Black Girl Magic comes in all different forms. However, for Karen Greenfield, fulfilling a new role as National Geographic’s Senior Vice President of Content, Diversity and Inclusion is more than just magic, it’s a dream come true.

In fact, Greenfield’s role was tailored with her in mind. Prior to her, the position did not exist.

“I had been working in this DEI space to try to collaborate more with our creative team to ensure more diverse and inclusive storytelling on top of my business operations job,” Greenfield told AfroTech. “I am happy that we are aligning with the Walt Disney Company as there were blueprints for this role already established and other digital content brands, and so it just made sense.”

As a company founded by affluent white men, for affluent white men 134 years ago, Greenfield is excited about the organization’s commitment to changing the narrative and ensuring that its content is filled with more diverse storytellers across the board.

“Although we have evolved tremendously over the years, there’s still progress to be made. I’m super proud of the progress, but we still have work to do. So, I’m ready to roll up my sleeves to do it,” she said. “I want National Geographic to be relevant to the global community we aim to serve. I think that might be one of my missions and goals — to have targeted brand marketing to go into communities that we perhaps haven’t engaged as much in the past to cultivate and maintain relationships with organizations and content creators to ensure that Nat Geo is a preferred destination for inclusive storytelling and community engagement.”

Greenfield and National Geographic have already been laying the groundwork for their overall vision through a commitment to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The National Geographic Media Scholarship Program, led by Greenfield, is gearing up for its second year.

“I have to say that lifting the National Geographic Media Scholarship Program off the ground was probably one of my biggest professional achievements, it was not easy but we did it,” she beamed.

Stay tuned for more on this year’s installment of the program.

National Geographic

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