The AMA’s inaugural Diversity Leadership Institute (DLI) was a four-day Institute that allowed participants the opportunity to meet and interact with an intimate cohort of marketing students from historically disenfranchised and underrepresented communities in the marketing field.
The Institute allows 15 diverse marketing students the unique opportunity to network with their peers and be led in small groups by representatives from our academic and professional community serving as Institute facilitators.
As participants in the DLI, participants will:
- Gain foundational knowledge of the history and functions of marketing
- Gain knowledge of contemporary issues in marketing
- Participate in intergroup dialogue around issues of equity and social justice
- Collaborate with peers to research and present ethical solutions to current leadership issues in marketing
- Reflect on and articulate the influence of personal identities and histories on effective marketing leadership
- Engage in professional networking with marketing faculty and practitioners
With the cost of food, travel, and lodging covered, there is no reason for any diverse student marketer to miss out on this life changing experience!
Application Requirements:
- All applicants must be undergraduate students carrying full-time enrollment (as defined by their institution)
- Applicants who identify as racial or ethnic minority, identify as LGBTQ, or have a documented disability are eligible to apply.
- Online application form that includes a faculty letter of recommendation, résumé, specific questions regarding your interest in the program as well as demographic information.
- More information and application deadlines for 2023 AMA DLI coming soon!
- *If you receive a message says “uploading files is not permitted when data loss prevention is enabled for your domain” when accessing the application below please make sure that you are logged into a personal Google account to gain access to the application. If you need additional support troubleshooting, please email membersupport@ama.org.
2023 Dates: Coming Soon!
2022 Host Institution Partner:
Indiana University – Bloomington
Kelley School of Business
June 23-26, 2022
2022 DLI Facilitators
Dr. Terry L. Esper
Associate Professor
Dr. Terry L. Esper is an Associate Professor in the Department of Marketing and Logistics at the Ohio State University Fisher College of Business. In addition to his full-time academic activities, Esper also serves as a faculty content expert for the University of Iowa Tippie College of Business CIMBA Italy Program, and has served on faculty at the University of Verona (Italy), as a key faculty liaison with ESSEC Business School (France), and as a faculty leader for study abroad programs in Panama and Australia.
Esper’s award-winning research has been published in top-tier academic journals and industry publications. He also leverages his research to address pressing social issues, such as the safety and equitable treatment of frontline operational employees. Esper regularly contributes his research-based insights to several media outlets, including NPR, BBC World News, CNBC, Sirius XM Radio, and several newspapers, blogs, and podcasts.
Dr. Esper also leverages his academic platform to engage in executive education, corporate training, and industry outreach. Esper is Vice Board Chair of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, a global organization for supply chain executives and scholars. He serves as a resident Educational Advisor to several companies in the pharmaceutical and personal care industry, to include Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, and Merck. He also speaks at corporate events around the world and does regular executive-level educational sessions and workshops with companies such as Walmart, Procter & Gamble, JB Hunt, Tyson Foods, Unilever, Kellogg, Nationwide Insurance, Apple, Lowe’s, and the US Department of Defense.
Esper is Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of his alma mater, Philander Smith College, serves on the Advisory Board of the American Marketing Association Foundation, and is a Board Member of the South Central Province of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. Prior to his academic career, Esper worked for Hallmark Cards and conducted Research for the Federal Highway Administration and the US Department of Transportation. He and his wife Mishi reside in Columbus, OH.
Dr. Dionne A. Nickerson
Assistant Professor of Marketing
Dr. Dionne A. Nickerson is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. Her research lies at the intersection of marketing and society. Her current work examines the impact of sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) on marketing strategy and firm outcomes. She also explores brands’ DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) efforts in their marketplace activities. Her research has been published in the Journal of Marketing and was awarded “Best Paper in Track” for the Sustainability, Social Responsibility, and Ethics track at the 2020 AMA Winter Conference. She received the Emerald/EFMD Outstanding Doctoral Research Award in Marketing 2018 for her dissertation work.
Dr. Nickerson earned a Ph.D. in Business Administration from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She also earned an A.B. in engineering from Brown University and an MBA from Providence College. Before becoming an academic, she worked in technology consulting, advising clean technology start-ups funded through the EPA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program on marketing strategy, and taught English through the Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF).
Erick Mas
Assistant Professor of Marketing
Erick is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University Bloomington. Prior to Indiana University, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Vanderbilt University. Erick has a PhD in Marketing from the University of North Texas, an MBA from Barry University, and a BS in Marketing from the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez.
Erick’s research uses consumer psychology to draw strategic consumer insights centered around the influence of social class and political ideology on marketplace behaviors. Before academia, Erick had a career in advertising and digital marketing.
Karen McFarlane
Chief Marketing Officer, LetterShop
Karen McFarlane is a solutions-focused Senior Executive and Board Member with more than 25 years of success across the technology, artificial intelligence, professional services, ecommerce, education, and entertainment industries. For the past 15 years, Karen led Kaye Media Partners, a strategic B2B marketing practice specializing in high-growth startups and innovative ventures. Through a strategic partnership, Karen serves as Chief Marketing Officer of LetterShop, a boutique marketing and creative agency delivering 360 solutions to Fortune 1000 companies.
Karen currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Leadership and Arts Coalition in Washington, D.C., GenderIDEAL in New York, and the Advisory Board for artificial intelligence security firm Matdun. Karen served as President of the American Marketing Association of New York (2019-2021) winning eight Chapter Excellence Awards during her tenure. She continues as Board Member and Chair of Diversity, Inclusion, and Strategic Innovation at AMA New York. She also sits on AMA’s Professional Chapters Council as the Co-Chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee and is a frequent speaker on DEI. She was recently named most notable in marketing and PR by Crain’s Business.
In her spare time, you can find Karen mentoring future leaders, advising small businesses, and writing episodic television scripts as part of her new passion project Colossal Work.
2022 DLI Corporate Donors
To learn more about this unique philanthropic opportunity, please contact Julie Schnidman, Alliances, Vice President at jschnidman@ama.org.
If you have any questions regarding DLI, please contact us at customersupport@ama.org