Latest news with #JoanneWilson
Forbes
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Gordon Parks Foundation Gala Raises $3 Million, Shatters Auction Record, Celebrates Black Excellence
A Black woman in a pale blue dress and white pumps stands alongside her young niece wearing a white lace dress, white bobby socks, and black mary janes. The woman's elegant attire is gently subverted by a loose slip strap, drawing the viewer closer and evoking an emotional response to her humanity. This quotidian image of generational familial bonds outside a department store becomes impossible to ignore under the neon sign pointing to the 'COLORED ENTRANCE.' The incongruous image of Joanne Wilson and her niece juxtaposed with the inhumane sign is painfully relevant nearly seven decades after it was shot by Gordon Parks (1912–2006) for a Life Magazine photo essay documenting the Thornton family under segregation in Alabama. Parks' essay opened an urgent national conversation about the Jim Crow South, creating stunning full color portraits that stood out among the mostly black and white imagery from protests and demonstrations exposing widespread racism at the time. By removing the blatant political context of the nascent Civil Rights Movement, Parks fosters empathy with his genuinely revolutionary focus on the everyday lives of Black people. Department Store, Mobile, Alabama (1956) fetched $140,00 during a live auction led by Kimberly Pirtle of Sotheby's Collectors Group last night at the glamorous Gordon Parks Foundation Awards Dinner and Auction, celebrating the arts and social justice. The seminal image was the top lot, surpassing the $114,300 sale of Segregation Story at Phillips New York in A-list event raised a record $3 million for the foundation, which permanently preserves the work of the trailblazing photographer, composer, author, poet, and filmmaker, who rose to prominence in U.S. documentary photojournalism between the 1940s and the 1970s. On the heels of the 2025 Met Gala, amplified by the success of Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art through October 26, the enduring legacy of Black dandyism was on display last night at Cipriani 42nd Street in Manhattan. The Gordon Parks Foundation Awards Dinner and Auction honored: pioneering Black fashion model and activist Bethann Hardison; master of conceptual post-black art, Rashid Johnson; influential editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine, Anna Wintour; and ambassador, congressman, mayor, and civil rights leader, Andrew J. Young. 'I'm sometimes thinking to myself, how long can I continue to do the things I do. … people say to me, 'when are you going to retire? That's not a word I know very well, because it always seems like there is something else I want to do, something else that has to be done. And as Ms. Wintour said earlier, we do things, but there's still so much more to be done when you're that person. Everyone's not meant to do it, but for those who are meant to do it, you know the Trojan horse, we need a lot of people to pull that Trojan Horse. Oftentimes, it's more about the pullers than the person who's on the horse. And I really feel that way, and I live a lot of times between bravery and fear,' said Hardison. 'Sometimes you have to think, 'how long can you hold off from not saying anything to someone?', because you know you're going to really shake something up when you do it. And the bravery steps up. And I grab hold of bravery. It takes bravery to do a lot of things right now. We have to be extremely brave. Extremely brave.' Besides poignant speeches from the honorees and special guests, Rev. Ernest F. Ledbetter, Jr. and Rev. Dr. Ernest F. Ledbetter III, the son and grandson of Rev. E.F. Ledbetter, gala attendees, including celebrities, philanthropists, collectors, and arta nd fashion world luminaries, were treated to a performance by singer-songwriter Andra Day. The event also feted the 2025 Gordon Parks Foundation Fellows, Derek Fordjour, Scheherazade Tillet, and Salamishah Tillet. This year's awards dinner and auction were hosted by co-chairs: Alicia Keys and Kasseem Dean; Tonya and Spike Lee; Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor; Anderson Cooper; Sarah Arison; Kathryn and Kenneth Chenault; Michi Jigarjian; Judy and Leonard Lauder; Carol Sutton Lewis and William M. Lewis, Jr.; Crystal McCrary and Raymond McGuire; Gail and Jeff Yabuki; Alex Soros and Huma Abedin; and Clara Wu Tsai. Ceelbrity guests icnluded Tory Burch, Dapper Dan, Malcolm Jenkins, Misty Copeland, Gayle King, Ari Melber, Leslie Odom, Jr., Marcus Samuelsson, Deborah Roberts, Annie Leibovitz, Jay Ellis, Prabal Gurung, Breanna Stewart, Michael Stipe, and Mickalene Thomas.
