NEW YORK, NY – The ADCOLOR Industry Coalition announced the recipients of the 2009 ADCOLOR Awards, a program that honors outstanding diverse professionals at the junior, mid and senior-levels within the advertising, marketing and media industries. Hispanic media mogul Cristina Saralegui will be given the All-Star Award, while CNN anchor and special correspondent, Soledad O’Brien will host the ADCOLOR Awards show on Sunday, October 4 at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa in Phoenix. The show will kick-off the 11th Annual Association of National Advertisers’ Multicultural Marketing & Diversity Conference.
The final 20 honorees are from notable companies such as Procter & Gamble, the Walt Disney Company, Publicis, Saatchi & Saatchi, BBDO, Digitas, TBWA/Chiat Day and many others. 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 role models for others and their strong professional character and leadership. The seven specific categories of recognition are – Rising Star, Change Agent, Innovator, Legend, All-Star and MVP (Most Valuable Partnership). Additionally, this year, ADCOLOR has partnered with advertising non-profit, The One Club, to present the new “One Club|ADCOLOR Creative Award”.
The 2009 ADCOLOR Awards Honorees are as follows:
— Cristina Saralegui, The Cristina Show, Univision
2009 ADCOLOR MVP (Most Valuable Partnership) Award
— MS & L Worldwide
— Egami Consulting Group
The One Club|ADCOLOR Creative Award
— Jimmy Smith, Group Creative Director, TBWA\Chiat Day LA
Honorable Mention: Feh Tarty, Creative Director, Wieden + Kennedy – London
2009 ADCOLOR Legend Awards presented by Omnicom Group
— Ernest Bromley, Chief Executive Officer, Bromley Communications LLC
— Gilbert Davila, Vice President, Global Diversity and Multicultural
Market Development, The Walt Disney Company
— Monica Gadsby, CEO, SMG Multicultural
— Sheldon Levy, EVP, Deputy Director of Production, Saatchi & Saatchi
2009 ADCOLOR Change Agent Awards presented by The Home Depot
— Karla Gray-Mayers, Vice President, Director of Supplier Diversity, BBDO New York
— The Procter & Gamble Company & Edgar Sandoval, General Manager, North America Marketing & Multicultural, The Procter & Gamble Company
— Michele Thornton, Director, Multi-Cultural Sales, CNN (Turner Broadcasting)
— Antoinette Zel, President, La Comunidad
Honorable Mention: Toni Thompson, Multicultural Program Developer & Recruiter, McCann Erickson
2009 ADCOLOR Innovator Awards presented by Microsoft Advertising
— Eduardo Dehesa-Conde, SVP, Group Creative Director, Draftfcb Chicago
— Grace Hon, SVP, Group Managing Director, Worldgroup Retail, Inc. (a division of McCann Worldgroup)
— Maria Lopez-Knowles, SVP, Group Account Director, MRM Worldwide
Honorable Mention: Kevin Walker & Philip Moore, CultureLab
2009 ADCOLOR Rising Star Awards presented by Google
— LaTanya Beauregard, Art Director, Yellow Shoes Creative Group – The Walt Disney Company
— Joydeep Dey, Manager, Strategy & Analysis, Digitas
— Christian Jackson, Copywriter, Arnold
— Phil Jackson, Strategist, Publicis
Honorable Mention: Jose Fernandez, Media Supervisor, Deutsch
“This year’s class of honorees not only represent remarkable and unique examples of leadership but the power of reaching back as one rises up,” said Tiffany R. Warren, Chief Diversity Officer, Omnicom Group and founder of ADCOLOR . “We are extremely thrilled about being able to acknowledge them and continue to build momentum in the movement to shine a light on success for others to follow.”
Many consumer and industry forces have banded together to bring The 2009 ADCOLOR Awards to life.
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.