10234: TORCH Is White Hot.

Adweek presented a slideshow of photos from the TORCH Charity Poker Tournament held last month. To clarify for the uninformed, TORCH is another philanthropic enterprise designed to steer underserved minority youth towards careers in communications and the arts. Here’s some standard hype from the organization’s website:

Since 1999, The TORCH Program has been dedicated to transforming the lives of underserved New York City public high school students by providing intensive exposure to career training and opportunities in communications and the arts, all while facilitating a meaningful way of increasing the diversity of the workforce in those industries. TORCH helps fill the void by providing students the opportunity to participate in meaningful after school activities where they are able to explore career options and interests, define career goals, and gain actual on the job training in communications and the arts, all under the guidance of professional mentors. Ultimately, students are provided with the tools to formulate and pursue career and educational goals.

Can’t help but think the event seemed awfully White—were any underserved kids invited to mingle and gamble with the over-served elite? Honestly, couldn’t someone have come up with a more culturally inclusive concept than poker night? Maybe a bid whist competition?

9464: Seeking Advertising Talent In China.

Advertising Age reported on the apparent dearth of qualified advertising talent in China. WPP is responding with the launch of a 3-year college program designed to create a fresh crop of skilled Chinese adpeople. Gee, what an original idea. Perhaps students will be inspired to write a thesis on the classic Calgon commercial. BTW, is WPP also scouring the low-income sections of Shanghai for prospective employees? The holding company should integrate a student exchange program with Howard University. Maybe The One Club will stage a “Where Are All The Chinese People?” event. Or TORCH could introduce TORCHINA—Together Our Resources Can Help In Nations Abroad. Expect the 4As to jump on the bandwagon with a new MAIP—Mandarin Advertising Intern Program. Meanwhile, look for Tiffany R. Warren to hand an ADCOLOR® Award to Jackie Chan. And somebody better bring in a Chinese interpreter to translate when Dan Wieden declares, “Now that’s fucked up!”

9423: Diversity PR From PR Firm.

Adweek presents diversity PR from PR agency Porter Novelli.

Porter Novelli’s Diversity Imperative

By Janet Stilson

Because mainstream marketing demands relevancy and originality, PR agency Porter Novelli has been amplifying its diversity and inclusion efforts with a clear understanding that it’s not only about diversity of race, ethnicity or gender, but also diversity of ideas and experience.

While many companies consider diversity a responsibility of HR, Porter Novelli’s efforts are driven by executives involved in the company’s business strategy and bottom line. With Anthony Viceroy, the company’s global president and CFO, as a key champion, the company has implemented more organized initiatives to strengthen its internal workforce and interest people from a variety of backgrounds in entering the PR field.

This is not just a feel-good effort. It’s about building the business and doing the job more effectively. “For us to truly make an impact and influence the audiences most important to our clients, it’s critical for our staff to be representative of the marketplace at large,” says Viceroy. “We have to have the right people in place to accomplish that—whether through their ethnicity or background or experience.”

According to Sonia Sroka, SVP, director of Hispanic marketing and national chairperson of Porter Novelli’s National Diversity Council, “Diversity can’t be about filling quotas; it must be about making sure all staff members feel like their work and ideas really count. To that end, Porter Novelli created the National Diversity Council comprising a dozen of the firm’s leaders. The council is supported by seven local chapters in the agency’s U.S. offices, with about 50 mid-management and junior staff members who are considered “ambassadors” or “change agents,” Sroka says. “They’re responsible for taking our overarching strategy and localizing it. That gives them the opportunity to exercise leadership skills that they can bring back to their accounts, to their work.”

Efforts targeting minority students at both the high school and college levels are a key component of the initiative. “Minorities are less likely to go into marketing, public relations and advertising careers, because often they aren’t even aware that they exist,” says Sroka. “No one has exposed them to it.” Via partnerships with a range of student organizations and universities, Porter Novelli has had an impact on about 300 students nationwide.

For example, Porter Novelli has become very active with the New York organization TORCH (Together Our Resources Can Help), which focuses on under-served high school students. While TORCH had for many years offered students exposure to advertising and marketing coursework, Porter Novelli introduced a comprehensive public relations track to the curriculum. Every school year, Porter Novelli’s team prepares a PR program of study for about 15 to 20 TORCH students. They attend a class at the agency for several weeks and engage in other activities, like shadowing staff members in order to learn about different disciplines within public relations.

Similarly, the agency has helped create a PR educational track for multicultural Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn. That track is part of a larger initiative that Porter Novelli’s parent, Omnicom, has made to create opportunities for students at Medgar Evers.

All the effort is starting to pay off. There have been awards and honors, certainly. But more importantly, the students Porter Novelli has nurtured are entering the workforce and helping to build out a diverse communications industry. ”That’s the real benefit of all of these programs,” says Sroka proudly.