Plenary: Equity in Action: From Corporate Initiatives to Team Practices

Kimberly Ayers Shariff, Executive Vice President, Strategy for Diversity Equity & Inclusion, Penguin Random House Moderator: Tina Donnelly, MPS, Managing Editorial Assistant, Penguin Random House

Efforts to address issues of racism and representation in publishing must include actions at the global and local level, and include authors and other contributors, editors, management, staff, and other stakeholders. Kim Shariff, Executive Vice President, Director of Strategy for Diversity Equity & Inclusion, Penguin Random House, will discuss “inclusion first” efforts to provide members of the PRH community with access to tools, resources, and support to thrive, in a safe, equitable environment where they matter and belong. She will discuss efforts to develop PRH’s 2022-2024 DEI Strategic plan; to introduce a company-wide, multi module DEI training effort; and to provide tools for managers and others to move toward equity, in order to acquire, support, develop, market, and sell content that is wholly representative, accessible, and appealing to a continuously expanding audience of readers.

Kimberly Ayers Shariff was appointed Executive Vice President, Strategy for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Penguin Random House U.S. in May 2021, when she also became a member of the Penguin Random House U.S. Board. In this role, Kimberly leads Penguin Random House’s implementation of its company-wide DEI Strategic plan. Kimberly spent more than half her career in the non-profit sector as Chief Administrative Officer at American Ballet Theatre and Deputy General Counsel at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Kim began her career at Black Entertainment Television. Kimberly attended Georgetown University where she earned a B.A. in Sociology as well as a Certificate of African Studies from the School of Foreign Service. She also holds a law degree from Tulane University School of Law. Kimberly lives in Manhattan with her husband and two children.

Tina Donnelly, MPS, is a Managing Editorial Assistant at Penguin Random House, where she assists department heads with all aspects of audiobook production and record keeping, as well as supports the Managing Editorial team on audio projects and metadata maintenance. She is a 2022 graduate of the MPS in Publishing program at George Washington University.