Cultural impact agency Black Menswear is joining Pixability, YouTube, and Whalar‘s Inclusive Media Initiative.
The Inclusive Media Initiative launched in October, and Black Menswear (which is known for putting on viral flashmobs) is its “first official creator partner that is focused on specifically empowering black creators and, in turn, remedying the pay gap across different creator constituent groups,” Pixability says.
The initiative formed a database where content creators can sign up and self-disclose things like their race, gender, sexuality, and disabilities. Brands can then search the database for creators to work with. Influencer marketing firm Whalar and YouTube are also official partners on the initiative, and it’s the first time YouTube is offering a path for creators to directly tell brands who they are in this particular way.
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(To be clear, YouTube does let creators give it information about their race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality on its own creator/brand matchup marketplace, but it doesn’t forward those self-IDs to brands.)
“We’re passionate about enabling revenue for YouTube creators of different backgrounds who produce impactful content. We believe these creators should have the power to decide with which communities they align,” David George, Pixability’s CEO, said in a statement. “We are thrilled that Black Menswear has joined our initiative so brands can better support black creators and know that their ad dollars are invested in the community they want to support.”
Evan Marshall, Chief Outreach Officer at Black Menswear, added, “Black Menswear’s mission is to empower black influencers and to ensure they are fairly compensated, and not just in the form of discounts or product offers. We are fully aligned with the mission of the Inclusive Media Initiative and know it will help the talented YouTube creators we work with to access the opportunities they deserve.”
Pixability and Black Menswear point out that according to recent research from MSL U.S. and The Influencer League, the pay gap between white and BIPOC content creators is 29%, “and it widens to 35% when focused specifically on the gap between white and black influencers.”
Since the Inclusive Media Initiative’s launch, Pixability has seen “escalating demand from the advertising community to support black creators and under underrepresented communities,” it says. One creator who’s been supported through the initiative is Jaleesa Jaikaran, a beauty YouTuber with 66,000 subscribers.
“I’m thrilled to join other creators across the world who are speaking up about who they are and what communities they’re a part of,” Jaikaran said in a statement. “I joined the Inclusive Media Initiative because I knew there were big brands who wanted to support our community but had no easy way to find us–and now they can.”
Creators interested in the initiative can join it through Pixability here.