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
WPP PLC (WPP) (Q4 2024) Earnings Call Highlights: Navigating Challenges with Strategic ...
Net Revenue Growth: -1%, at the lower end of guidance range. Top 25 Clients Growth: 2% growth. Headline Operating Margin: 15%, up 40 basis points year-on-year. Operating Cash Flow Conversion: Improved to 86%. Year-End Net Debt: GBP1.7 billion, reduced by GBP0.8 billion year-on-year. Reported Revenue Less Pass-Through Costs: GBP11.4 billion, a decrease of 4.2% year-on-year. Net Finance Costs: GBP280 million, increased due to higher interest rates. Effective Tax Rate: Increased by 1 percentage point to 28%. Headline Diluted EPS: 88.3p, down 5.9% on a reported basis. Total Dividend for 2024: 39.4p, flat compared to 2023. Global Integrated Agencies Like-for-Like Decline: 0.8% for the year. GroupM Growth: 2.7% for the full year. Public Relations Like-for-Like Decline: 1.7% for 2024. Specialist Agencies Like-for-Like Decline: 2.3% for the year. North America Revenue Decline: 0.7% for 2024. United Kingdom Revenue Decline: 2.7% for 2024. China Revenue Decline: 20.8% for the year. CPG Growth: 5.1% for 2024. Technology Client Sector Growth: 2.5% in Q4. Automotive Client Sector Growth: 1.3% for the full year. Structural Cost Savings: GBP85 million, contributing to margin improvement. Average Adjusted Net Debt: GBP3.5 billion, slightly down from 2023. Guidance for 2025: Like-for-like range of flat to -2%. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 4 Warning Signs with WPP. Release Date: February 27, 2025 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. WPP PLC (NYSE:WPP) achieved a stronger headline operating margin of 15%, up 40 basis points year-on-year. The company made significant progress in strategic transformation, particularly with investments in WPP Open and AI. WPP PLC (NYSE:WPP) improved its operating cash flow conversion to 86%, benefiting from strong working capital management. The company reduced its year-end net debt by GBP0.8 billion, ending at GBP1.7 billion. GroupM saw an improved new business performance in the second half, with wins from Amazon and J&J. WPP PLC (NYSE:WPP) reported a like-for-like revenue decline of 1% for the full year 2024. The company faced challenging trends in China, resulting in an 80-basis point drag on performance. Q4 performance was particularly soft, impacting the full year results and taking them to the lower end of guidance. The company experienced a decline in project-based work, affecting agencies like AKQA and Landor. WPP PLC (NYSE:WPP) faced increased net finance costs of GBP280 million due to higher interest rates. Q: Why is WPP not guiding for an improvement in organic growth for 2025 despite better account wins in 2024? A: Joanne Wilson, CFO, explained that the guidance range of flat to minus 2% reflects caution due to macroeconomic uncertainties and the impact of net new business. The first half of 2025 will see the runoff of historical client losses before recent wins ramp up. The macro environment remains challenging, particularly affecting project-based and discretionary spending. Q: How will WPP deliver flat margins with negative growth, and will staff incentives remain low? A: Joanne Wilson stated that despite softer top-line performance, WPP aims to maintain flat margins through structural cost savings and disciplined cost management. Staff incentives were held flat as a percentage of net sales in 2024, and the company will continue to focus on efficiencies to fund investments in AI and data. Q: Does WPP need to acquire a data set like its competitors have done? A: Brian Lesser, GroupM CEO, emphasized that WPP is focused on moving from ID to AI, leveraging predictive models using disparate data sources rather than relying solely on traditional CRM databases. The company is not currently focused on acquiring a legacy database but is open to acquisitions that enhance its modeling capabilities. Q: What were the main drags on WPP's performance in 2024, and how did they impact like-for-like growth? A: Joanne Wilson highlighted three main factors: net new business and client losses, particularly a healthcare client assignment, which had a 1% impact; an 80-basis point drag from China; and an 80-basis point drag from project-based spend. These factors collectively contributed to a 250-basis point drag on 2024 performance. Q: What is the rationale behind the increased investment in AI, and how is it expected to impact WPP's business? A: Mark Read, CEO, explained that the increased investment in AI is driven by its potential to enhance client conversations and business growth. The investment is balanced between OpEx and CapEx, and it aims to leverage AI to transform marketing processes, improve efficiency, and drive new business success. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
