In the Summer of 2020, I was sitting with a friend discussing diversity in the Media and Advertising industry. My friend was relaying a story about a prior work environment that was discriminatory toward non-whites. As I tried to think about the root cause for the lack of diversity, I began to realize the lack of exposure Black college students and recent graduates have to our industry. I thought about how the current digital advertising training curriculum I teach can help solve this problem - I could provide this training for free to Black college students and recent grads and connect them with companies in the advertising and media industry looking to hire. Out of this brainstorm, the idea was born.
A quick search for First Black Marketing Executive yielded results about a man named Edward Boyd, a Pepsi-Cola employee in the mid 20th century. Boyd’s innovative programs were developed during the 1950s and 1960s when marketers largely ignored the Black community. Boyd helped Pepsi develop the concept of niche marketing, which helped steal significant market share from Coca-Cola. You can read more about his life here.
To date, hundreds of students have completed the program and many have received job offers from sponsors. My goal for this program is over the next ten years to help at least 1,000 young Black professionals get jobs in our industry. Help me reach that goal by signing up to take the course, partner with us, or mentor a student.
