Hugh Jones, CEO of Reed Exhibitions, announces the appointment of Ron Walden, group vice president of strategic partnerships and activation of Reed Exhibitions USA, as the company’s first global executive sponsor for race.
Commenting on the appointment, Jones says, “The unequal treatment of black people, and especially the recent killings of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and others, have left many people around the world shocked, angry, devastated and broken-hearted. We have witnessed the collective anger reach a boiling point in many cities and communities around the world where Reed Exhibitions employees and customers live and work.
“Black lives matter,” Jones continues. “We stand in solidarity with our black and ethnic minority employees, customers and partners, and we are committed to helping build a company and a world where everyone can live equitably, with dignity and free from fear. On behalf of Reed Exhibitions, I have signed the Business In The Community’s Race at Work Charter.
“We must take action now, and I am therefore delighted that Ron Walden has agreed to be our global executive sponsor for Race,” Jones adds. “Using all his experience and advocacy, Ron will provide us with visible leadership on race and ethnicity across our company. He will drive actions such as recommending where to target our charitable donations, set targets for ethnic minority representation, how we work with recruitment agencies and how we drive mentoring and sponsorship. He will work with me to create a team to work and advise on these matters globally.”
Walden is group vice president of strategic partnerships and activation of Reed Exhibitions, USA. He is a sales executive with broad experience in all aspects of sales, marketing and strategic planning and is a member of the U.S.’ Executive Management Team. Previously, he spent seven years with NIKE; the last four as a senior sales director for Nike North America. A life-long advocate committed to elevating social causes, he currently serves on board of directors of 4thMVMT and the advisory boards of Chargefuze and Ally2action. He is a former board member of the multi-cultural Food Service and Hospitality Alliance, Portland Public Schools Foundation, Nike School Innovation Fund and the Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce. He attended California State University in Los Angeles, where he majored in Business Accounting, and still resides in southern California with his family.
Speaking to his appointment, Walden says, “I’m honored and proud to be named as Reed Exhibitions’ global executive sponsor for race and to work with Hugh and all our leaders across the business. Diversity and inclusion are key to the recovery of companies in the face of economic recessions in many countries, and so I’m excited to see that Reed Exhibitions is reasserting our commitment to race equality by signing up to Business in the Community’s Race at Work Charter.
“My role will be to hold Reed Exhibitions accountable and responsible for all our race and ethnic minority initiatives moving forward and to bridge the investment and commitments we’ll make back to the communities in which we live and we operate,” Walden continues. “We will of course focus on talent—the recruiting, hiring, training, mentoring, promoting and rewarding of a diverse workforce. But we also want to impact our events and the way we organize and hold them—ensuring that black and minority businesses and voices are heard across all sectors and in all countries. I’m excited and proud to have this opportunity, and I look forward to working with Hugh and all our colleagues to deliver the impact we have committed to.”
Reed Exhibitions is a leading global events business. It combines face-to-face with data and digital tools to help customers learn about markets, source products and complete transactions at more than 500 events in almost 30 countries across 43 industry sectors, attracting more than 7 million participants. Their events, organized by 35 global offices, leverage industry expertise, large data sets and technology to enable their customers to generate billions of dollars of revenues for the economic development of local markets and national economies around the world. Reed Exhibitions is part of RELX, a global provider of information and analytics for professional and business customers across industries. For more info, visit www.reedexhibitions.com
RELX is a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers serving customers in more than 180 countries and has offices in about 40 countries. It employs more than 33,000 people, of whom almost half are in North America. The shares of RELX PLC, the parent company, are traded on the London, Amsterdam and New York stock exchanges using the following ticker symbols: London: REL; Amsterdam: REN; New York: RELX. The market capitalization is approximately £35bn, €39.1bn, $44.3bn. *Note: Current market capitalization can be found at http://www.relx.com/investors
