Endeavor has appointed Romola Ratnam as senior vice president and head of impact and inclusion, Variety has learned exclusively.

Ratnam will oversee corporate social responsibility efforts, including DEI, at the global operation which owns talent agency WME. News of her hire comes on the heels of Alicin Reidy Williamson’s exit for a top post at Yahoo. Ratnam is based in Los Angeles.

“Romola is a passionate and tenacious executive whose persistence and creativity have seen her build pathways that never existed before,” said Endeavor president Mark Shapiro. “We could not be prouder of what she has accomplished thus far, and know she is the ideal leader to define and deliver on our global corporate social responsibility efforts moving forward.”

She joined Endeavor in 2017,  tasked with leveraging the company’s vast network and star capital to drive social change. Her contributions include a slate of industry access programs delivering more than 100 hours of live programming to 22,500 participants — and bringing talent from underrepresented groups into the Endeavor network. Ratnam formed two innovative partnerships with the organization Color of Change to drive racial and social justice within the Endeavor portfolio:”#ChangeHollywood,” launched with multi-hyphenate Michael B. Jordan, and “#ChangeFashion” with the Black in Fashion Council and supermodel and entrepreneur Joan Smalls.

Prior to working for Endeavor, Ratnam served as the director of corporate and sports partnership at UNICEF. and as co-executive director of the SEED Project, a sports and education non-profit based in Senegal. She started her career at the NBA in global business development.

Source: Read Full Article