Brian Berg on Philanthropical Match Making and How Publicis Media's Culture Supports Social Good

In a conversation with MediaVillage Berg discusses his personal and professional relationship with Be The Match a nonprofit dedicated to matching cancer patients with potential lifesaving donors He shares incredibly poignant insights regarding why the Publicis Media culture makes this partnership such a rewarding matchPhilip McKenzie What was your motivation for getting personally involved with Be The MatchBrian Berg My involvement with Be The Match began because my son Colin was diagnosed with leukemia in October 2015 My family and I were going through a very challenging time It was incredibly grueling and during this experience Publicis Media showed me love and support on both a personal and professional levelIn early 2017 Adrian Sayliss global CFO of Publicis Media and CFO of Publicis Groupe North America introduced me to Be The Match as he also had a family member who was battling cancer Fortunately they went through a successful transplant through a Be The Match donor So my education began at that moment I attended the organization39s annual gala when Publicis Media was a sponsor for the first time Over the last three years the relationship has solidified to the point where it is nowMcKenzie What do you think makes Publicis Media39s culture so supportive at such a difficult personal and professional timeBerg The entire Publicis Media organization rallied around my family and me In one instance many employees wore orange which is the color of the leukemia support ribbon They sent videos and pictures which were shared with my family and on social media It really demonstrated that they cared about what we were going throughIt was a moving experience and very much in line with the cultural history of philanthropy within Publicis Media We encourage our employees to get involved in nonprofits and other causes that are dear to them and in turn have created an environment where there is real institutional support for those endeavorsMcKenzie One of the goals of Be The Match is to increase the ethnic diversity of the donor pool how does that goal align with Publicis Media and its perspective on diversityBerg At Publicis Media we have business resource groups led by employees They are similar to affinity groups in that they bring together people of similar backgrounds and interests along with allies to ideate activate and create programming It builds a fantastic culture of engagement and inclusionAs it pertains to Be The Match we were able to partner with specific business resource groups that support people of color One of them is the Men of Color Alliance or MOCA and the other is Viva Women of Color We solicited their membership intending to get them engaged with the registry to increase the chances that diverse patients would find a donor match Both business resource groups were able to motivate their members to show up and participate which could be incredibly valuable if we identify future matches through this outreachMcKenzie It seems like beyond financial resources Publicis Media has made a real commitment to talent and intellectual resources on behalf of BTMBerg Yes While we have been a consistent sponsor of Be The Match39s annual gala our commitment extends beyond financial resources Publicis Media has made active engagement with philanthropy to be more than just our writing of checks Our culture makes it a point to support employees who want to give back to a wide variety of organizationsWe also have a history of working with nonprofits from a pro bono perspective This type of specific missionbased support is essential to our philanthropic efforts Our leadership has made a great effort to ensure that Publicis Media operates in a manner where this is the form and function of our company DNA These types of activities resonate with our employees and in turn our culture helps us to acquire and retain talent It is a winwinMcKenzie Looking to the near future 2020 is almost upon us Where do you see your relationship with Be The Match goingBerg Of course we will continue to be sponsors for the Be The Match annual gala We will also build on our 2019 momentum and encourage more registry events to identify potential donors across the United States I think this is a watershed moment in our relationship that allows us to get more employees involved and raise the awareness that we can be a part of saving lives through our engagementWe are exploring taking this to a global level We have more than 80000 employees who represent an opportunity to do incredibly scalable work on this issue given our culture Our relationship with Be The Match can only continue to grow and be a vital part of the Publicis Media communityClick the social buttons to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Brian Berg on Philanthropical Match Making and How Publicis Media's Culture Supports Social Good

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Philip McKenzie

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Brian Berg on Philanthropical Match Making and How Publicis Media's Culture Supports Social Good

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