Six BIC alumni were among the 31 young professionals selected for The AD Club’s ANDY Awards inaugural mentorship program. The BIC alums are Breanna Arthur, Surabhi Govindarajan, Natalie Alcide, Carmen Quang, Jose Flores Fresan, & Castro Desroches. Two undergrads from the CCNY Ad/PR Program also were awarded. Mentees are to be matched with ANDYs Jurors (see the list here) for a one-year mentorship with monthly meetings. These industry leaders include Jayanta Jenkins, Head of Content Marketing, Disney+, San Francisco, Margaret Johnson, Executive Creative Director / Partner, GS&P, San Francisco, Andrew Keller, VP, Global Creative Director, Facebook, New York and David Lee, Chief Creative Officer, Squarespace, New York.

The mentorship program was launched by PJ Pereira, 2021 Chair of the ANDY awards, in order to restructure the prestigious awards show so it's not just a self-congratulatory event, but driven by a purpose: to make positive change on the industry. This year's jurors were required to commit to mentoring talent from underrepresented communities and backgrounds.  

Potential mentees from the BIC program were first nominated by Nancy R. Tag, BIC Program Director, who identified young pros among BIC's alumni who were talented, already making an impact in the industry, have hustle, and are from an underrepresented community or background; initial nominees needed to be passionate about changing the face of advertising to make the industry more diverse and inclusive in the next ten years. CUNY Professor Rebecca Rivera (BIC ’19) then helped vet and select all mentee candidates in partnership with ANDYs Jury Chair PJ Pereira and The Advertising Club NY.

Some of the ANDY jurists who have volunteered to be mentors.

Professor Tag stated, “I’m impressed by the purpose-oriented shift of the ANDY Awards this year, which has historically made an impact on the industry. This was made possible by Awards Chair PJ Pereira’s leadership and creativity, as well as to the AD Club's vision. I’m also extremely grateful to Rebecca Rivera for helping to bring this program to life with a spotlight on BIC. Her tenacity and commitment to elevating diverse talent have moved the ball forward once again. And of course, seeing so many amazing BIC alums on this list is the most gratifying part. A big BIC bravo to them all!"

Here's the press release about the ANDYs and this program: https://bit.ly/2L6XglA