The ¡AU! Diversity & Excellence Summit II (aka “The DEI the Earth Stood Still”), which showcases top initiatives for developing new talent in the media industries, welcomes the Rise Mentoring Program to the lineup for its April 28 event. Rise was launched in 2017 as a network for championing women’s participation in the media technology sector. The organization now has a global reach in promoting gender diversity across the broadcast sector and runs a robust mentoring program which includes participants from around the world. A new Rise initiative for the AV industry was launched last year.

The Diversity & Excellence Summit, returning for its second year, is a free to attend online event running April 28, 9-11am ET/2-4pm UK Time. Attendees will get exposed to a wide variety of media industry talent and training programs and have opportunities for networking directly with the guests and get next steps for becoming involved as supporters or participants.

Representing the Rise Mentoring Program in a moderated Q&A will be Rise’s global program mentoring manager Carla Maroussas and director of operations Deborah Cross. While businesses and the industry at large benefit from mentoring programs like Rise, direct support for them is often lacking. Maroussas and Cross will address how the gap between business and industry non-profits can be closed.

Also participating in the Summit are Lisa Bell of HR consultancy Tell Jane, Simon Devereux from visual effects training program Access VFX, and participants in the landmark “On Air” round-the-world student broadcast.

Our Summit content partner is The New Black Film Collective (TNBFC) who run their annual TNB XPO April 17-19 in London. The XPO showcases Black excellence and encourages increased diversity within the UK screen industries and internationally. More info here.