Danielle Cornejo Calhoun

VP, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Weber Shandwick

Bellingham, WA

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“Innovation is rooted in connecting to culture, to finding the thread beneath what everyone else sees.” 

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While innovation is often associated with technology or the likes of life-changing medical advances, Danielle Cornejo Calhoun sees things in a different way. Weber Shandwick’s VP of diversity, equity & inclusion – who lives with a disability herself – sees DEI as PR’s real opportunity for taking the lead in innovation. “True innovation happens when everyone has a seat at the table – when the “thing” you’re creating is developed by people with disabilities, all ethnicities and genders – finding the connective tissue that creates something new that lets us all thrive,” she says. Calhoun, who has MS, says leading an employee resource group for employees with disabilities and chronic illnesses was a crowning innovative moment of her career, largely tied to helping participants open up about their situations and ask for what they need. “The minute we make all of those things not only possible but embraced, creativity emerges,” she says. “We’ve had the opportunity to influence client campaigns, making brands and campaigns more inclusive of a huge audience segment that’s largely ignored and often misrepresented.”

How do you define innovation?
Innovation is rooted in connecting to culture, to finding the thread beneath what everyone else sees. True innovation happens when everyone has a seat at the table – when the 'thing' you're creating is developed by people with disabilities, all ethnicities and genders – finding the connective tissue that creates something new that lets us all thrive.

What is the most innovative PR or marketing initiative you've seen over the past 12 months?
One of my favorite campaigns this last year was Iberdrola’s 'Turnstile Turbines,' conceived by Weber Shandwick Paris, creating underground wind turbines with turnstiles in a Paris subway. This is the perfect combination of making real change (literally creating renewable energy in an unexpected source), while driving earned attention for Iberdrola. PR is at the heart of what can make a campaign memorable and meaningful. In today’s climate you can’t earn attention without driving culture, and some of the best campaigns in the last year have that intention at the core.

In your opinion, which brands and/or agencies are most innovative in their approach to PR and marketing?
I have to say The Weber Shandwick Collective. I’m biased, of course, with more than a decade at an agency I love – from being one of the first agencies to fully embrace digital, to our commitment to driving culture and being at the forefront of inclusion.

Describe a moment in your career that you would consider to be innovative.
When Weber Shandwick launched our Business Resource Groups, I had the opportunity to lead a new group centering people with disabilities and chronic illnesses. Resource groups aren’t a new idea, but giving employees permission to embrace their disability and chronic illness is. It was (and often still can be) taboo to discuss. It can feel impossible to want to disclose, to ask for an accommodation. But the minute we make all of those things not only possible, but embraced, creativity emerges. We’ve had the opportunity to influence client campaigns, making brands and campaigns more inclusive of a huge audience segment that’s largely ignored and often misrepresented. Bringing my experiences as a Latina with Multiple Sclerosis to my creative work, vs. feeling like it’s something I have to hide in my day to day, has been a game changer – and my mission in leading this BRG is to make others feel comfortable enough to bring their ‘hidden’ selves to the work.

Who do you admire for his/her approach to innovation?
Tiffany R. Warren, the founder of ADCOLOR, is a huge inspiration to me (and to our industry). She is driving innovation in justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in media and communications in a way few could ever aspire to do.

How do you get out of a creativity rut?
Let myself fully rest. That is unbelievably hard to do in our industry – we’re all passionate about driving the future of communication, and it can be hard to fully unplug from anything. But when I’m truly stuck, I’ve learned that waiting until the next morning is what I need (or waking up at 2am and suddenly seeing the solution I was looking for). Sleep. The answer to most things, I’ve finally started to learn, is to get some sleep.

What advice would you give to the PR industry around embracing innovation?
Let yourself do what feels impossible. Or maybe unreasonable. My two most recent roles have been brand-new roles, both to the agency and to myself. I often find myself feeling like I’m closing my eyes and jumping, but in almost every case it’s led to something amazing (and even the few times I’ve learned a lesson, even that inevitably led to something wonderful I couldn’t have predicted). We’re all incredibly smart, driven, passionate – you know what works, and your gut is on to something. Let yourself give whatever “it” is a try.

What would you be doing if you weren't doing your current job?
I’ve always been obsessed with helping students unlock that jump from college to starting their career. Getting A grades is so different than breaking into your dream job. I like to think I’d be a mix of a college advisory, author, speaker and consultant, all focused on unlocking the mystery of making the jump from college to career.

Which book/movie/TV show/podcast/playlist/other cultural source has provided inspiration over the past year?
For me, cooking is an escape – a place to let my mind wander that isn’t focused completely on work. The show I’ve watched again and again is Jamie's Quick & Easy Food with Jamie Oliver from BBC Channel 4. It’s not new, it has nothing to do with our industry, but it takes me out of myself. The concept of creating a layered, interesting meal with just five ingredients that work hard is the perfect metaphor for creating a magic campaign. Figuring out the key ingredients, not over-structuring it, and letting the magic occur at the intersections.

How can the PR and communications industry harness innovation to make more progress on diversity, equity and inclusion?
Innovation is about finding the unexpected, essential moves that will make the biggest difference. That’s what we’re still finding in our industry. As a whole, we’ve made strides on diversity, equity and inclusion – but we’re not there yet (and I don’t know if "there" is a destination we’ll ever officially reach). We need to approach DEI like any client challenge, finding the highest impact changes to our system that will drive the most meaningful, lasting change.

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