It can be said that the power of the ocean comes from its ability to create waves. Indeed, WAVIT (Women in AV and IT Technology), launched in March 2023, has certainly made waves in the audiovisual (AV) industry where it emerged as a platform focused on empowering women and other minorities in the AV sphere. WAVIT has since made successful strides in its efforts to support women through various initiatives and partnerships that champion education, representation and inclusion.
On the heels of its first anniversary, WAVIT members — Brandy Alvarado-Miranda, Gina Sansivero and Carrie Garcia — sit down with Commercial Integrator to reflect on the trials and triumphs of WAVIT in the last year. Alongside this, they also map out the trajectory of the organization in its forthcoming efforts of creating bigger ripples in the AV industry.
Successful Sailing: A Look Back on Biggest Achievements
According to Gina Sansivero, VP of marketing and corporate Communications, AtlasIED, and founder/president of WAVIT, the biggest achievement of the organization was the launch of the platform. “The seemingly simple act of launching actually took months and hours of preparation,” she reveals. “We spent a year behind the scenes setting up the organization and working through prioritizing action.” However, that was only the beginning stage of the organization. Sansivero further reveals that following the launch, the organization had to find strategies to leverage members as volunteers in order to keep the momentum toward the goals of WAVIT. She remarks, “[We realized that] we had to ask for the support to keep the organization moving at a quicker pace.”
Photo courtesy: Emerald.
Once the organization had rallied enough support, the level of engagement and volunteers started rising rapidly. As Carrie Garcia, board member of WAVIT, attests, the organization has increased exponentially. “I was nominated to the board in Q4, and I’m both honored and humbled in knowing we are serving the community by embracing and promoting diversity on the board…” she remarks. In Garcia’s opinion, the biggest achievement for the board was to be as diverse as the community that it seeks to serve in the AV industry.
Building Mentorship Programs
For Brandy Alvarado-Miranda, CEO of BAM! Marketing & PR, and founder/director of WAVIT, another major accomplishment of the organization was the launch of the music internship program in partnership with American Music & Sound (AMS). “This program and initiative are so important to our industry,” she begins. “It combined our outreach to grow our talent pool in AV with a mentorship program to guide and retain talent, along with a networking component to grow the community.” In essence, the music internship program sought to cultivate a more diverse workforce by offering opportunities to the younger generation that would have otherwise been inaccessible. As Garcia points out, the goal was to bring in “…a heightened awareness amongst the younger generation and empower and mentor them as they join the IT/AV forces.”
Charting the Next Course
Photo courtesy: Emerald.
According to all three interviewees, the path forward is indeed an encouraging and exciting one. Alvarado-Miranda reveals, “We will continue rolling out our mentorship program to our members as well as our Ripple Effect job board opportunities for career development.” Sansivero chimes in, noting that the new mentorship programs provide a “…way to keep our young, new, and veteran members supported, engaged, and growing within the industry.” Besides this, WAVIT has also set goals to start programs for safety, wellness and more enriching programming and events. Here, Alvarado-Miranda underscores that these elements are driven especially by volunteers and members who wish to empower, educate and elevate themselves as well others at a personal and professional level.
She remarks, “Through these events and programs, we want to meet and connect with our sponsors/partners, and truly engage with the community.” In particular, Garcia expresses her enthusiasm for collaborating with industry giants on bringing in more women in the AV/IT space. She thus proclaims, “The future of mobility is female!”
Alongside these events, WAVIT aims to spotlight their many efforts by attending prominent tradeshows such as cavlo, HETMA and other events. “We [wish] to make ripples [at these events],” Alvarado-Miranda explains. “And by that, we mean enriching and empowering the community with programming tailored to their needs.” Echoing a similar train of thought, Sansivero adds, “To increase our presence and credibility, we must ensure that we are deliberate in visually representing the diversity we need in the industry.”
In essence, through various strategic partnerships, WAVIT has laid a solid foundation for the future of women and other communities in the AV realm.
Concluding Thoughts
Photo courtesy: Emerald.
Undoubtedly, WAVIT’s foundations of empowerment, education, and outreach have translated into a number of committees to strategically move forward the different goals of the organization. “We have committee chairs that are committed to ensuring that their groups meet regularly and the outcomes are in line with the organizational goals,” Sansivero emphasizes. Moreover, she proposes that as the organization continues to grow, the committees need more volunteers and organizations who will work together to support ‘Intentional Action.’
In Sansivero’s opinion, no one person nor one organization can bear the burden of driving change in the AV industry. She thus concludes that to truly make a difference in the lives of women and other minorities, all must come together and do their part in making new ripples in order to create a wave of change.
