 Sports and culture have had strong intersections over the course of this year in very powerful ways for Black America. Turner Sports is going to have another dynamic chapter to that story this fall with a special golf tournament that's gonna involve some high power celebrities playing in benefit to some historically Black colleges, universities, some great institutions throughout the country. To talk with us about that is the lead on that initiative. Ms. Tara August, she's the Senior Vice President of Talent Relations and Special Projects for Turner Sports. Ms. August, we really appreciate your time today. I'm so happy to be here talking about those things also. Tell us more about this golf tournament. So this is big names in golf and basketball, people who are familiar to the Turner Sports family and the Turner Sports audience. Tell us a little bit about this tournament and how it was kind of developed to be in benefits to HBCUs. So we're doing the match champions for change. People may be familiar with the match which we've done now. This is our third installation. In the past, we raised money for COVID relief. This is our third time and we said, really the time of year is the day after Thanksgiving and also recognizing everything that our country has been through and us as society have been through. We just thought it's really time to focus on raising some awareness and some feel good around societal issues which include racial injustices and inequality. So we're focusing this time on raising awareness and efforts for HBCUs. And I couldn't be more proud that we really have gotten the biggest names in sports, huge sponsors, huge media platforms to rally around this and support schools with money, putting our money where our mouth is, but also with awareness so we can educate the golf audience about HBCUs and the amazing institutions that they are and also with opportunity because we really didn't just wanna write checks. We wanted to make sure that we're educating and informing people but then also we're providing opportunities to HBCU students. So we're very excited about how it's all coming together and it's been really just a celebration of great institutions that have been around for a long time. So obviously this is a golf match to entertain fans of multiple sports but the philanthropic goals for it have a chance to introduce some fans to HBCUs for the first time. So why was it important to highlight the philanthropic efforts behind the match and how did HBCUs really become the focus of the efforts? Especially because you've had two brothers who have had ties to HBCUs, Charles Barkley and Steph Curry, both benefacted just this year of black colleges. So, like I said before, we've previously focused on COVID relief and raised millions of dollars. This time we thought it was really time to focus on some other important messaging. The golf community is a diverse one. We obviously know that parody and golf is something that could be improved. So HBCUs became a focus really from a brainstorm internally and as soon as someone said, hey, how about HBCUs? Everybody rallied behind it internally, including all of the players that are playing, Phil Mickelson, Charles Barkley, Steph and Curry and Peyton Manning, as you said. Two of them have already had great connections with HBCUs and the other guys have been familiar but really rallied behind supporting them in this way. And when we decided this, we thought it would give us a really unique opportunity to educate our viewers, to inform them, to entertain them and to really incentivize them to get involved. So there's so many different layers to it so that it didn't just become an education on the air or it didn't just become writing a check. It became all of those things fused together to make a difference. And certainly when you're at home watching the day after Thanksgiving you're with your family, people are doing goodwill. I mean, we really think that this will have some special nuances that will hopefully educate and inform and entertain people around the country. So both kind of associations, the PGA and the NBA have been extremely outspoken about racial equity and restoration in recent months. But we hear a lot about how some of these efforts may have impacted ratings among fans. Has a position that these leagues and their players have taken ever factored into the kinds of promotion or exposure that Turner as a broadcasting partner conceptualizes for its products. So we listen to the fans but we also listen to what we think is right. And TNT is most famous for Inside the NBA. If you watch that show, sometimes you might go, are these guys ever gonna talk basketball if they're talking about baseball and the latest movie that they saw. They're teasing each other and they're doing all of these fun things but that's at the heart of the show. And we allow the four talent to be themselves and talk about what's on their hearts and minds. And oftentimes it's things that are the headlines in news and they may be touchy subjects and they may not always agree. We feel the same way with our other telecast. This is what's on people's hearts and minds right now is about how we can make a difference, how we can grow closer, how we can learn about each one another and what better way than sports to bring people together. So we recognize that the golf, this is gonna be different for the golf audience but we also rally behind that challenge to educate and inform them in a very entertaining way with something that some of these guys are very, very passionate about and who better to celebrate than HBCU is around Thanksgiving when we normally have bio classics and some really great cultural things happening. So we're just trying to bring that to a different audience and I think that we're gonna pull it off in a fun way. And then the final question because I know you got a really tight timeline and we appreciate your time. Turner's heartbeat is in Atlanta. Obviously one of the HBCU capitals of the world Turner has been known over the years for being really, for pushing the envelope with hiring minorities and women trying to be very progressive in that realm. What do you think that Turner does well to not only to bolster those efforts to be inclusive and diverse but then to maintain the talent that they're able to bring in to be able to have a pipeline like Miss August as a senior vice president to have young people on the air behind the camera in sales, all these other places. What do you think that's special about Turner that makes that possible? Well, there's a couple of things that I think that we do because we have a diverse pool of staff in Atlanta it's one of those things where if you can see it you can be it. So hopefully myself and my colleagues, Terri Williams, us serving in leadership roles acknowledges and tells other young women other people of color that it's possible. Turner is a place that recruits and retains talent and certainly, you know, applauds us for our hard work and allows us to climb the ladder. The other thing that we do is, you know we have really concentrated outreach we've got a great partnership with Morehouse they come in, the students come in twice a year see what jobs are available, hear from us, meet our on-camera talent and also our production staff and constantly telling people being on TV is a great job but being behind the camera is also a great opportunity and think about all of those jobs there's far more jobs behind the camera than there are in front of it. So I think that we've developed a really good pipeline especially here with local HBCUs to extend that bridge and keep it going. And the last thing I'll say about the match is again, it was about more than writing checks we are donating money, which we know helps fund journalism programs and sport programs and the golf teams are gonna benefit from it but we also wanted to provide opportunity. We allowed some of the students to interview the players and have a once in a lifetime chance to talk to Charles and to Phil and to Stefan and to Peyton to get that kind of access and opportunity. We're certainly reaching out and lending our hand and trying to educate and also be a symbol for what things could come. So it goes much further than just a one day event it goes much further than just internships it's sort of the whole picture that we try to put together to make sure that we are getting a diverse pool of candidates that are looking at our organization and once you're here helping people climb the ladder together. Terri August, vice president of talent relations and special project for Turner Sports. We thank you so much. Again, that's the match on Friday, November 27th on Turner and Bleacher Report. Make sure you check your local listings for that and be sure that if you wanna contribute to some of the schools that Phil Mickelson, Peyton Manning, Charles Barkley, Steph Curry are participating and playing in support of be sure to get online and do that. Thank you, Miss August. We appreciate your time today. Thank you.