Nancy Fletcher says the industry is embracing gender inclusion as good policy and good business.

Fletcher, president and CEO of OAAA, made these points on May 21 in an interview with Shelley Zalis, CEO, The Female Quotient, at the industry’s national conference in Las Vegas:

• The industry is making progress.“When I joined the industry in 1978, there were four senior women executives in the out of home industry, nationwide,” Fletcher said. “Now there are 400.”
• Top-down, the OOH industry is pushing to expand women’s leadership roles, acknowledging the need for more progress.
• In the marketplace, women drive buying decisions. Advertisers who ignore, misread, or offend women are not serving their clients.

Fletcher (left) with Shelley Zalis in the FQ Lounge at the 2019 OOH Media Conference + Expo

“Women are leading influencers of most sales in the non-business-to-business setting,” said Fletcher, pointing to car purchases, health-care decisions, and housing.

• Those who want to succeed — women and men — should learn how to do something well.

“Here’s what I tell my daughter, my step-daughter, my two daughters-in-law, and what I will tell my six granddaughters when they get older: the key to success in your profession is being really good at something. Therefore, education, learning your craft, and role models are all important,” Fletcher said.

Since 1991, Fletcher has led the OOH trade association; she plans to retire at the end of 2019.

The Fletcher family has endowed a fund to award a $5,000 annual college scholarship to support future women leaders. The scholarship is administered by the industry’s foundation.

The first Nancy Fletcher Leadership Scholarship will be awarded later this year.