Interpublic Sponsors New York Urban League Empowerment Days
High School Students Provided with Mentoring and Shadowing Opportunities
New York, NY - March 25, 2013 - As part of its continuing effort to increase diversty in the marketing communications industry, Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG) sponsored the New York Urban League (NYUL) Empowerment Days for the third year in a row.
The New York Urban League Empowerment Days are designed to help New York City youth thrive by partnering them with professionals in various industries. As part of IPG's sponsorship of this initiative, the company's Black Employee Network (BEN), one of several business resources groups at Interpublic, and Draftfcb, one of IPG's global creative agencies, hosted the New York Urban League Young Men's Empowerment Day. Professional men and women from across IPG agencies met with the students, sharing stories about their education and career paths. In addition to presentations from IPG and Draftfcb, the students were given tours of the IPG Media Lab and Pipeline PS, Draftfcb's production agency.
Earlier this month, IPG's Diversity + Inclusion group and its Women's Leadership Network (WLN) hosted the New York Urban League's Girls Empowerment Day, designed to engage young women in conversations about careers and opportunities after high school. Activities for Girls Empowerment Day included an agency tour at the New York headquarters of IPG's McCann Erickson and a speed mentoring session with professional women from across IPG agencies.
"We are pleased to once again sponsor the New York Urban League's Empowerment Days for girls and young men," commented Heide Gardner, Senior Vice President, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, IPG. "A diverse workforce is key to our continued success. Programs like this one - that focus on young people who may know little or nothing about our industry - are especially critical to increasing diversity in our ranks."
The high school boys visiting Draftfcb and the girls who visited McCann earlier this month are part of a group of more than 300 New York City high school students who are participating in the NYUL's Empowerment Days. Along with the groups visiting IPG and its agencies, high schoolers accompanied and shadowed New York professionals at a wide range of employers in industries including media, marketing and advertising and professional sports.
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About The New York Urban League
The New York Urban League (NYUL) The New York Urban League was founded by a group of prominent New Yorkers concerned with the poor state of blacks migrating to New York City from the south. From its inception it provided employment and connections for migrating blacks bridging the adjustment from the agricultural/rural life to the industrial urban center. Each decade following, "The League" provided critical services such as emergency aid for the unemployed during the Great Depression; formed the Committee for Interracial Voluntary Hospitals to provide care and work in local hospitals; negotiated the opening of employment for blacks in the airline, brewing, and baking industries; created "Street Academies" which became a national model for high school students; published the first State of Black New York report; and created its signature events including Frederick Douglass Dinner, Whitney M. Young Jr. Classic, and Champion of Diversity Breakfast among many other milestones.
About Interpublic
Interpublic is one of the world's leading organizations of advertising agencies and marketing services companies. Major global brands include Draftfcb, FutureBrand, GolinHarris International, Huge, Initiative, Jack Morton Worldwide, Lowe and Partners, MAGNA GLOBAL, McCann, Momentum, MRM, Octagon, R/GA, UM and Weber Shandwick. Leading domestic brands include Campbell Ewald; Campbell Mithun; Carmichael Lynch; Deutsch, a Lowe and Partners Company; Gotham Inc.; Hill Holliday; ID Media; Mullen and The Martin Agency. For more information, please visit www.interpublic.com.
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Contact Information
Jemma Gould
(212) 704-1327
