Hartford Business Journal

18 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | October 10, 2022 Untapped Potential Greater Hartford ad agency leaders launching not-for-profit portfolio school to help diversify creative workforce By Linda Keslar Hartford Business Journal Contributor F or decades, the advertising industry has relied on traditional colleges and portfolio schools as their go-to sources for hiring creative talent like copy writers and art directors. But these pricey programs, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars, are often a barrier to entry to advertising careers for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. That's limiting the variety of new hires available and bringing together of different cultural perspectives that can enhance creativity, the lifeblood of ad agencies. "The available talent pool is just not very diverse," said Sean Crane, chief creative officer of Mintz + Hoke, a leading regional adver- tising agency based in Avon. "The traditional schools tend to get a very homogeneous group of kids," those from socially and economically privileged backgrounds. Crane and Ron Perine, CEO of Mintz + Hoke, are on a mission to close that gap. They've teamed up to spearhead the newly-formed Connecticut Creative Academy (CCA) as a not-for-profit portfolio school that will offer free tuition to up-and-coming creatives from diverse, disadvantaged back- grounds who lack the means to take the conventional routes into advertising careers. "This is about taking our expertise and allowing people to understand all the opportunities in an ad agency that they might not otherwise know about without a college degree or more," Perine said. The academy is looking to attract both young creative aspirants and older adults looking to fulfill earlier career dreams, "someone who didn't get a chance to get into the field 20 years ago, but wanted to," he said. CCA's aim is not only to open a new pipeline to access more diverse creative talent, but also place those students within industry jobs to create more representative and inclusive content. "Diversity is not only important within our creative teams but also important to our clients," Crane said, pointing to the shifting demographics both nationally and within Connecticut. Nearly four in 10 Americans iden- tify with a race or ethnic group other than white, for example. "We need to increase the sensi- bility of voices that are delivering the messaging to an increasingly diverse demographic," Crane said. New perspectives A diverse workforce remains a hurdle in the ad industry in general just as the national conversa- tion around inclusion has never been stronger. Many leading agencies pledged to increase efforts around diversity, equity and inclusion following the murder of George Floyd in 2020 and the national reckoning in its wake around racial, ethnic and social injustices. But change is slow, as a recent report reveals. A 2021 study by the Association of National Advertisers and the Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing found that three in four employees in the ad and marketing industries are white. African-American/Black and Hispanic/Latinx are both under- represented, at 6.6% and 8.9%, respectively, compared to their repre- sentation in the total U.S. population at 13.6% and 18.9%. Other research suggests the lack of diversity within the industry is also making it challenging to create content that doesn't perpetuate unconscious biases. For example, a 2021 study released by Unilever found that one in two people from marginalized communities — including Black, Ron Perine is the CEO of Avon ad agency Mintz + Hoke and board chair of the Connecticut Creative Academy, a startup not-for-profit portfolio school. Hispanic, Asian and LGBTQ — feel they have been stereotyped in some way through advertising that could fuel prejudice. CCA is one of many initiatives in the works to boost diversity within adland, said Gord McLean, pres- ident of the AEF, the education foundation of the Association of National Advertisers. "We're seeing more and more of these programs being developed, which is just better for the industry," McLean said. Some firms, such as M&C Saatchi, are setting up in-house educational incubators for non-degreed creatives that offer on-the-job training. Others are investing in internship programs for high school and college students of color to introduce them to adver- tising careers and setting up other types of in-house or industry-spon- sored workshops to address diversity gaps in their creative workforces in terms of experience, gender, ethnicity, even age. CCA's not-for-profit approach over a company-centric one, however, McLean finds unique and valuable. "This is very much needed," he said. Competitive portfolio Perine has been working to rally ad industry and marketing professionals in Hartford and throughout the state around CCA's potential to be a home- grown change-maker that can help them onboard fresh talent. "This isn't a feeder system for us," he said. "We view this as getting creative people from other agencies in Connecticut to be on the roster, which can help them as well and bring ad agencies together for a common good." The initial response to CCA within the local advertising community has been overwhelmingly positive, Perine said. "Getting people excited about being part of it hasn't been a problem," he said. One challenge ahead may be fundraising. As the nonprofit is still being hatched, its launch is depen- dent on donations from foundations and other nonprofits as well as corporate sponsorships. Funding will finance candidates' tuition as well as free MacBooks and Adobe software and even subsidized transportation, said Perine, who is actively networking to achieve these goals as the nonprofit's board chairman. Other board members include: PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED AT A GLANCE Organization: Connecticut Creative Academy Industry: Nonprofit education Top Executive: Ron Perine, Board Chairman Website: connecticutcreativeacademy.org

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