Mars appoints M&M'S® FUNd Advisory Council

For a world where everyone feels they belong

22-Jul-2022 - USA

In January 2022, Mars brand M&M'S® announced its global commitment to a world where everyone feels they belong. Through the specially launched M&M'S FUNd, the brand aims to connect people across all differences through shared fun and increase the sense of belonging of 10 million people around the world by 2025. The goal of the FUNd is to align all global brand actions with this M&M'S Purpose. Today, M&M'S officially announces the M&M'S FUNd Advisory Council, an advisory board of experts to help the brand drive diversity, inclusion and belonging around the world.

The M&M'S FUNd provides resources, mentoring, opportunities and financial support in the arts and entertainment sector to connect people and ensure they have access to diverse experiences. The founding advisory board for the M&M'S FUNd includes representatives from Global Belonging Collaborative, GLAAD, Coqual, Disability:IN, GroupM Multicultural, and PolicyLink. Thus, the advisors come from a variety of organizations that have been advocating for diversity, acceptance, and inclusion of diverse communities in society for years. The Advisory Board will meet several times a year to evaluate programs, quantify impact, and advance the M&M'S mission through the organizations' respective networks.

Dr. Kelly-Ann Allen, PhD FAPS, Co-Director and Founder, Global Belonging Collaborative
John McCourt, Deputy Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, GLAAD
Gwyneth Meeks, Senior Vice President, Leadership Development, COQUAL
Jill Houghton, President & CEO, Disability:IN
Gonzalo del Fa, President, GroupM Multicultural
Ashleigh Gardere, executive vice president, PolicyLink

"Mars is looking for creative ways to have a positive impact on society and shape the world we want tomorrow to be. M&M'S Purpose is another example of how our brands provide our consumers with small moments of happiness in their everyday lives," said Jessica Adelman, corporate affairs vice president at Mars Wrigley. "Mars and the M&M'S brand are proud to partner with these global experts who, as part of M&M'S FUNd, will help us create a world where everyone feels like they belong."

For more than 80 years, M&M'S has brought people together through shared fun with chocolate nibbles in a variety of flavors. The M&M'S FUNd and the M&M'S FUNd Advisory Council are designed to bring this mission to life through tangible projects - wherever consumers come into contact with the brand: through its products, digital offerings, content, in-store programs and brand activations, such as:

M&M'S current commercial, "Meet The Parents," visually represents the importance of celebrating people's differences and using fun to foster a shared connection and sense of belonging.
Developed in Germany, M&M'S Open Mic project collaborated with comedienne Enissa Amani to provide a platform for three up-and-coming comedians from diverse backgrounds to make the comedy scene more diverse.
To celebrate International Women's Day in March, M&M'S created a #StreamingFemaleVoices Spotify playlist featuring songs by all female artists. This is intended to bridge the gender gap in music. One U.S. dollar per stream (up to $25,000) was donated to Women in Music.
M&M'S is continuing its partnership with the Bentonville Film Festival Foundation in 2022. Through a mentorship program, the brand will offer a $20,000 stipend to a male or female filmmaker and the opportunity to work with M&M'S on a project focused on promoting inclusion. The recipient of the "M&M'S For All Funkind Award" from the 2021 submissions was announced June 25.
In Australia, M&M'S launched a Comedy Spotlight platform that spotlights seven emerging comedy stars to create a more inclusive comedy scene.

Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.

https://www.yumda.com/en/news/1177007/mars-appoints-m-m-s-fund-advisory-council.html