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When Tiyale Hayes displays on his journey from the DMV space — one in all six kids raised by a single mom — to turning into Government Vice President for Insights at Black Entertainment Television (BET), he would not simply see private success. He sees the ability of genuine illustration and group funding that has outlined BET’s 45-year legacy.
“The fruit of your labor is not simply what you obtain,” Hayes explains, drawing from classes discovered throughout his childhood at Hampton College. “It is what you plant for others to reap.” This philosophy has turn out to be the cornerstone of BET’s social affect technique, remodeling the community from an leisure platform right into a group catalyst that reaches tens of millions of Black People every day.
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The authenticity benefit
In an period the place corporate social responsibility usually feels performative, BET’s strategy stands out for its real connection to group wants. Hayes co-leads the social affect group, together with Kimberly Paige (Government Vice President and Chief Advertising Officer), that works instantly with group members and shoppers, making certain that each initiative displays real-life experiences reasonably than boardroom priorities.
This authenticity pays actual dividends. When a mom of an LGBTQIA+ youth reached out to thank BET for displaying her daughter on tv — offering what Hayes calls a “risk mannequin” — it underscored the community’s distinctive place as each a mirror and a beacon for numerous communities.
“We’re not simply creating content material,” Hayes notes. “We’re creating pathways for individuals to see and rejoice themselves and their potential.”
Strategic programming that strikes markets
BET’s signature packages display how leisure firms can drive significant social change whereas constructing model loyalty. The Black Males’s Summit, for instance, addresses essential points going through Black males, from financial empowerment to mental health, creating house for brave conversations usually absent from mainstream discourse.
America in Black, their 60-minute information section, fills data gaps left by conventional media, whereas Rap Lyrics on Trial tackles the intersection of music, tradition and felony justice — points that instantly affect their core viewers.
These aren’t simply feel-good initiatives. They signify strategic investments in group engagement that strengthen BET’s market place whereas concurrently strengthening households and communities. While you authentically serve your viewers’s wants, you construct loyalty that transcends conventional promoting metrics. It is no shock that BET is not only the #1 community for African People but additionally ranked “Finest in Class” throughout 5 main classes, together with prime community respecting Black viewers’ tradition, in keeping with a 2015 Brand Love study.
The partnership multiplier impact
Good enterprise leaders perceive that affect scales by partnerships, and BET’s collaboration technique provides a masterclass in leveraging relationships for group profit. Their work with school alumni chapters to host galas creates a number of touchpoints with educated, influential group members whereas elevating funds (and associates) supporting instructional establishments.
The “Faculty Hill” program and sponsored homecoming occasions faucet into the cultural significance of our nation’s 101 traditionally Black schools and universities (HBCUs), reaching audiences at pivotal life moments when model affinity types lasting connections.
Maybe most importantly, BET’s $25 million partnership with Paramount for “Content material for Change” demonstrates how company collaboration can amplify social affect with out diluting model identification — a vital consideration for any enterprise seeking to scale their community engagement efforts. Content material for Change is a cross-brand initiative that harnesses the ability of content material creation to counter narratives that allow hate and stereotypes. It makes use of analysis, information and innovation to supply extra correct portrayals that positively affect the world.
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Constructing tomorrow’s leaders right now
The community’s company internship program exemplifies how firms can create sustainable affect whereas constructing expertise pipelines. By offering alternatives for younger professionals to realize expertise in media and leisure, BET addresses each quick group wants and long-term trade diversification. BET provides paid internships to undergraduate and graduate college students at completely different areas, together with Washington DC, California, New York, Illinois and Georgia, simply to call just a few.
This strategy creates what economists name “constructive externalities” — advantages that reach past the quick transaction. Interns achieve helpful expertise, the corporate accesses contemporary expertise and views, and the broader group advantages from elevated illustration in media management. It is a win-win state of affairs.
Measuring what issues
Hayes’s position as EVP for Insights displays BET’s dedication to data-driven affect evaluation. Not like conventional company social duty packages that rely closely on feel-good metrics, BET’s strategy emphasizes measurable group outcomes. A current annual report highlighted voter registration and civic engagement, Black financial empowerment initiatives and psychological well being and wellness consciousness.
This deal with insights reasonably than simply outputs allows steady program refinement and demonstrates return on funding (ROI) to stakeholders — a essential issue for sustained funding in social impact initiatives.
The entrepreneur’s takeaway
BET’s 45-year journey provides a number of actionable classes for entrepreneurs, CEOs and trade leaders in search of to construct significant group affect:
1. Begin with genuine connection: Earlier than launching any initiative or program, perceive the group you serve. Authenticity is not a buzzword — it is a dedication. It might probably’t be automated, manufactured or outsourced. It takes buy-in, time and belief.
2. Suppose past charity: Essentially the most sustainable social affect comes from initiatives that align enterprise aims with serving group wants. Search for win-win alternatives reasonably than one-sided giving. Do not simply give — construct. Begin with the tip in thoughts. As an example, you may be taught with/from the group about their pressing want for higher illustration in media, authorities or trade. Then create social affect efforts (e.g., internships, practicum, fellowships) that function sustainable expertise pathways.
3. Leverage partnerships strategically: Collaboration multiplies affect whereas sharing prices and dangers. Search for values alignment, not simply model synergy.
4. Put money into measurement: Observe significant outcomes, not simply actions. This allows continuous improvement and justifies continued funding to stakeholders. Inform a narrative that goes past numbers — however at all times begin with proof.
5. Play the lengthy sport: Group affect requires sustained dedication. Fast wins matter, however lasting change occurs by constant engagement over time. Bear in mind, actual affect is not constructed in a single day. BET’s success comes from laborious work that provides rise to good work on behalf of these they serve.
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As BET celebrates its forty fifth anniversary, Hayes, his group and colleagues proceed constructing on a long time of group funding. Their success demonstrates that companies can drive significant social change whereas attaining business success — however solely when that dedication comes from an genuine place.
For enterprise leaders seeking to make an enduring affect, BET’s blueprint provides a confirmed path: Perceive your group deeply, serve their wants authentically, measure what issues, and keep dedicated for the lengthy haul. The fruit of that labor, as Hayes discovered at Hampton, advantages everybody.
