Playback 2017 panel: Taking action to improve gender parity

Posted October 23, 2017 by Corey Poole

The first panel at Playback 2017, Music Canada’s annual industry dialogue and celebration, focused on strategies to improve inclusivity in the music industry.

Drawing on lessons learned from other industries, and current initiatives in music, Music Canada’s Executive Vice President, Amy Terrill, led a discussion about concrete actions that can be taken to improve gender parity in all aspects of the music industry including boards of directors, senior executive positions, festival programming, and more.

Just before the panel, Amy announced a new direction that had just been passed by the Music Canada Board to examine ways our own organization can be more representative of the community:

Music Canada EVP @AmyTerrill announces a governance and diversity review to be more representative of community at #Playback2017: pic.twitter.com/SJi8XiE7KM

— Music Canada (@Music_Canada) October 17, 2017

Joining Amy on the panel was:

Vanessa Vidas – an Associate Partner who is Deloitte’s Leader, Inclusion – Growth & Markets. Her objectives are to advance inclusion within the firm but also more broadly across Canada. Vanessa is also involved in The 30% Club, which aims to develop a diverse pool of talent for all businesses and whose members are committed to better gender balance at all levels of their organizations.
Keely Kemp – founder and President of CultureCap, and also co-founder of Across the Board, an advocacy movement committed to ensuring gender parity on the boards of directors of organizations that impact the Canadian music industry.
Catherine Tait – a veteran with over 25 years of experience in the film and television industries in Canada and the US. She is President of Duopoly and co-founder of iThentic whose recent projects include Epic Studios with Maker Studios and Save Me for CBC Comedy. Catherine released a CMPA study entitled Women & Leadership: Gender Parity in The Screen Based Industries early in 2017.