VaynerX Appoints Vanessa Vining as First Chief Diversity Officer

VaynerX announced today the appointment of Vanessa Vining as its first chief diversity officer. In this role, Vining will report to chairman of VaynerX and CEO of VaynerMedia, Gary Vaynerchuk, and will lead the diversity, equity and inclusion efforts globally across the group of companies. With a focus on developing a global diversity, equity and inclusion framework, employee recruitment and retention, training and education, and supplier diversity, Vining will partner with chief heart officer, Claude Silver, to create and impact change. She was most recently senior director, cross-cultural strategy and head of diversity, equity and inclusion at Hearts & Science.

“Today, diversity, equity and inclusion sits at the center of our clients’ business. We have an opportunity to create a center of belonging and equality for our people, while becoming the destination where everyone wants to work. But through this journey we also become more culturally aware business partners,” said Vining. “I am excited to be part of cultivating global change at VaynerX. Gary truly understands that humanity must permeate the DNA of every company — that's what attracted me to VaynerX.”

Vining brings over 25 years of advertising experience to her new role. At Hearts & Sciences, she spearheaded their first DE&I Champions Committee “Change of Hearts” and was an OPEN Sponsor for Omnicom’s first Black Employee Resource Group “Black Together.” Vining was also a part of the team that developed OMG’s newly launched Diverse Creators Network, a cross-platform planning and activation system that specifically targets minority-owned and diverse publishers and content creators. Vining began her career in media, holding a number of roles at various media agencies. She is a graduate of Governors State University and holds a Diversity & Inclusion certification from Cornell University.

“At VaynerX, we are placing a great emphasis on fostering a culture that is diverse and inclusive, and the hiring of our first chief diversity officer is an integral part of this,” said Vaynerchuk. “We spent an enormous amount of time finding the right candidate for this position. I am thrilled for Vanessa to join. She has an incredible background which will enable us to drive real change and, most importantly, she has a great deal of kindness and empathy — core values at VaynerX.”

Vining begins her new role with immediate effect.