Huge taps Toni Howard Lowe as group VP of DEI

Huge appointed Toni Howard Lowe to group vice president (GVP) of diversity, equity and inclusion effective immediately, the full-service digital agency announced on Tuesday (September 14).

Lowe will design and implement Huge’s holistic DE&I strategy across the agency’s 12 global offices. She will be tasked with embedding DE&I into every aspect of the organisation, from recruiting and promotion to employee experience, culture and behavior. 

Lowe will report to Kali Beyah, global chief talent officer at Huge. The position required a candidate with “strategic capability” and “depth of experience” in the DE&I space, Beyah told Campaign US. 

“We just knew she [Lowe] had that combination of understanding things that create systemic opportunity, a passion for the cause, but also a passion [for] directing the work for impact performance,” said Beyah. 

Lowe previously served as the diversity and inclusiveness leader for the national tax and 

people advisory practices at Ernst & Young. In that role, she created an integrated DE&I strategy for both practices and implemented initiatives to advance “historically excluded” talent. Lowe also contributed to Ernst & Young’s anti-racism efforts, including leading enterprise-wide implementation.

Despite her DE&I career achievements, Lowe said she found working in the space difficult. 

“I have this long standing career helping organisations drive equitable practices and an inclusive environment, but I was quite frustrated having to still—in 2021—explain the what and the why,” said Lowe.

Lowe was attracted to Huge for its “progressive” nature and “collective strategy” to move the company forward, which she plans to further in the next few months. Her main focus will be on “continued transparency, dialogue, education and accountability” across Huge to “disrupt bias and remove systemic barriers,” according to Beyah.

“It starts with a lot of data and information [followed by] actions that are rooted in that, which brings it all together and says, ‘OK where do we get it right, where are we getting it wrong?’” said Beyah.

It’s a challenge that Lowe is ready to tackle.  

“We've done a lot of good work, but how do we move forward and really create a ‘North Star’ for the company?” Lowe said.