RGA hires Anita Jack-Davies to drive equitable culture

RGA has hired Anita Jack-Davies as management consultant of culture and operations to guide its equity, inclusion and diversity (EDI) initiatives.

Jack-Davies will handle ongoing and emerging initiatives across various groups within RGA: executive management, cross-network teams, culture collectives, Black Leadership Coalition and the Creative Diversity Council. 

She’ll also build upon the agency’s global Make/Change strategy, a playbook of actions to improve racial equity that includes conducting pay audits, manager workshops, empathy training and partnerships with the Multicultural Advertising Intern Program and Verizon AdFellows. RGA also releases quarterly diversity data as part of Make/Change. It reported that 41% of U.S. employees identified as BIPOC in Q1, up 1.6% on the quarter.

Her new position covers responsibilities previously handled by Carl Desir, former global executive director of EDI who left RGA in September 2020 for a Netflix role and now works as a self-employed DEI consultant, and Jai Tedeschi, former global executive director of culture and operations who moved to Wieden + Kennedy in October 2021.

Jack-Davies told Campaign US she’s currently learning the different needs of teams across the agency, but declined to speak about specific initiatives RGA is implementing.

She will report to Angie Hannam, RGA’s EVP, global chief talent officer.

“I’m working with Angie and other senior leaders in talent to put together a strategy for 2023,” she said. “We just finished our budgeting exercise. If there’s a need that’s going to help us achieve our EDI goals, let’s say that’s a new hire, that need will be met.”

Jack-Davies said she recently met with Somos, a Hispanic/Latino heritage group within R/GA’s Culture Collective, to learn which EDI initiatives are working and what else the agency needs.

Prior to joining RGA, Jack-Davies worked as deputy chief diversity officer at Skidmore College for over a year, where she led operations and programming at a facility dedicated to DEI. She’s also held academic DEI positions at Queen’s University and Ryerson University.

Jack-Davies said there are plans to expand RGA’s culture and operations team, which currently includes just herself and one other employee.

RGA ranked second on the 2021 New Business League creative table. The Interpublic Group agency’s clients include Samsung, which it won for $60 million, American football league XFL and Jack in the Box.