SARASOTA, Fla. (January 31, 2022) — Miles Partnership, a leading tourism marketing consultancy, announced that Najauna White will join the company as Vice President, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.
Miles Partnership's commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) centers on implementing systemic change within Miles Partnership and evolving equitable and inclusive marketing practices to better advise clients, their communities and the visitors they serve. In 2020, the company launched a series of initiatives to build a framework to implement DEI, including an internal assessment, facilitated training sessions for staff, hiring a Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer and, most recently, hiring White as Vice President, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.
In this new role, White will provide leadership, coordination and strategic direction for the design and implementation of an organizational strategy that further focuses Miles Partnership's commitment to DEI.
Under the guidance of Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer Melissa Cherry, White will develop and support DEI strategies both within Miles Partnership and externally across current and future clients and the broader tourism industry.
"Najauna will play an essential role by collaborating with senior management to engage strategic DEI initiatives and opportunities for the benefit of our internal and external stakeholders at Miles," said Cherry. "We are excited to have her be part of the team and contribute her talent and expertise as we build a roadmap to implement DEI at the company."
White is a Certified Diversity Executive (CDE) and Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) with expertise in fields such as hospitality, tech, professional associations, tourism and economic development. White currently serves as Co-Chair for Workforce Development with Destinations International on their Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Task Force and as the Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion with Meeting Professionals International Carolinas Chapter. She is also actively involved in several community advisory roles within the Black tech ecosystem in Durham, North Carolina.
Prior to joining Miles, White served as the Director of Strategic Partnerships and Community Engagement at The Diversity Movement, where she managed strategic partnerships with 40-plus organizations and professional associations. Prior to that, she was the National Sales Manager at Discover Durham, where she served as project manager for 20-plus conferences and tradeshows annually, spearheaded end-to-end strategy and framework for diversified tradeshows and procurement policies, and helped develop the organization's first employee resource group—a DEI task force.
"I am genuinely thrilled to join this growing team at Miles Partnership and, most importantly, advance and build out cultural change within the organization and industry under Melissa Cherry's leadership," said White. "For the last five years, I've discussed what inclusion, equity and implementation look like holistically in this industry via my experiences and perspective, from everyday workplace culture to the external partnerships, tradeshows and inclusive community building. Now, I get the opportunity to further conversations, instill value and create experiences with DEI at the center with Miles, and it's amazing. I'm excited to get started!"
White received her B.B.A. in management from Howard University.
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About Miles Partnership
Miles is a strategic marketing company focused exclusively on travel and tourism. Miles works with more than 130 destinations and hospitality businesses to create forward-thinking print and digital content marketing solutions.
