Danny Robinson Receives 2008 ADCOLOR Innovator Award
THE ADCOLOR® INDUSTRY COALITION ANNOUNCES 2ND ANNUAL ADCOLOR® AWARDS HONOREES
Russell Simmons to be Recognized as All Star; Veronica Webb to Return as Host
(New York, NY) September 22, 2008 – Today, the ADCOLOR® Industry Coalition announced the recipients of The 2008 ADCOLOR® Awards, a program that honors outstanding diverse professionals at the junior, mid and senior levels in the advertising, marketing and media industries. Russell Simmons, Chairman & CEO of Rush Communications, will be given an All Star Award which honors individuals who encompass all of the awards categories: Legend, Change Agent, Innovator and Rising Star. Veronica Webb — supermodel, actress, writer and journalist — returns as emcee of the awards show on Sunday, November 16, 2008, which will be part of the 10th Annual ANA Multicultural Marketing Conference.
The final 21 honorees are from notable companies such as Google, Disney ESPN Media Networks, USA Today, Ogilvy, Saatchi & Saatchi, Campbell-Ewald, Carol H. Williams Advertising, DDB, Denuo and many others. Their roles span various sectors from digital marketing to brand management to creative direction.
The following individuals were selected from close to 100 nominations based on their ability to deliver strong outcomes, their contribution to their company, industry and/or community, their reputation as “best in class” by serving as a role model for others and their strong professional character and leadership. A new category, Most Valuable Partnership, was added to celebrate agencies, marketers or media companies that partner to provide innovative diversity solutions to their respective organizations and industries.
The 2008 ADCOLOR® Awards Honorees
All Star
• Russell Simmons, Chairman & CEO, Rush Communications
MVP (Most Valuable Partnership)
• Saatchi & Saatchi
• Professional Partnering Solutions Inc.
Legend
• Byron Lewis, Chairman & CEO, Uniworld Group
• Renetta McCann, Former CEO, Starcom MediaVest Group
• Rishad Tobaccowala, CEO, Denuo
• Carol H. Williams, President, CEO & Chief Creative Officer, Carol H. Williams Advertising
Change Agent
• Stacy Brown-Philpot, Director, Consumer Operations, Google, Inc.
• Vida Cornelious VP, Creative Director, DDB Worldwide
• Chad Germann, CEO, Red Circle Agency
• Tony Hill, VP, Advertising, USA TODAY
• Donna E. Pedro, Chief Diversity Officer, Ogilvy New York
Innovator
• Howard Buford, CEO & Founder, Prime Access
• Devika Bulchandani, Executive VP, Director of Strategic Planning, McCann Erickson NY
• Jd Michaels, VP, Director of PRESS, BBDO New York
• Danny Robinson, SVP, Creative Director, The Martin Agency
• Kembo Tom, Co-Founder/VP of Ideas & Innovation, GTM Inc.
Rising Star
• Catherine Auguste, Digital Media Planner, Mindshare - Team Detroit
• Desmonique Bonet, Senior Account Executive, Google, Inc.
• Keenan Ellsberry, VP, Head of Interactive Solutions, Ogilvy - Team Detroit
• Kunal Muzumdar, VP, Manager of Account Planning Campbell-Ewald
• Angel Suarez, Brand Manager, Disney ESPN Media Networks
“This year’s class of honorees represents such tremendous and inspiring examples of leadership,” said Tiffany R. Warren, Vice President, Director of Multicultural Programs and Community Outreach of Arnold Worldwide and founder of ADCOLOR. “We are extremely thrilled about being able to acknowledge them and build critical mass in the movement to shine a light for others to see.”
The 2008 ADCOLOR Awards sponsors are Arnold Worldwide, CNN, Diageo, Google Inc., Microsoft Advertising and YAHOO! Additional sponsors include: McDonald’s USA, The Home Depot, Touchpoint, WPP Group PLC, Association of National Advertisers, American Association of Advertising Agencies, American Advertising Federation, The ADVERTISING Club, Asian American Advertising Federation, BBDO, BET Networks, Euro RSCG Worldwide, McCann Worldgroup, StockShop, Media Contacts, MPG, Advertising Age, Akande, Inc., Blazing Music + Sound, Creative Printing Services, Inc., McCann Worldgroup, Pepsi-Cola North America, Red Carpet Runway, Reed Smith LLP, SoloProject, Starcom MediaVest Group, StockShop, Tribal DDB, UPTOWN Media Group, Volvo and Zoom Media & Marketing.
If you are interested in attending The 2008 ADCOLOR Awards at The Boca Raton Resort & Club in Boca Raton, FL, go to http://adcolor.org/awards/trip.html. Visit facebook.com to join the “One Million Strong for ADCOLOR!” community as well as LinkedIn.com.
About ADCOLOR®
ADCOLOR® was established in 2005 to promote increased diversity in the advertising, marketing and media industries, as well as to inspire current and future communications professionals of color by celebrating the accomplishments of diverse role models and industry leaders. Go to www.adcolor.org for more information.
About The ADCOLOR® Industry Coalition
The ADCOLOR® Industry Coalition is a historic collaboration between The ADVERTISING Club of New York (AD CLUB NY), the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), the American Advertising Federation (AAF), the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) and Arnold Worldwide. These organizations and other companies are committed to the success of the AdColor Industry Initiative.
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