Byron E. Lewis, CEO of UniWorld, to kick off Diversity Summit

NEW YORK - The Seventh Annual World Diversity Leadership Summit (“WDLS”) will be held September 6th to 8th, 2011 in New York City.

 Byron E. Lewis, CEO of UniWorld, will kick off the summit. 

Now in its 41st year, UniWorld is one of the nation's oldest multicultural advertising agencies with annual billings in excess of $250,000,000. The company provides full-service capabilities in the African American, Hispanic and general consumer markets with offices in New York, Atlanta and Detroit.

Under his leadership, UniWorld pioneered ethnic film, broadcast and branded entertainment strategies for major sponsors. Beginning with the original "Shaft" black film series, the firm subsequently worked on the break through "Glory", Malcolm X and Boyz n the Hood film releases. For Quaker Oats, he created "Sounds of the City," a black family soap opera, which was nationally syndicated on major black radio stations. He also produced America's Black Forum, the nation's only syndicated television news program to reach upscale African Americans.

More recently, the company has won some of the largest mainstream advertising assignments ever awarded to an ethnic agency. This includes Burger King's national interim creative campaign in 1994, Mars Candy's ( 3 Musketeers) general market assignment in 1995 and breakthrough creative campaigns for the Ford Division, and Lincoln Automotive brands. All remain key UniWorld clients. Other important clients include AARP, MCNY, Colgate-Palmolive, The Home Depot, Time Warner Cable, CVS Pharmacy, and Western Union.

 The conference will gather chief diversity officers, corporate executives, government leaders and policy makers from around the world to discuss diversity and inclusion challenges and opportunities for improving organizational performance.

Launched in 2004, the World Diversity Leadership Summit is an important gathering of senior corporate, government and non-governmental organization (NGO) officials, focused on the complex challenges and opportunities related to global diversity management.

The World Diversity Leadership Summit has five primary objectives:

To become the leading gathering of global diversity policy makers, experts and practitioners;

To serve as a central source of global diversity strategy, best practices and application;

To establish a global diversity collaboration network of policy makers, experts and practitioners;

To explore cutting-edge global diversity research topics;

To establish global diversity management as a core academic vocation.