Scholarships draw minorities to advertising, PR
The awards made by The LAGRANT Foundation are part of efforts to draw diverse students advertising, PR and communications work forces more diverse.
Scholarships draw minorities to advertising, PR The awards made by The LAGRANT Foundation are part of efforts to draw diverse students advertising, PR and communications work forces more diverse. Check out this story on Freep.com: http://on.freep.com/2t7Nkdp
Detroit Free Press Business Columnist Published 10:15 p.m. ET June 10, 2017 | Updated 8:11 a.m. ET June 11, 2017
Cliff Russell is photographed with Detroit Tigers owner Mike Ilitch while at Comerica Park the summer of 2004.(Photo: Detroit Tigers)
Cliff Russell once aspired to be a writer for "Sesame Street" or "Electric Company."
Russell, host of a radio show heard weekdays on WFDF-AM (910 AM), would analyze those iconic PBS shows while in college. He loved the way they incorporated information and advice in uplifting ways for kids.
He wanted to make a difference and thought being a writer for children's TV shows was his future.
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That game plan changed when he filled in for a friend on a radio show. He was hooked. He has since worked on-air jobs at WJZZ-FM (105.9), WCXI-AM (1160), CKLW-AM (800), WWJ-AM (950), WCHB-AM (1200), WQBH-FM (102.9) and now, WFDF.
He still loves impacting the community with news and comment.
Though Russell hadn't planned on adjusting his career direction some years ago, he did when Detroit Mayors Dennis Archer and Dave Bing each asked him to serve as their spokesman.
He also joined corporate America while wearing his PR hat.
"My foray into the white corporate world took place when I was at the Detroit Tigers," said Russell.
He was the first African American not just in Detroit but in all of Major League Baseball to serve as a team's top media relations executive — which he did from 2002-05.
"I give credit to Mr. Ilitch," said Russell of the late team owner Mike Ilitch who placed an emphasis on "D" as in diversity in the Tigers front office.
"Mr. I had other African Americans in leadership positions, too, including Jim Stapleton (who oversaw business operations as senior vice president of business affairs), Ellen Hill Zehringue (vice president of marketing) and Elaine Lewis (vice president of public affairs)," said Russell.
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After working in public relations for years, Russell said it was, and still remains, an industry that could do a better job of alerting young people of color to it as a career. Frankly, so, too, advertising, marketing and even journalism, he added.
"There are so many opportunities and careers that young people just don't know about," said Russell. "Anything that can help better inform them is welcomed."
Kim Hunter saw that, too, when he founded the LAGRANT Foundation, a nonprofit based in Los Angeles in 1998.
He worked for a Fortune 500 firm and after seeing the dearth of minorities, struck out on his own with LAGRANT to help increase opportunities for young people of color interested in leadership roles in advertising, marketing and public relations.
Tony Cervone, senior vice president of Global Communications at General Motors, stands with Johnny Lemar Ricks of Detroit. Ricks is a WSU student who was given a scholarship by The LAGRANT Foundation event in Detroit on May 22, 2017. The program is supported by GM and others and it is intended to help people of color interested in jobs in public relations, advertising and marketing. (Photo: The LAGRANT Foundation)
He tapped into something as it grew and he partnered with companies and executives from General Motors, Weber Shandwick and others who had an interest in creating more opportunities for young people of color in advertising, marketing and public relations.
Since 1998, the LAGRANT Foundation has awarded $2.13 million and 411 scholarships to college students. The organization also has provided mentoring, career and professional development, internships and entry-level jobs.
"The mission of TLF is to increase the number of ethnic minorities in the fields of advertising, marketing and public relations," said Hunter.
The LAGRANT Foundation recently awarded 50 more scholarships in celebration of its 19th anniversary on May 22 to students from across the nation. The event was held in Detroit, and Tony Cervone, senior vice president of global communications at GM, served as host of the event.
Twenty graduate students were awarded $3,750 scholarshipsand 30 undergrads received scholarships of $2,500.
"There are so few people of color in roles of leadership in the industry that it sends a signal they are limiting opportunities," said Hunter. "There needs to be a major shift in thinking and the approach to significantly make a difference."
The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that of 582,000 Americans employed in advertising and communications in 2014, less than half were women, 10.5% were Hispanic, 6.6% were African American and 5.7% were Asian.
Encouraging diversity isn't about altruism. It makes good sense.
"Kim (Hunter) has been involved with this issue for years," Cervone said. "He's got an incredible personal network that drives advocacy and awareness. And he's inspiring the profession and the LAGRANT alumni network to give back and make a difference." Cervone has been on the LAGRANT Foundation board for three years.
"But there's still more work to do," he added.
Cervone, who was born and raised on the east side of Detroit, has worked in PR for 33 years. He began at Chrysler and within months was working as a speech writer for Lee Iacocca.
Cervone learned much from the legendary no-nonsense, cigar-smoking CEO.
Johnny Lemar Ricks, who is from Detroit, is now learning from Cervone and other executives he's met through the LAGRANT Foundation.
Ricks was one of 50 students to receive a scholarship last month.
The 36-year-old former member of the U.S. Air Force is now a full-time student at Wayne State University and works for Dow Chemical in Midland.
"My goal is to become a high-level communications executive," said Ricks. "I am particularly interested in corporate communications. I aspire to rise to the top of a Fortune 100 company."
He is the first in his family to go to college.
"There is no one else in my family, nor extended family, that has worked in communications," Ricks added.
The scholarship money, contacts and mentoring he is receiving will undoubtedly prove invaluable.
"The communications industry provides career paths that I wish more black people were aware of and understood — especially in Detroit," Ricks said
"As doors are opened for me by people who want to see me succeed, I pride myself on doing the same for others that will follow in my footsteps," Ricks added.
(For more information: 323-469-8680 or www.lagrantfoundation.org)
Carol Cain can be reached at 313-222-6732 or clcain@cbs.com. She is senior producer/host of "Michigan Matters," which airs at 11:30 a.m. Sundays on CBS 62. Today's show was filmed during the Detroit Regional Chamber's Mackinac Policy Conference and features Gov. Rick Snyder, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and Flint Mayor Karen Weaver, John C. Carter, Tammy Carnrike, Jim Smith, Mark Davidoff, Chris Shepler and others.
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