Black creatives: Getting your foot in the door and beyond

Almost always, the creative, dedicated minority has made the world better. – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (GRS’55, Hon.’59)

Black creatives have become more visible. Now what? Will visibility lead to real power and influence? Or will our genius, our voices, and our culture simply be for the consumption and improvement of others?

How do we get our foot through the door to secure our seat at the table?

We explore these questions, and more, in this candid, one-hour conversation designed to help Black creatives navigate the media and communications industries. We’ll also discuss tips and resources for allies, advocates, and accomplices who are looking to create opportunities and empower Black creatives.

Event introduction provided by Mariette DiChristina (COM’86), Dean of Boston University College of Communication.

Panelists: 

Cortny Dunleavy

Cortny Dunleavy, Freelance Creative Director/Copywriter (COM’92)

After briefly contemplating a career in journalism, Cortny discovered copywriting during her second semester at COM. Since then, she’s created successful campaigns for some of the world’s leading brands including Southwest Airlines, L’oreal, Smartwater, Moët Hennessy, Edition Hotels and Jimmy Choo.
With 20+ years of experience at a number of renowned agencies including McCann, Ogilvy, Publicis, and GSD&M, Cortny is now a passionate freelance creative director who taps her specialized luxury, beauty and hospitality experience to develop unique brand voices. Most recently, Cortny helped launch new celebrity beauty brands Pattern and Keys Soulcare.
She believes listening is the key to great creative and that listening to your inner voice is the key to a successful career (and life). Cortny lives just close enough to NYC in CT with her husband, two stepsons and two pugs.

Nick Elliott

Nick Elliott, creative director at Havas, co-founder of LinkItBlack campaign

Nick Elliott began his career in publishing, wading through the “slush pile” of unsolicited manuscripts in the editorial department at Chronicle Books. After failing to unearth the next great American novel, he’d go on to become the voice of Thrillist, scouring the SF Bay Area on his motorcycle for the tastiest food, fashion, tech & events. This was too much fun. So Nick sold the Kawasaki, went to New York, and got into advertising. Since then, Nick’s brand work has been recognized by the One Show, ADC, Effies, LIA, Webbys, and Cannes. It’s also been featured in Buzzfeed, Mashable, Fast Company, Entrepreneur, AdWeek & AdAge. Regardless of client or medium, Nick’s goal is always to make people feel something.

Mo Osunbor

Mo Osunbor, Associate Creative Director at Facebook, co-founder of LinkitBlack initiative

Mo Osunbor is a Creative and Art Director at Facebook. Prior to joining Facebook’s in-house creative team, he worked at J. Walter Thompson where he and his team won several awards, including nine Cannes Lions (three Gold), for their work on Unsafety Check for Black Lives Matter.

Born in Nigeria and raised in Texas, Osunbor found himself in the world of advertising by consuming a lot of 90’s and 2000’s television, and a pirated Photoshop program on his mom’s computer. Mo believes that creativity needs an enemy—therefore compelling ideas and craft not only solve problems but provide hope and inspiration in our everyday lives.

Osunbor is also one of the co-founders of LinkitBlack, an initiative to help make the advertising industry more diverse with action at its core. He lives in Oakland. When he is not at work, he enjoys drawing, playing football, going to book clubs, and traveling.

Oriel Davis-Lyons

Oriel Davis-Lyons, creative director at Spotify, Founder of One School

Oriel Davis-Lyons used to be a chef. But, after getting tired of the long hours and intense pressure he decided to get into advertising. He started his career in New Zealand at Colenso BBDO and in 2015 made the move to New York where he worked at R/GA and Droga5 before joining Spotify.  

He has won over 100 awards across every major show and his work often uses a non-traditional approach to highlight social issues, like creating a partnership between Amnesty International and AdBlock to protest online censorship or a campaign to put graphic warning labels on boxes of ammunition.

He is also the founder and head of ONE School, a free, online portfolio program for Black creatives and an attempt to address systemic barriers to entry in the advertising industry. He lives in Brooklyn with his family in an apartment that gets smaller every day.

Moderator: 

Brianne Garrett (COM’17)

Brianne Garrett, reporter at Forbes and editorial lead at For(bes) The Culture
 
Brianne Garrett is a reporter at Forbes covering budding entrepreneurs of color, women and leadership—and, when she can, food. She’s also the editorial lead for Forbes’ For(bes) The Culture community aimed at creating equitable business pathways for Black and Brown professionals. She’s originally from Bay Shore, Long Island, N.Y., but she spent her undergrad years at Boston University, where she studied journalism and Spanish. Beyond her passion for storytelling, she’s a lover of all things food and wine—just not Chardonnay. Prior to joining Forbes, she worked at Wine Spectator where she covered wine, food and pop culture.