This year’s Walter Kaitz Foundation fundraising dinner on October 12 will be the first in-person celebration since 2019 due to the pandemic. It's also the last will be presided over by the foundation's executive director, Michelle Ray, who is leaving the organization in December. 

During her 15 years as head of the foundation, Ray, a former NCTA–The Broadband & Television Asssociation staffer who joined Kaitz in 2006 as senior program director, has overseen the annual fundraising dinner, which overall has raised more than $23 million in grants toward cable industry diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. She also helped launch Kaitz’s annual Hollywood Creative Forum, which champions culturally accurate representation across the entertainment industry.

Ray provided her thoughts on the resumption of the Kaitz dinner and reflected on her accomplishments and legacy at the organization in a recent interview with Multichannel News, an edited version of which appears below. 

MCN: Why have you decided to leave the Walter Kaitz Foundation at this point in time? 

Michelle Ray: The truth is, over the last year I’ve been dealing with a lot of personal family health issues along with going through the whole COVID environment. I realized that I needed time for me to be the best me. It’s not even about the work. I believe in what we’re doing and I want to be able to give all of my energy to the work that we’re doing.

MCN: Looking back, have you accomplished the goals that you set for the organization as executive director? 

MR: I would love to say of course I did, but the truth is we’re not just trying to solve DEI for an industry, for an organization or even for our companies. We’re trying to make societal shifts, because that’s where the real work lies. I think there’s always going to be more to do. We’re not even close to solving all of the diversity, equity and inclusion issues that are part of society as a whole. The death of George Floyd really brought the issues of DEI front and center from a broad perspective as we thought about social justice movements and what we’re really doing as companies and individuals attacking these issues around DEI.

MCN: Having said that, do you think that the industry has at least taken the right steps forward toward dealing with DEI issues within its own ranks?

MR: Again, I don't want to say that we’re all doing great. The truth is we have to do more, and I think there’s a clear call for us to do more. What I have noticed is that I see a lot of companies really leaning in on social justice, especially on the content side. Those companies were focused on making sure that stories of marginalized and disparate people were being told by hiring people who could ideally tell those stories and then they brought those stories to life on our screens. Also, I saw broadband companies trying to deliver broadband to diverse communities who are largely rural. The issues around broadband deployments continue to be an ongoing effort, but I saw everyone picking themselves up and leaning more into addressing a lot of these issues, whether as a broadband company, technology company or content curator. 

MCN: Diversity Week is fast approaching, and the industry is gathering in-person for the first time in two years. What effect does being in-person have on the diversity discussion across the various events?

MR: I think being in-person and talking about these issues is more important than ever before. I think it will signal to our industry that as leaders, we all should be joining together for the discussion of diversity, equity and inclusion, particularly since it’s a gathering that’s so specifically curated for our industry. No other industry does this, so if you think about it, we just need to continue to do more of it. I think being around each other is an important aspect of what we’re trying to achieve. What I've realized within the COVID environment when we were largely at home and away from each other is that we needed that human touch. From an interpersonal standpoint, when you’re in a room with somebody, it’s so markedly different from being on a Zoom call or a telephone call. 

MCN: What are you personally hoping to accomplish with this year’s Walter Kaitz Foundation fundraising dinner? 

MR: As we approached this year’s dinner, I thought because we hadn’t seen each other in years that we wouldn’t do the same things and show up in the same way that we showed up in previous years. My thought was, how do we come back to something that's different? So one of the things we’ve done is we’ve largely retired our Diversity Champion and Diversity Advocate Awards and created a new ChangeMakers Award. It’s really reimagining what we do in acknowledging someone for the seminal work that they’re doing. 

One of the honorees is an organization called Human-I-T, which focuses on social justice and works with a lot of companies within our industry to make sure that sustainability is at the forefront of the work that they do. They work closely with Cox, Charter and Comcast. The second honor we had was an individual, Daisy Auger-Dominguez, who is chief people officer at Vice Media Group. She’s an executive and game-changer that thinks about inclusive workplaces and what that should look like. So that was part of the reframing of the awards, if you will, and that will continue to evolve and change.

MCN: The Kaitz Foundation is working with WICT and NAMIC to present the AIM/PAR Diversity Employment Study next week. What should the industry take away from the results of that study as it pertains to its diversity efforts?

MR: It’s the only way that we’re going to be able to benchmark how we’re doing as industry. If we were to walk away from that, it would be a disservice to all of us because I think metrics are an important aspect of the work that we do. If we can’t measure something then we can’t see or understand it. That’s why the study continues to be relevant and important. It requires a lot of support and commitment from the industry and the industry has been very supportive of it. 

MCN: Have you considered what your legacy will be at the Walter Kaitz Foundation?

MR: It’s something I haven’t really thought about. I’m in the people business, whether it’s at work or personally, so for me legacy is about making sure that we make connections with people regardless of what aspect of work you’re involved in. So I hope to maintain those connections, and whatever I decide to do after this I hope it still involves touching people. ■

Michelle Ray is exiting as executive director of The Walter Kaitz Foundation, the cable-backed nonprofit effort to advance equity and inclusion in the media and entertainment industry.

