Adrianne C. Smith is SVP, senior partner and chief diversity and inclusion officer at FleishmanHillard, a global PR agency developing creative and strategic communications for brand and reputation management, corporate and consumer marketing, crisis and more. Prior to joining FleishmanHillard, she was named the first global director of inclusion and diversity at WPP, the largest multinational communications, advertising, public relations, technology and commerce holding company. Adrianne is also the founder and visionary of The Cannes Can: Diversity Collective (CC:DC), a nonprofit organization created to provide access and exposure to young adults of color and underrepresented communities to global thought leadership conferences on advertising, marketing, creativity, economics, innovation and technology.

In 2017, she launched the first iteration of the CC:DC, which provides rising stars in the advertising and creative industry the opportunity to attend and participate in the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. In 2019, she made history by creating the first stand-alone equality, diversity and inclusion beach activation, Inkwell Beach Cannes, in the festival’s 66 years of existence. Cannes Lions is where the best creative work in the world is judged to the highest standards. Adrianne has been recognized as an Outstanding Mentor by the Diversity Action Alliance and a Game Changer in the Quantum Leap category during the She Runs It Awards.

With more than 20+ years of industry and advocacy experience, including her work as the executive director of the Center for Excellence in Advertising at Howard University, Adrianne has helped many individuals achieve their personal career goals and organizations achieve their strategic corporate goals. Her training and development programs were the catalyst for the success of several advertising executives. Graduates trained in her program have received numerous awards and accolades including Cannes Lions awards.

Adrianne’s career has been primarily based on making the invisible visible by creating opportunities for underrepresented communities. She has created and produced both documentaries and television programs as well as participated on the launch team for a digital sub-television network. In addition to her advocacy work, Adrianne is the founder of Vision Corps Media Group (VCMG), a media incubation company developed to create new content for current and emerging media outlets.