Gabrielle Union is launching a content series with LinkedIn that will focus on uplifting Black and other underrepresented entrepreneurs through the exploration of topics like gender equity and mental health in the workplace.
The three-month series, called Getting Real With Gabrielle Union, will include videos and posts on Union’s LinkedIn profile, with the first intro post released on Tuesday and the first video arriving in early March. The series is part of LinkedIn’s ongoing #IAmProfessional campaign, which seeks to reevaluate what the word “professional” means in a modern context.
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Union says she got involved with the project at the beginning of the year and felt that the mission aligned with her own businesses, which are focused on “expanding and amplifying” the Black and brown communities. “I hope the takeaway is that a successful career isn’t built around how your hair is styled, or if you have an accent, or if there’s tattoos, or if you need different working hours to put your family first,” Union says. “There is not one way to be ‘professional.'”
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With LinkedIn, Union says there’s an opportunity to better reach executives and other people in positions of power. “We’re all here in the same space on LinkedIn. Fifty-seven million companies are represented on LinkedIn, and there’s over 8 million C-level executives alone on the platform,” Union says. “Those gatekeepers, the people who are in charge of hiring and firing, they’re on here too, so they’re going to be getting this message loud and clear.”
The content series also arrives as LinkedIn has begun focusing more on creators on the platform. Last September, LinkedIn launched a $25 million fund to support 100 U.S.-based creators with $15,000 grants, networking support and other coaching.
