Lincoln Stephens Named ADCOLOR® Change Agent

DALLAS, July 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Marcus Graham Project (MGP) co-founder, Lincoln Stephens, has been named a 2011 ADCOLOR® Award recipient.  Stephens is a recipient of the ADCOLOR® Change Agent Award for his commitment to mentorship, young adult leadership development and increasing diversity in the advertising industry.

"I feel extremely honored and humbled to have been selected for this award," said Lincoln Stephens, MGP program director and co-founder. "When I quit the advertising industry four years ago with few resources and no money to begin the Marcus Graham Project, I had no clue it would grow so fast or affect so many lives. I only knew that I had to do my part to increase diversity in the industry. I'm thankful to be amongst those honored by ADCOLOR."

This year's recipients will be honored in Los Angeles at the Beverly Hilton on September 16 and 17 during the ADCOLOR Industry Conference & Awards.

Stephens is a former advertising account management executive, turned social entrepreneur. He left the advertising industry and co-founded MGP after noticing a lack of diversity in the advertising business. 

The mission of MGP is to develop a pipeline of talent in all aspects of the media and creative fields, while providing career exposure and experience particularly to underrepresented professionals and aspirants.  

Since it began four years ago, MGP has growth into a diverse system of programs designed to engage the advertising and marketing community, and develop a sustainable infrastructure for mentorship and dialogue. 

One of MGP's most unique programs is its iCr8 Summer Boot Camp. The program challenges ethnically diverse young professionals from around the nation to operate their own advertising agency for 10 weeks during summer. The participants work with real clients and mentors to gain real-world exposure and experience. Although the boot camp doesn't guarantee participants job placement, in past years, Stephens has aided participants in securing jobs with Ohio State University, Wieden+Kennedy, RAPP and The Richards Group.

In addition to honoring Stephens for his work with MGP, ADCOLOR is also honoring MGP Co-Founder Kenji Summers; Bill Cosby; Spike Lee; Rosario Dawson; Senior Chairman, Founder and Publisher of Black Enterprise, Earl G. Graves; and Chief Executive Officer of Wieden+Kennedy Dan Wieden. For a full list of this year's honorees please visit http://2011.adcolor.org/honorees.

The Marcus Graham Project is currently seeking donations to allow MGP alumni to attend the ADCOLOR Awards. For more information about MGP or providing sponsorship, please visit www.marcusgrahamproject.org or email [email protected], and for further information about ADCOLOR Awards, visit http://www.adcolorwards.org.

The ADCOLOR® Awards

"ADCOLOR's very important work is supporting diversity and inclusion in our industry, and so we look forward to an incredible group of honorees, and a gathering of our industry's leaders from across the nation, as we prepare to come together in Los Angeles for the big event," said James Edmund Datri, president and CEO, American Advertising Federation, a founding member of The ADCOLOR Industry Coalition.

The ADCOLOR® Awards are an initiative of the ADCOLOR Industry Coalition launched to honor professionals of color, diversity champions and companies who work together to further diversity and inclusion efforts in the advertising, marketing and media industries.

The ADCOLOR Industry Coalition is supported by the ADVERTISING Club of New York, the American Advertising Federation (AAF), the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4As), Arnold Worldwide, Omnicom Group, RAPP, CNN, Deutsch, Gotham and Wieden+Kennedy.

About Lincoln Stephens

Lincoln Stephens is a Dallas native and co-founder of the Marcus Graham Project, a nonprofit organization focused on increasing diversity by developing the next generation of thought leadership within the advertising, media and marketing industry.

Prior to founding the Marcus Graham Project Stephens worked as an advertising account management executive for Carol H Williams, Martin Retail, and TracyLocke on top brands such as Frito Lay, Quaker, Pepsi, Cadillac, Hummer, Chevrolet, and Coca-Cola. He left the advertising to begin the Marcus Graham Project after becoming alarmed by the low diversity within the industry.

Stephens is also an accomplished community organizer. He served as the Chicago & Dallas Street Team Leader for Rock The Vote, as well as an active leader & servant in a variety of urban-progressive organizations such as: African American Leaders of Tomorrow, American Cancer Society-Relay for Life, Dallas Urban League Young Professionals, YMCA, and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. 

Stephens earned a bachelor's in journalism with a focus in strategic communications from University of Missouri-Columbia and master's in entertainment business from Full Sail University. 

About The Marcus Graham Project

The Marcus Graham Project (MGP) is a national network of diverse professionals who have purposed themselves in developing the next generation of thought leadership within the advertising, media and marketing industry.

The vision of The MGP is to provide long-term access to information, technology, financial and people resources that will strategically develop a viable pool of talent and leadership within the industry. The Marcus Graham Project is a 501 (c) 3 organization. Additional information about MGP can be found at www.marcusgrahamproject.org.

SOURCE The Marcus Graham Project