Alex Merchán

Chief Marketing Officer
ASM Global

Leadership Insights to Action: An ongoing series – presented by Diversity First with contributor Jennifer Walker – spotlighting innovative leaders who are making meaningful, impactful, and sustainable change to elevate diversity, equity and belonging for the betterment of their organizations and beyond. Do you know such a leader who should be featured? Tell us!

What is an idea, practice, or innovation that you have led to accelerate diversity, equity & belonging at your organization or more broadly for industry? What was an unexpected challenge or opportunity that you encountered, and what did you learn?

The need for human connection, specifically in our live event industry during and post pandemic, demonstrated the need to consider individual employee needs and a platform to be heard. ASM Global Acts, our CSR, grew out of the need to empower and listen to employees across the company.

Employees require training, career development, and knowledge for potential career paths, no different than for our marketing teams around the globe. We initiated a global network of regional leaders to address both their business needs as well as personal/professional growth, education, advancement, and platform to share their thoughts and needs. We leveraged a regional system to better engage and ensure our employees were heard. This has allowed for career growth opportunities, highlighted key interests and social needs across markets, and provided a platform for employees to engage and contribute. Our unique global network creates opportunities that we needed to further spotlight and amplify across the org using various internal tools and resources.

Working in a truly remote organization is already challenging enough for core responsibilities. Providing our teams with a platform and voice to engage has proven to be invaluable.

How have you put this philosophy into practice?

Our teams now have on-going bi-weekly calls and platforms to share ideas, express concerns, and showcase key interests or causes for the broader org to support.

What is something that you wished that you would have known in your twenties?

Path to success is not linear…. nor is it rigid. Many ways to get to the destination, so long as you continue moving forward.

What are you currently reading/listening to?

I challenge myself to broaden my consumption every few months, and recently got reintroduced to Radio Ambulante on NPR. Powerful stories and features that spotlight the diversity and complexity of an entire continent. Relatable stories of overcoming social and financial hardships, great successes, and the essence of survival. I find these to be relatable human stories, rich in adversity and a reminder of how similar we are all around the world.

What do you see as the greatest opportunity ahead?

There is still plenty of work to be done to create opportunity and equity across a very diverse workforce. Though we have improved DEI targets over the last few years, still have the potential to reinforce the culture and pipeline to ensure that these efforts become the standard, the foundation to our business that creates a true system of opportunity for all.

What will be your legacy?

Creating opportunity and acting on behalf of those that lack proper representation. It is our responsibility, as diverse/minority/underrepresented business leaders, to recognize the needs through a DEI lens and act on behalf of others underrepresented groups and create opportunities for individuals to fulfill their potential. The work has just begun, and we still have a long road ahead.