Her last day is December 2, so she will still oversee Kaitz’s Annual Fundraising Dinner on October 12 at the New York Marriott Marquis hotel.

The foundation has given out over $23 million in grants toward diversity initiatives.

A search for a successor is underway, NCTA–The Internet & Television Association said, adding that the industry’s commitment to diversity and inclusion “remains strong,” Ray’s departure notwithstanding.

Also: Kaitz Focuses Lens Beyond Hollywood

Ray has been with the foundation for 15 years.

“Michelle has been a true force of nature and her leadership at the Kaitz Foundation has been invaluable to the industry," NCTA president and CEO Michael Powell said. “Her passion and tireless efforts over the years to drive mission-focused diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at NCTA’s member companies have been second to none.”

Ray joined NCTA in 1990 in industry affairs and moved to the foundation in 2006, initially as senior program director. ▪️

The cable industry’s annual Diversity Week gatherings took place virtually last month, as major media companies continue their efforts to create a more inclusive and equitable environment both on-screen and in the employment ranks. 

Recent diversity initiatives such as the CBS Studios/NAACP content production partnership, which tapped industry veteran Sheila Ducksworth as its president, and the partnership between ESPN and the Alliance for Women in Media, which will award $10,000 scholarships for Black females pursuing careers in sports media, have kept diversity and inclusion themes at the forefront of the industry.

Michelle Ray, executive director of leading diversity advocacy group The Walter Kaitz Foundation, addressed those recent efforts in an interview with Multichannel News. Here’s an edited version of that conversation. 

MCN: NAMIC and WICT drew more attendees for their virtual events this year than they did for their traditional events last year. Is that a positive sign that the industry remains committed to its diversity and inclusion efforts?

Michelle Ray: Given that [diversity and inclusion] has been front and center and in the spotlight, I think people largely wanted to understand and see what these organizations were talking about and what they were doing to change the game. I think there was that aspect of people who normally would not come to a Diversity Week in New York because their companies wouldn’t approve travel. It allowed everybody to peek into these conferences without having to spend copious amounts of money. Even though we didn’t have our traditional dinner, the issues of diversity and inclusion still remain on the front burner for the industry.

MCN: With recent moves toward fostering diversity from ViacomCBS and others in the industry, are you encouraged companies will continue the diversity discussion both on-screen and in the employment ranks beyond Diversity Week?

MR: Yes. I think particularly now, when we’re hurting financially — remember, studios aren’t fully shooting new content — it's important that we find ways to pivot in terms of content curation. When we get back to some sort of normalcy, these [diversity and inclusion] initiatives will already be in place. Take the [CBS] scenario: they’re looking to align with some third-party organizations like the NAACP. So with a lot of our companies it’s about how they help to lean into this conversation as people who know diversity and civil rights. They know the issue of the day and can work with the content creators. 

I’m so glad that these companies are leaning even more towards diversity and inclusion because they’re really the barometers of the communities that they serve. So I like that the fact that this industry is showing up in this special time of need, and I’m so optimistic that at the end of the day, any one company or organization can tackle any of these prevailing issues, whether it's around race, gender, sexual health. I don’t think any one organization or person can own that narrative, I think we all have to lean into it individually and then come together collectively to collaborate when we need to amplify that voice. 

MCN: What does ‘normal’ look like in 2021 for the industry’s diversity initiatives? 

MR: I want to be optimistic, but it’s going to be a long runway with this. For me, it’s about being really intentional about the work and what we’re trying to do to achieve and to reshuffle the decks. It’s about having impact and collaborating with organizations that focus on benchmarking and tracking so that we know where we’re at, particularly in terms of employment. We’re getting ready to work on the [NAMIC
and WICT AIM/PAR Workforce Survey], and for us, it’s about scrutinizing
and questioning every­thing. 

David Porter will step down as executive director of The Walter Kaitz Foundation effective April 13, the diversity organization announced Friday.

Longtime Kaitz executive and deputy executive director Michelle Ray will serve as interim executive director upon Porter’s departure, according to Kaitz.

Porter joined Kaitz in August 2006 and during his tenure raised more than $20 million – mostly through the organization’s annual autumn fundraising dinner -- to fuel cable industry initiatives implemented by the National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC), Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT), and the Emma L. Bowen Foundation.

READ MORE: Diddy Uses Kaitz Moment For Diversity Message

Under Porter’s leadership, Kaitz has also pioneered bi-annual industry-wide surveys -- conducted jointly with WICT and NAMIC -- to identify and track diversity within the industry’s employment ranks. Here is a link to a story about the 2017 survey results.

"Under David's leadership, the Walter Kaitz Foundation has reached new and sustained levels of achievement, becoming the bedrock for efforts across our industry to enhance and embrace diversity as a core operating principle," said NCTA President & CEO Michael Powell in a statement. "David's leadership has brought out the best in us, in our efforts to shape our industry into a national leader on diversity and inclusion. His passion for, and commitment to, this work is unsurpassed. We will miss his vision and presence, and we wish him all the best in future endeavors."