5422: The New Initiative.

Stuart Elliott of The New York Times reported on the alleged “major new initiative that will specifically address the dearth of African-American executives” that 4As President-CEO Nancy Hill alluded to earlier at the 4As Leadership Conference. Here’s the big whoop dee damn doo (immediately followed by a MultiCultClassics comment):

INCLUDING INCLUSION A last-minute addition to the agenda of the conference was an announcement of a partnership between the sponsor association and Howard University in Washington to address a persistent problem for advertising agencies: attracting and keeping a more diverse staff of middle and senior managers.

The Four A’s has committed $250,000 to begin the founding of a Center for Excellence in Advertising at the John H. Johnson School of Communications at Howard, a historically black college, which will seek an additional $750,000 a year to support the center.

“It’s not enough to say diversity is important,” said Jannette L. Dates, dean of the Johnson School, who addressed a general session of the conference. “It must be a part of the business goals of the advertising industry.”

On the one hand, any diversity effort from Madison Avenue is a sign of progress. But throwing money at the problems seems like an easy out that separates leaders from active involvement. And the “new idea” was apparently hatched by previous 4As President-CEO O. Burtch Drake. Then again, it would be cool if the agencies that fail to live up to the pact signed with New York City’s Commission on Human Rights were forced to forward their fines directly to the initiative—plus even prepare and deliver a seminar at the university. Read more about it here.