MAKERS 2021 Kickoff Event - Dyllan McGee

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MAKERS 2021 Kickoff Event - Dyllan McGee

Video Transcript

DYLLAN MCGEE: Hi, everyone. And welcome to the 2021 MAKERS kick-off. Wahoo! Oh my god, it is so bizarre to be doing this in my family room in Westchester. But you know what? We are going to keep it real today, people. So if you want real, I'm going to give you the real Dyllan McGee. The real Dyllan McGee does not hang out in sporting jerseys. No, the real Dyllan McGee wears Lululemon all day, all the time.

Let's face it, Lululemon could probably be considered the unofficial sponsor of the 2021 home quarantine. They also happen to be our MAKERS wellness sponsor this year. And we are grateful for all their strategic and gluteal support.

All right, so this time last year, we were in Los Angeles launching the MAKERS Conference. And we were all together. And I think for so many of us, it was the last time we were together at a live event together. So I was worried that I was going to get lonely today. So I decided to invite some friends and amazingly, they were all available, jumped right in, you know, people like Shonda Rhimes, number one show on Netflix ever, highest paid showrunner in Hollywood, period, yeah, she said yes. So then I was like, well, we got to invite Amanda Gorman. You know, and she said, yeah, just finished, you know, being the first poet in the Super Bowl ever. Yeah, I'd love to join. So she said yes.

So then I kind of felt like I was on a roll. So I thought we had this really great girl gang going. So I thought, why not invite one of the leaders of the feminist movement, Gloria Steinem? She said yes. So then I thought I was really on a roll and I thought I should go for gold. So, you know, MAKERS is all about firsts. So, yeah, I invited Madam Vice President Kamala Harris. She said yes.

So then finally, you know, because we always like to include men, welcome MAKERS men, got to invite Regé-Jean just because. So he came.

All right, I promised you we were going to keep it real. So the reality is we are so excited that all of you are here. And welcome to the MAKERS community. You all represent brands that believe in making the world a better place. And you, if you're here, it's because you are a changemaker and you believe in the MAKERS mission to accelerate progress. So this year, we are going to accelerate progress together, yes, we are.

So at the MAKERS Conference last year, Ella Bell, who you just met, and I stood up at the end of the stage with our hands held high and we said, we are not done-- theme from last year-- now go into the world and make some change. And then, the world changed on us. And in fact, we couldn't even go out into the world. I don't know about you, but I had a whole new appreciation for Procter and Gamble when I realized that it was going to cost me $100 on the black market to get one roll of Charmin or Bounty.

So we're grateful to you, as always, P&G for being a MAKERS sponsor and for being a force for good. You keep us going in so many ways. And speaking of keep going, you know, we did. We just, we all adapted and we got down to business.

And our MAKERS ad board really got down to business. In April, we started meeting weekly, weekly. We shared how our companies were dealing with the pandemic. We got vulnerable about how we were all feeling about the pandemic within a pandemic. And we decided we wanted to learn more. And we read a book together and we brought in speakers. And we created a game-changing initiative that we are going to introduce to you today that we are all very proud of.

So our bonds became deep in our commitment to change even stronger. And we had a little fun. Take a look.

[SNAPPING]

- (SINGING) I'm every woman. It's all in me.

DYLLAN MCGEE: So that group of silly women realized that even in the face of such hardship, we had to keep going. And I know that that's a lot to ask, especially for women of color, trans women, allies who are not new to the urgency of this fight. But here's the deal, MAKERS is going to motivate you this year to keep going. No matter where you go, no matter how you get there, we're going with you.

And I know we're all so sick of virtual gatherings and even a Zoom cocktail party is getting old. But you have our commitment that we will make this as engaging, as thought-provoking, as inspiring as we can. So today, we simply want to welcome you. Over the next hour, you're going to get a sense of the year ahead. You're going to meet the MAKERS family. You're going to hear from some of our favorite MAKERS speakers and even get a little dose of a first.

So in the interest of keep going, I'm going to pass the baton off to our next speaker. This woman kicks us off at all of our events and gives us a sense of the State of the Union for women so we know the work we have ahead. She is energetic. She's funny. She's brilliant. She is loyal. She is short-- highest form of a compliment, by the way. And she is, put your hands together and make her feel it through your screens, the one and only Joanna Barsh.