The Impact of Diverse Storytelling - with Richard Cabral and Black//Brown
Live on Zoom - Wednesday, January 27th at 12PM PST / 3PM EST
There has never been a more important moment to source, elevate and accurately contextualize diverse voices in America. That said, much of this activity seems centered on altruism, rather than business growth. While the moral imperative is obvious, it’s not the metric for other kinds of brand storytelling. So we ask, how can we make the conversation around diverse insights and stories more sophisticated and credible in the future of brand strategies?
Moderated by USA TODAY journalist, and Storytellers Project founder Megan Finnerty, this panel discussion will explore a variety of perspectives, and show tangible examples, highlighting the role of diversity in storytelling from the standpoint of brand, talent and business leaders.
Hosted By
Megan Finnerty
Senior Director and Founder Storytellers Brand Studio
Megan Finnerty is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and storytelling consultant who creates transformation for audiences, communities and brands. Megan was part of a team of journalists who won the 2018 Pulitzer for explanatory journalism; and she's curated live storytelling events for brands such as Spark Therapeutics, Diageo, and The Nature Conservancy, and has consulted with organizations such as the James Beard Foundation, Southwest Airlines and Humana. Her storytelling coaching methods have helped more 5,000 people tell their stories on stages across the country. She’s the director of the Storytellers Brand Studio and the founder and director of the Storytellers Project, a nationwide series of live storytelling events from the USA TODAY Network.
Featuring
Richard Cabral
Actor
Richard Cabral is best known for his riveting portrayal of “Hector Tonz” in ABC’s commercially and critically acclaimed anthology American Crime. He earned an Emmy nomination for his performance in the series, which was created by Academy Award®-winner John Ridley. His previous television credits include FOX’s Lethal Weapon reboot, NBC’s, Chicago Fire and his first job on TNT’s Southland.
He can currently be seen as one of the leads of the hit FX series Mayans M.C. which is the spin-off of hugely successful series Sons of Anarchy. Richard was nominated for a Critics Choice Award for his portrayal of “Johnny ‘Coco’ Cruz” in season 1.
Cabral recently appeared in STX’s thriller Peppermint alongside Jennifer Garner and starred with Gabrielle Union in the hit Universal feature Breaking In. He also produced and starred as the title character in Millennium’s Khali the Killer. Other notable film credits include Paramount’s horror film Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones and David Ayer’s critically acclaimed drama End of Watch with Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña. He also starred opposite Martha Higareda in the Hulu/Blumhouse feature Culture Shock as part of their Into The Dark anthology series.
Born into a Mexican family involved in gangs since the 1970s, Cabral found himself living a life of incarceration until he met Father Greg of Homeboy Industries, who changed Cabral’s life by introducing him to art and acting. In addition to acting, poetry and performing his critically acclaimed one-man show Fighting Shadows, Cabral spends his free time doing charity work with Homeboy and giving motivational speeches at juvenile detention centers and high schools around the country.
Veronica Leon
Producer and Director
BESE
Veronica Leon is a Venezuelan film and commercial creative producer based in Los Angeles, CA.
Born and raised in Caracas, she moved to the U.S. in 2008. She began her career as assistant and apprentice of film producer Elizabeth Avellán (Sin City, Grindhouse, Spy Kids franchise) in Austin, TX.
In 2016, she produced her first feature film, Infinity Baby, starring Kieran Culkin. The film premiered at SXSW and was bought by Amazon Studios.
In 2018, she was one of seven employees hired to launch Zoe Saldana’s media company BESE. She served as head of production, creative producer and photographer, overseeing seven simultaneous documentary series and multiple others in development.
Throughout her career, Veronica has produced a wide range of music videos, branded content, narrative and documentary films. Her work has been featured in Paper Mag, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, Deadline, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Remezcla and The Fader.
Charlie Echeverry
Founder & Managing Director
Black//Brown
Charlie is the founder of Black//Brown an LA-based strategic advisory purpose-built to help business leaders turn diversity into a revenue engine.
Before launching Black//Brown, Charlie was Chief Revenue & Partnerships Officer at mitú, a company which revolutionized Hispanic media, where he led all aspects of revenue generation. Prior to mitú, Charlie held executive leadership positions at Univision, The Walt Disney Company, and AOL - always advancing the cause of emerging platforms and emerging audiences.
Charlie is creator and co-host of The Diversity Remix, which tackles provocative conversations at the intersection of business, politics & culture.
