BeBe Winans To Serve As BMI Consultant

BeBe Winans.

Longtime BMI-affiliated songwriter and Gospel music legend BeBe Winans will serve as a consultant and personal advisor to BMI President/CEO Mike O’Neill. According to a statement from BMI, Winans will “lend his guidance and perspective to help the company navigate these changing times and continue BMI’s efforts to be a more diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace.”

Winans has earned success both for his musical work with his sister CeCe Winans, and as a solo artist. He has earned six Grammys, 10 Dove Awards, six Stellar Awards, four NAACP Awards and more. He has served as an executive producer for the OWN series Greenleaf, hosted his own radio show on SiriusXM, and has been an actor and author. He shared his life story in the musical Born For This, and released an autobiography by the same name last year. Most recently, Winans released the single “Black Lives Matter,” offering a look at the Black Lives Matter movement and lending his voice to a call for understanding and empathy.

Winans said, “I’m proud to be a partner and guide for BMI and Mike O’Neill as President and CEO at this pivotal moment in our country and our industry. I know BMI is committed to doing the hard work that’s needed and has already taken important steps to drive change, and I’m excited to take this on to advance their progress. I also know Mike as a business leader, and more importantly, I know him as a friend, and I very much look forward to being a partner to him on this moving forward.”

O’Neill added, “I’m very grateful to BeBe for his support, and I know he will be integral in helping BMI continue our efforts to be more diverse and inclusive as a company. Not only is he one of the most inspirational, influential and dynamic songwriter/artists of our time, but importantly, BeBe also brings a wealth of experience and perspective. His wise counsel will be essential to us as BMI continues charting our course forward. I appreciate that BeBe believes in BMI, the mission of our company, and the core foundation of who we are. I will rely on him tremendously as an invaluable resource.”

BMI is also in the process of hiring a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Social Responsibility Officer to examine the company’s hiring, recruiting and training practices. The company has also developed an internal Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force as well as Affinity Resource groups, and has established a paid time-off volunteer policy where team members can volunteer at a local, community-based organization promoting diversity, championing social and racial justice, serving underserved communities, and protecting voting rights.