I saw everybody’s son, and I was disgusted to my core. In honor of Black History Month, ICMA staff sat down with Executive Director Marc Ott to discuss his personal experiences as the first African American CEO of ICMA and the first African American to serve as city manager of Austin, Texas. jeff.towery@mcm... on Feb 13, 2018 Permalink. Speaking to hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, she made an emotional speech. She also directed us to her news sources, like Her Agenda, that mold a picture of today’s working professional overcoming adversity. To keep her occupied, her mother enrolled Hammond into the Television Workshop, a prestigious performing arts club, at the age of 11. Her interests in sustainability and hospitality are supported with six years of experience in luxury hotels and athletic clubs. I don't want it to be lost on me. I just think it’s important.”, Hammond says it wasn’t until she was in her 20s that she first learned about black history, when her mother took her to see a show at the Alexandra theatre in Birmingham called Black Heroes in the Hall of Fame. I am national and I am a treasure.” Another fabulous cackle and she’s gone. She wants to be around for her teenage son as much as possible, “even though he’s not bothered”, and while she recently covered the main presenting slot for the first time alongside Dermot O’Leary, she doesn’t seem all that fussed about helming the programme. According to the World Bank, literacy rate for men ages 15 to 24 is 99 percent in South Africa (World Bank 2015). Carter G. Woodson, American historian who first opened the long-neglected field of This vibrant celebration of cultivated talent is not solely recognized during Black History Month, but continually embraced within board rooms each day. “If anything, I’m gutted when the cameras stop rolling,” she adds with one of her signature guffaws. ICMA has stood for the equitable treatment of all people for decades. And if something upsets me, I’m going to be honest about it. Your courage to stand up and speak out for what's right is respected. Marketers can have an excellent product or service, but if it is not communicated properly, it will not succeed,” Simons shares. Brionna Simons recently expanded her reach to content creation for AMA. The producers phoned and asked whether I would mind speaking about George Floyd. Probably one of the best examples I can come up with as to why it's important [was highlighted] in a recent movie called Hidden Figures. The right person at the right time. “Someone said to me: ‘I didn’t realise elephants were black.’ It really stuck with me. Simons shared the importance of, Former First Lady, Michelle Obama’s portrait now hung in the National Portrait Gallery. A few months’ work “turned into six months, which turned into a year,” she says. When I was in Austin, we hired a person to [serve] as chief equity and inclusion officer. It was a great piece of television.”. Marketers cannot overlook the variables we are using to develop our segmented clusters (race, age, gender, lifestyle, etc.). In the meantime, she’s happy with her pivot to fronting cookery sections for This Morning. I don't want it to be lost on you. I was born in Asia, where I lived for seven years.” Stemming from military roots, Simons has gained a thorough understanding of race across borders (Las Vegas, Oklahoma, California, Virginia, Taiwan, Japan, and Colorado). My lecturer claimed that Gerber failed because ‘they’ could not read. Even talking to her over a dodgy phone line is joyous. It was one of these jobs in particular that ensured that her family were, relatively speaking, left alone. “It was the tree specialist that interviewed her,” she says over the phone, in her trademark heavy Brummie tones. “That’s where people are getting it a bit wrong. Now, Hammond is delving into something more serious, exploring untold stories of black Britons, Mon 28 Sep 2020 12.16 BST Black History Month Interview with Brionna Simons, Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window). “I value communication the most. In some respects, it's almost a tragedy that we have to pause. But because of the absence of black history in the educational system, it's an important month. This Morning's Alison Hammond: 'I had to educate myself on black history', accidentally push a male model into the Royal Albert Dock, the British army to lead white soldiers into battle, the sting of explicit racism came at school, stick around for two weeks before being evicted. Talks to celebrate Black History Month Insightful talks that offer fresh, thoughtful perspectives on Black identity. You must create a list of questions that will allow your icon to provide the information listed above. That's what it felt like to me, [and] it feels that way here, too, in terms of being the first person of color, not to mention African American, to serve in this position of executive director of ICMA. In fact, she was supposed to be filming a pilot for one before Covid came along. Hammond says that she felt a need to take part. After stints working at British Gas, in a cinema, as a holiday rep and more, a friend suggested that Hammond audition for Big Brother, which at the time was preparing for its third series. And that does have something to do with my drive in life, especially given the history of this country, and how we came to be here. There are several varying factors.”. I was really struck by that, enough that I changed my courses to pursue public service at the local government level, and I've been doing that ever since with absolutely no regrets. She was connected to all the mums in the area because of her job. During that period, I saw the impact that what we do at the local government level has on the everyday lives of people. To mark this month’s opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, we interviewed folks visiting the National Mall about what they would like to ask the museum’s experts. Last modified on Tue 29 Sep 2020 16.50 BST, Alison Hammond wants to clear something up: she didn’t actually interview a tree. Marc: I can just tell you that when I started, I think the profession was fairly sparsely populated [focused on] African-American managers. Thank you Marc. “So when I saw that image of George Floyd, I saw my brothers, I saw my father, I saw my son. Hammond, who had been a diligent student at school but was never really academic, excelled at the club, landing jobs as a teenager on shows including Grange Hill-parody Palace Hill. As we listen to what-not-to-do stories in marketing we must remain objective. National Black History Month: An Interview with Marc Ott . And it hurt me to the pit of my stomach.”, Recalling her speech, Hammond says she was “genuinely upset. Her 2017 encounter with Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling, which isn’t so much an interview as a piece of art, has been viewed more than 11m times on YouTube and saw all three of them in hysterics.