was relocated to the lobby of the United Nations Headquarters where it resided for two weeks. Read more about it here.

Day two of the Summit included another phenomenal line-up of keynote conversations. Head of the Unstereotype Alliance Secretariat, Sara Denby set the scene, opening with findings from the State of the Industry 2 report before handing the floor to the Under Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of UN Women, Sima Bahous. The speech underlined the criticality of women and girls’ full and equal participation to accelerate action for our planet, engaging young people as activists and how global partnerships can help us reach the Sustainable Development Goals. 

'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' actor, award-winning playwright and activist Danai Gurira  delivered a powerful keynote address as UN Women’s Goodwill Ambassador and through her partnership with the Unstereotype Alliance. Danai shared personal experiences to describe how strong personal conviction, saying ‘no’, and intentional storytelling has been integral to defying the stereotypes she has encountered. She also underlined the importance of mobilizing youth voices to dismantle stereotypes and create social change. In conversation with Jess Weiner, she called on the audience to be consistently defiant against stereotypes and spoke of her involvement in the Unstereotype Alliance's 'Say Nothing, Change Nothing' B2C campaign, due to launch in 2023. 

The day continued with spotlight presentations on the Digital Patriarchy, from Mindshare's Rachel Lowenstein, a preview of the upcoming B2C campaign from Aline Santos, and a presentation from Sharath Damera, India National Chapter Focal Point, on the transformative work of the chapter in the Indian advertising industry. Jess Weiner was joined by Aly Raisman, Olympic gymnast, advocate and Aerie Brand Partner, who candidly shared her experiences tackling stereotypes, expectations around body image and representation, and the important role brands must play in supporting their ambassadors.

Watch the YouTube stream featuring UN Women Executive Director, Sima Bahous, Danai Gurira, and her conversation with Jess Weiner here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs4F8KRpUY0