On Wednesday, November 20, 2019, Music Forward hosted a panel on the topic of diversity and inclusion in the music industry at California State University, Los Angeles. University partners such as the Marketing Club and several other student organizations coordinated with Music Forward to bring in six amazing professionals: 
Pamela Burga, Diversity & Belonging Manager at Live Nation; Bodie Olmos, Development Manager at the Latino Film Institute; Candace Newman, Senior Tour Director at Live Nation; Damian Vaca, Vice President of Unscripted at Live Nation Productions; Eddie “Eddie G!” Garcia, Internet Personality & Entrepreneur; and Silvia Carluccio, Director of Created Content at Live Nation.
Throughout the conversation, all six panelists shared words of encouragement, joy, and strife. At one moment, the audience laughed together with content-creator Eddie G! when he encouraged everyone to watch his YouTube video on “How To Be A Failure!”. Here, Eddie advised the audience to not let their failures bring them down. Instead, he emphasized the need to learn from failures, to continuously work to fix the problem, and to ultimately grow and discover more about yourself in the process. On a similar note, Candace stressed the importance of not settling for less, as well as standing strong and being rooted in your dignity and values in the face of adversity.
All in all, those in attendance appreciated the experts for sharing their time and advice on a rare cold and rainy day in Los Angeles. Listening to their stories shone a positive light and hope for the future of the industry for people of color and other underrepresented communities. Though the panelists experienced both struggle and success in their professional lives, they asserted the need to stay strong, resilient, and to remain true to your authentic self. The music industry has a lot of catching up to do, but times are a ‘changing thanks to these leaders!
Jesse Tesso was our 2019 Fall/Winter Programs Intern and is a senior at UCLA.
In 2020, Music Forward will continue to provide exclusive access to experts and opportunities for our next generation of music industry leaders, like Jesse, and invite you to join us in our movement!
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