Ad Council's Bay Area Leadership Committee Inspires Community Action to Put a Diploma in Everyone's Hands

NEW YORK, Jan. 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- America's Promise reports that more than 37 percent of high school students in California fail to graduate, which is higher than the national dropout rate of one in three. To stimulate action to get a diploma in every Bay Area student's hands, the Ad Council's Bay Area Leadership Committee today hosted a presentation to exhibit localized Ad Council public service advertising (PSA) campaign resources to help increase graduation rates and provide ways adults can help young people pursue their education.

Today's presentation focused on actionable ways teens, parents and community members can support and ensure every Bay Area student not only graduates high school but is prepared to go on to college.  Heidi Arthur, Senior Vice President and Group Campaign Director of the Ad Council presented four education-related public service campaigns tailored to address specific needs and resources in the Bay Area. The campaigns' PSAs direct audiences to a variety of local resources and information on how to support Bay Area students. Many of the campaigns have materials in Spanish.

"Without the support of family, friends and the Bay Area community, thousands of high school students will be less likely to continue on to college and many others will give up on completing high school," according to Heidi Arthur. "These localized campaign PSAs provide access to the vital tools and resources for students and their families to inspire them to stay in school, graduate and go on to college."

Localized campaigns presented today included:

• College Access, sponsored by the Lumina Foundation and American Council on Education, encourages low-income students and their families to take the necessary steps toward postsecondary education, with effective support from parents and adult influencers (i.e. teachers, counselors, coaches). 
• GED® Achievement Campaign, sponsored by Dollar General Literacy Foundation, provides high school dropouts with access to information that will get them started on the road to a GED Diploma.
• High School Dropout Prevention, sponsored by The United States Army, encourages people to support potential graduates at-risk of dropping out in an effort to increase high school graduation rates. 
• Hispanic Parental Engagement "Your Words Today", sponsored by the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, reinforces to Hispanic parents the critically important role they must play to assure their children get a college degree.

The meeting also featured a young adult and Bay Area resident, Roman Leal, who discussed how these resources directly impacted his ability to obtain his college diploma. Roman was the first in his family to go to college, largely in part due the Hispanic Scholarship Fund. They gave him the financial support needed to graduate from the University of California, Berkeley with a B.A. in Economics and a B.A. in Legal Studies. 

At the conclusion, the Ad Council's Bay Area Leadership Committee encouraged all local media outlets to raise awareness of the dropout crisis by requesting that they support the four, localized education campaign materials over the next 18-24 months. These TV, radio, print, outdoor and digital PSAs direct audiences to ways to engage, advocate and take action to increase graduation rates. 

The Bay Area Leadership Committee consists of the following executives:

• Ron Longinotti  Vice President and General Manager, CBS5  
• Ingrid Nelson Vice President, Comcast Spotlight
• JD Freeman Vice President and San Francisco Market Manager, Clear Channel Radio
• Keely Sweet, Vice President and Client Service Supervisor, Universal McCann

Per the Ad Council's model, all of the localized PSAs will run and air in advertising time and space that is donated by the media.

The Advertising Council
The Ad Council is a 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. To learn more about the Ad Council and its campaigns, visit www.adcouncil.org.

SOURCE The Ad Council