Ad Council North Texas Leadership Committee Gives High School Students a Boost to Stay in School and Graduate

NEW YORK, July 21 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ad Council, the leading producer of national public service advertisements (PSAs) in the country, announced today in partnership with the organization's North Texas Leadership Committee, that they will be encouraging local media outlets to provide significant support for the Ad Council's High School Dropout Prevention campaign this summer to coincide with back-to-school.

"In Dallas and Ft. Worth, we now have a staggering 32 percent high school dropout rate that we must all work together to address in our community," said Tony Palmer, SVP and chief marketing officer at Kimberly-Clark based in Dallas. Palmer is a member of the Ad Council Board of Directors and the Ad Council North Texas Leadership Committee.

The North Texas Leadership Committee was developed in 2007 to assist the Ad Council in identifying the most critical social issues in North Texas and addressing the community's needs through localized strategies. The Ad Council first launched the High School Dropout Prevention campaign in partnership with the U.S. Army in 2000. The campaign, now called "BoostUp," is designed to encourage all Americans to provide support for teens in their communities to help them stay in school and graduate.

The North Texas Leadership Committee is encouraging all media throughout North Texas is to air the PSAs from July through Labor Day.

The campaign's national television and radio PSAs have been localized for the Dallas metro area in both English and Spanish and the ads encourage viewers and listeners to visit www.boostup.org to give students a boost during the summer to return in the fall to earn their diplomas. The website features a zip code search function where residents can find opportunities to mentor a student in their community.  

The North Texas Leadership Committee consists of the following executives:

• Tony Palmer, SVP & Chief Marketing Officer, Kimberly-Clark Corp.
• Kathy Clements, SVP/Television Operations, Belo Corp.
• Scott Crockett, Principal, The Richards Group
• Becky Munoz-Diaz, VP/General Manager, Univision23 & Telefutura49
• J.D. Freeman, President & Market Manager, Clear Channel Radio

As part of the Ad Council's ongoing efforts to address the needs of communities at the local level, the organization began developing local leadership committees throughout the country since March of 2006. The committees are comprised of senior level executives from the corporate, advertising agency and media communities.

The Ad Council has also established leadership committees in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Detroit, Atlanta, Miami, Tampa, Washington D.C., Boston, Philadelphia and Houston. Issues addressed through localized strategies in these markets have included emergency preparedness, childhood obesity and foreclosure prevention.

The Advertising Council

The Ad Council is a private, non-profit organization with a rich history of marshalling volunteer talent from the advertising and media industries to deliver critical messages to the American public. Having produced literally thousands of PSA campaigns addressing the most pressing social issues of the day, the Ad Council has effected, and continues to effect, tremendous positive change by raising awareness, inspiring action and saving lives.

SOURCE The Ad Council