The annual 3% Conference – a coming together of change-makers across the creative industries – was intended to be held during the Fall in Atlanta. Amidst the rippling cancellations of the advertising industry’s most illustrious and extravagant events, 3% organizers heeded the call to bring together the creative and marketing community for an unprecedented 3-day virtual conference in July centered around building a “Radically Inclusive Future of Work.”

In the closing Keynote speech of the 2019 3% Conference held in Chicago, Cindy Gallop delivered a rousing call for inclusivity in the advertising industry, pointing to We Are Rosie as the future of advertising. Looking back, Cindy’s speech felt like a crystal ball into our opportunity to break down old systems of oppression and build anew, with different leaders at the helm, representing more identities that reflect our whole society. 

In a spiritual baton pass from that keynote, the final day of the 2020 3% Conference featured We Are Rosie’s founder Stephanie Nadi Olson delivering a personal and powerful message to the industry: traditional hiring practices are not built to accommodate inclusion. Her presentation illuminated the seismic impacts of adopting flexible and remote talent models, from increased diversity, to more sustainability, to greater economic prosperity for marginalized communities, to an increase of wellness in the face of industry burnout as the norm. Stephanie closed her talk by sharing insights from We Are Rosie’s inaugural Rosie Report study on the future of work in marketing & advertising. 

Following her speech, Stephanie passed the mic to Bumble, a We Are Rosie client, and Analisa Cantú, a Rosie consultant and freelance content strategist, for a live conversation illuminating what a flexible future of work actually looks like in practice. Chelsea Cain Maclin, Bumble’s vp of marketing, spoke about the power and innovation of bringing on flexible talent to level her team up in a time of growth, and Analisa shared her experience working with the Bumble team.