Mumbai: Warner Bros. Discovery has announced that Asif Sadiq has been appointed as chief global diversity, equity, and inclusion officer. Sadiq will lead the company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) strategy and global team, expanding on successful initiatives from both legacy Discovery and legacy WarnerMedia. He will jointly report to CEO David Zaslav and chief people & culture officer Adria Alpert Romm.
He most recently served as WarnerMedia head of diversity, equity, and inclusion, international and was a key architect of many of the WarnerMedia DE&I internal and content-focused initiatives on which WBD plans to build. Earlier, Sadiq held senior diversity positions at adidas, The Telegraph Media Group, EY Financial Services, and the City of London Police.
In his role, Sadiq will chair WBD’s new Business Diversity Council, a senior advisory board comprised of global leaders from the company’s sports, games, technology, revenue, and corporate groups. The council will assist in developing and instituting enterprise-wide diversity programmes for employees across businesses.
“Having a diversity of thought, ideas, and experiences is so critical to the success of any business, especially a creative company like Warner Bros. Discovery. We want our employees to be able to thrive as their authentic selves, while using the power of storytelling to not only entertain audiences around the world, but also open minds and inspire action. And I can think of no better leader than Asif to ensure that we champion the most thoughtful and impactful diversity, equity, and inclusion programme. He brings an impressive track record of success at WarnerMedia and beyond, and his vast experience internationally makes him the ideal candidate to build and lead a truly global team and impactful DE&I strategy,” said Zaslav.
“I am so proud of the work we began at WarnerMedia and am thrilled to join David, Adria, and Warner Bros. Discovery to accelerate the diversity mission I believe in so strongly. Companies that get DE&I right are more successful and have deeper relationships with their employees, consumers, and partners. In other words, this isn’t just the right thing to do; it also makes smart business sense and presents a great opportunity. I look forward to making a measurable and sustained impact with employees, on the screen, in our communities, and for our business,” said Sadiq.
In addition, WBD is establishing a creative diversity council that includes Warner Bros. Television Group chairman Channing Dungey; Warner Bros. Film Group co-chairperson and CEO Pamela Abdy; Warner Bros. Film Group co-chairperson and CEO Mike DeLuca; HBO chairman and CEO Casey Bloys; and US Networks Group chairman and chief content officer Kathleen Finch. Together, these senior creative leaders will help ensure that DE&I is woven into the development, production, and distribution process.
