Black professionals will be taking root in the entertainment sector.

According to a press release sent to AfroTech, Diverse Representation will host its second annual Black Entertainment Executives Pipeline program set to run from July 11-August 16, 2022.

The Diverse Representation Music Database aims to increase the hiring of Black professionals in the music industry.

During NBA All-Star Weekend in Cleveland, the conversation at The Union Club Friday was intended to be a game changer: increasing the hiring of Black executives in the professional sports industry.

As a Black woman who works in sports and entertainment, I saw the lack of Black lawyers, and I saw nothing being done to address the discrepancies,” said Jaia Thomas, founder and CEO of Diverse Representation, the organization partnering with Southern University Law Center on the boot camp.

In an effort to close the racial gap when it comes to professional athlete representation, Southern University Law Center, in partnership with Diverse Representation, is hosting its inaugural Sports Agent Bootcamp on February 4-5, 2022, on the campus of Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

To combat the racial gap in professional athlete representation, Diverse Representation and Southern University Law Center will host a two-day immersive Sports Agent Bootcamp for Historically Black College and University (HBCU) students.

The Southern University Law Center is looking to help increase access to the world of representing pro athletes. The SULC is hosting its inaugural Sports Agent Bootcamp taking place February 4 – 5, 2022 at the Valdry Center on the campus of Southern University Baton Rouge.

Actors and many other performers will reach a stage in their careers when they need representation from an agent, a manager, a lawyer or other professionals. Choosing the right representation is important — and so is choosing when to bring on representation. To help you navigate these questions, we talked to Reedy, as well as Jaia Thomas, an attorney who founded Diverse Representation, and WME talent agent Yasmine Pearl — who has represented artists including Marsai Martin, Rita Ora and Zayn Malik in her 14-year career.

Last year, the Recording Academy and social justice nonprofit Color of Change announced their joint initiative, #ChangeMusic, to bring equity to Black creators and professionals in the music industry.

This week, Color of Change continues that work by partnering with Diverse Representation — a database of Black agents, attorneys, managers, and publicists in the sports and entertainment industries — to launch the Black Music Executives Pipeline Program.

As part of its ongoing #ChangeMusic initiative, Color of Change announced today that it will partner with Diverse Representation to launch the Black Music Executives Pipeline Program. The project is the first to be released from #ChangeMusic and will call upon the expertise of the civil rights non-profit and the diversity database in an effort to increase the number of Black executives in the music industry.

As part of their #ChangeMusic movement, Color of Change has partnered with Diverse Representation to launch the Black Music Executives Pipeline Program. The civil rights advocacy nonprofit and database provider for Black professionals in entertainment have joined forces in efforts to increase the number of Black executives in music.

Over the years, leadership in professional and collegiate sports has seen very little growth in the percentage of people of color who sit in leadership positions. Shaina Wiel, Founder of Minorities in Sports Business (MiS) and Jaia Thomas, Founder of Diverse Representation (DR) have joined forces to put a dent in those stagnant numbers.

Jaia Thomas and Shaina Wiel, founders of Diverse Representation and Minorities in Sports, respectively, launched the Diverse Sports Executives Pipeline—a first-of-its-kind initiative designed to train and equip professionals from diverse cultural backgrounds for executive roles across all professional sports teams, leagues, and organizations.

“Companies need to be making sure that they’re being intentional about diverse hiring and then also create a company culture that is inclusive and open to people from all different backgrounds,” Thomas said. “I think that’s very key.”

The program, sponsored by Color of Change, pairs participants with a production company and mentors and offers a lecture and speaker series.

The annual program will pair six participants with industry mentors and a project in development at a studio, production company or network to help see it through.

Attorney and Diverse Representation founder Jaia Thomas presented a two-part panel discussion for writers of color at Culver City's Blackbird House, addressing issues commonly faced when entering the business.

Movies like “Black Panther” and “Crazy Rich Asians” don’t come around all that often partly because of how projects are put together. Chances are the people brokering those deals — and determining who gets in the door and what stories are told — are white.