How Portrayals of Women and Girls in Media Have Ramifications in the Workplace

Elise James-DeCruise

Elise is an Award-Winning Learning & Development Professional and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Practitioner with over 20 years of global experience in the marketing, strategy, design and delivery of programs and experiences (micro/macro) for clients, partners and industry professionals within the workforce, workplace and marketplace and community.

She was recognized by the Chief Learning Officer (CLO) Magazine for Strategy and Innovation for the launch of NMI (New Marketing Institute), recipient of Industry awards recognizing excellence in education and featured in Forbes Magazine as one of the top female leaders to watch in the technology space who is committed to innovation, education and diversity and inclusion.

In her new role as the Chief Equity Officer at the Ad Council, Elise will oversee the organization’s ongoing commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion - ultimately informing every aspect of the Ad Council’s mission, workplace culture and public-facing communications.

Prior to joining the Ad Council, she was the Chief Diversity, Inclusion and People Officer at Marcus Thomas, LLC, where she scaled and led Human Resources, L&D, DEI, and Cultural efforts to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in the workforce, workplace and marketplace and provided critical guidance and leadership to Marcus Thomas’s multicultural marketing efforts.

Prior to joining Marcus Thomas, she led Global Multicultural Marketing and Inclusion initiatives at MediaMath for over 8 years. She helped MediaMath think about and better position diversity and inclusion within the workforce, workplace and marketplace, and inspired others to do the same. Previously, Elise founded the award-winning New Marketing Institute (NMI) at MediaMath. In this role, Elise oversaw internal and external training initiatives, certification, enterprise education and global program development.

Elise is the L&D Strategic Advisor for GoCoach and maintains an active presence on Boards and Advisory Committees such as the Startup Institute, NYC Tech Talent Pipeline, IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) - Diversity & Inclusion Task force, ATD (American Society of Training & Development) 2019 Program Advisory Committee and the ATD Forum Advisory group.

Elise holds a B.A., in Communications, PR & Advertising along with an M.S., in Instructional Leadership and Business Communications from Robert Morris University. As a former Division One Student Athlete (led the nation in rebounding), who made a successful transition after sports into the corporate world, she is committed to the development of student-athletes both on and off the court. She resides in Bergen County New Jersey with her family.

Ronda Carnegie

Ronda is a big idea thinker, builder, and connector who is currently Chief Innovation Officer of The Female Quotient leading the Business of Equality Practice. Known for her role as part of the leadership team building the TED brand, she founded the TEDInstitute, an internal consultancy to identify internal ideators, inventors, connectors, and creators intensive one-on-one talk development for an event that was produced, filmed, and hosted by TED. The result is a growing library of valuable, vetted TED Talks that showcase original research, spur innovation, and can transform organizations. From her business experience in publishing and communications working with female leaders and executives to the creation of both TEDWomen and Connected Women Leaders, Ronda’s career reflects her belief in a transformative global agenda centered on women’s empowerment.

Hunter Canning

Hunter Canning is a New York based actor, puppeteer, producer and photographer. A conscience citizen of the world, his ethos is bringing people together through all the facets of his life. Be it producing live performance downtown, creating corporate recruitment content or photographing portraiture, red carpets and live events; Hunter has a passion for bringing people together to foster growth, kindness and a true understanding of each other.

Raised in the outer canyons of Los Angeles, Hunter has been a professional actor in New York for the past decade. Notable credits include Broadway’s War Horse (Lincoln Center), Blue Bloods (CBS), The Baker & The Beauty (ABC) and Ray Donovan (Showtime). A career that has seen dizzying heights, all the while remaining with his two feet on the ground.

It is with great pleasure that Hunter joins the Power To Fly community to host and mediate its forums. He looks forward to meeting you all and connecting you with the amazing team of professionals they have brought together.