Ogilvy & Mather Announces 2nd Bi-Annual Diversity Advisory Board Scholarships

NEW YORK, Nov. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Ogilvy & Mather New York will be presenting merit-based scholarships to five outstanding students pursuing college studies at a ceremony hosted at City University of New York (CUNY).  Three of the students attend colleges within the CUNY system.

The recipients were chosen from Ogilvy's annual summer High School internship program that introduces students from ethnically and socioeconomically diverse backgrounds in the New York City public school system to careers in marketing and communications. Ogilvy has established partnerships with three leading organizations: Ladders for Leaders, Pencil and the NAACP.

"Ogilvy has benefited as much from the students coming to the agency as they have from being part of our Public High School outreach initiatives," said John Seifert, Chairman and CEO of Ogilvy & Mather North America. "We are proud and pleased to support the next generation of advertising talent."

New to this year's scholarship program is the Marlon Layne Award, created to honor a former long-time Ogilvy executive who passed away this summer. Marlon was leading efforts to launch a Black Men's Fellowship that would provide mentoring and networking opportunities amongst senior and junior employees.

"Marlon Layne was both an innovator in our business, helping establish our teleservices offering, and also within our company culture as founding leader of our Black Diaspora professional network and his work in mentoring junior employees," noted Donna Pedro, Chief Diversity Officer for Ogilvy & Mather. "It was his dedication to reaching back and fostering collaboration that makes us proud to honor his legacy. We have established this award to be presented to a young black male in Marlon's name."

Matthew Brown who attends Babson College and came to Ogilvy through the NAACP High School program is the first recipient of this inaugural award. The additional scholarship winners are Emily Apple (Hunter College), Imani Jones (Brooklyn College) and Khari Randall (SUNY Purchase) from Ladders for Leaders, and Celeste Pack (Queensborough Community College) from Pencil.

The Ogilvy Diversity Advisory Board (DAB) Scholarship program was conceived in 2007 with the launch of Ogilvy's external diversity board. The DAB was created to provide guidance to the agency's diversity and inclusion initiatives. Members include Laurel Richie, President – WNBA, Rachel Noerdlinger, EVP Communications – National Action Network, Kevin Liles, Record Executive – Warner Music, Elena Nachmanoff, VP Talent Development – NBC Universal, Bonnie Wong, President – Asian Women in Business, Natatia Griffith, Commissioner New York City Commission on Women's Issues & VP New York Women's Agenda, and Jay Hershenson, Senior Vice Chancellor for University Relations & Secretary of the Board of Trustees – CUNY.

The 2011 scholarship ceremony will be filmed on Wednesday, November 9th at the City University of New York's TV Studios beginning at 9:30 am.

About Ogilvy & Mather

Ogilvy & Mather is one of the largest marketing communications companies in the world. Through its specialty units, the company provides a comprehensive range of marketing services including: advertising; public relations and public affairs; branding and identity; shopper and retail marketing; healthcare communications; direct, digital, promotion and relationship marketing. Ogilvy & Mather services Fortune Global 500 companies as well as local businesses through its network of more than 450 offices in 120 countries. It is a WPP company (NASDAQ: WPPGY). For more information, visit www.ogilvy.com.

SOURCE Ogilvy & Mather New York