FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Most Promising Multicultural Students Class Announced for 2020

Senior advertising leaders gathered in Washington, DC to select 50 of the nation’s most promising undergraduate seniors for one of the industry’s premier D&I programs.


WASHINGTON, DC, November 20, 2019—The American Advertising Federation (AAF) hosted leading industry professionals in Washington, DC to select the class of 2020’s Most Promising Multicultural Students. This year’s judging panel included representatives from Adobe, Octagon, Pandora, Spotify, Target, The Richards Group, and VidMob, including two Most Promising alumni.

Approaching its 24th year, the Most Promising Multicultural Student program is part of the AAF’s Mosaic Center initiative to promote diversity and inclusion within the industry. Advertising, media, communications, and technology companies have the opportunity to tap into 50 of the most high-potential advertising talent throughout the country. Each year, multicultural students from the AAF’s 160+ college chapters apply for the program, with this year’s applicant pool being one of the largest. Those selected will participate in a four-day industry immersion program that includes professional development workshops, site visits, Building Bridges to our Future awards luncheon and Recruiter’s Expo. 

Leading agencies and companies, including 72andSunny, Apple, FCB, Google, IPG, McCann, Omnicom Group, Publicis Groupe, Wieden+Kennedy and more consider Most Promising to be an incredibly valuable resource in recruiting entry level talent. 

"The Most Promising class of students is selected from multicultural talent that reflects the diversity of demographics, experience and mindset of America. The 2020 class is comprised of exceptional talent across various disciplines who will lend their creativity and voices to inspire a more inclusive workforce,” says the AAF’s COO, Constance Cannon Frazier.

Students from AAF’s college chapter network were vetted and selected through a rigorous application process that included essays, letters of recommendation, résumé/portfolio submission and specific academic requirements. With an average GPA of 3.6, this year’s class represents 29 schools and 19 states across the country, including California, Georgia, Florida, Illinois, New York, and Texas.


2020 Most Promising Multicultural Students Class 

Julia Acevedo-Sideri
Ithaca College

Ethan Aliste
University of Oregon

Jeewon Bae
The University of Alabama at Birmingham

Sela Betz
University of Richmond

Victoria Castillo
University of Houston

Kimberly Chungong
University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Joelle Dunkley
University of Miami

Natalie Ferguson
University of Georgia

Jordan Graham
Washington State University

Kayla Griffis
Southern Methodist University

Amanda Guy
Marist College

Jordan Harrison
University of Florida

Celine Haynes
University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Jayda Hill
University of Georgia

Erica Howie
The University of Alabama

Hamy Huynh
University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Tyler Jones
University of Missouri

Lauren Jorges
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Caleb Jourden
The University of Oklahoma

Christian Kenoly
The University of Texas at Austin

Andie Kotani
University of Oregon

Michelle Lam
The University of Texas at Austin

Divneet Lamba
University of South Carolina

Mingyo Lee
The University of Texas at Austin

Tiffany Leung
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Enoch Lui
Brigham Young University

Nicole Mendez
Florida State University

Hitomi Nakamura
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Nam Nguyen
Washington State University

Jessica Ocampo
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Alexa Padron
University of Florida

Zaria Parvez
University of Oregon

Casey Paxman
The University of Texas at Austin

Ashley Poelman
Brigham Young University

Stephania Quintero
Ithaca College

Catrin Reyes
Columbia College Chicago

Teya Ridgeway
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Amy Rivera
Texas State University

Yessica Rodriguez
Texas State University

Madison Sheeren
The Pennsylvania State University

Jessica Smith
University of Florida

Adrianna Talavera
University of Missouri-Columbia

Jessica Tarin
New Mexico State University

Grace Ubben
University of Florida

Maria Vasquez
Florida State University

Sofia Vela
Chaminade University of Honolulu

Gabrielle Waller
University of Alabama

KaLyn Williams
University of Memphis

Ingrid Wu
The University of Florida

Devon Yousif
Grand Valley State University

For over two decades, the AAF has offered a myriad of programming that promotes and advances multiculturalism within the advertising industry, including the Mosaic Awards, Mosaic Career Fair & Conference and AdCamp. 

For more information about the AAF’s diversity programs, please contact Melony Hughes at [email protected].

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