A big congratulations is in order for Hailey Winder, a senior in the Nicholson School of Communication and Media, on being named to the American Advertising Federation’s (AAF) 2024 Most Promising Multicultural Class! The American Advertising Federation (AAF) tapped leading industry professionals to select the 2024 class of Most Promising Multicultural Students. According to AAF, “Leading agencies and companies including IPG, FCB, Dentsu, The Trade Desk, Omnicom Group, Sony Music Group, EnergyBBDO, TikTok, RPA, Publicis Groupe and others, have been long-standing Most Promising supporters and view the program as a valuable resource in recruiting diverse, entry-level talent.” Winder is double majoring in Advertising/Public Relations and Spanish. She is also pursuing a Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) certificate. Winder discusses what this award means to her, the exciting opportunities as a part of the multicultural class, and her anticipated career goals for the future.
What does this award mean to you?
“Community is very important to me and I’m honored to be a part of something like MPMS that is bigger than myself and allows me to be surrounded with like-minded, talented people of color who also want to create big change in this world. The fact that programs like this exist for students of color and open doors and opportunities of this caliber is astonishing. I feel like I’m living my ancestors’ wildest dreams and I hope I make them proud. My cohort and those of other years will definitely be paying it forward and keeping this legacy alive to ensure that future generations to come have access to the same opportunities.”
What opportunities will you have as part of this multicultural class?
“The American Advertising Federation (AAF) selected and celebrated 50 students from universities around the nation as some of the top talents in the advertising, marketing and PR sectors with a trip to New York City. I’m honestly still processing it all, but it’s safe to say the experience was life-altering. I think the trajectory of my life and career is definitely forever changed for the better. I had the honor of networking with other trailblazers in the industry, with my awe-inspiring cohort and touring some of the biggest companies in the game (TikTok, LinkedIn, Sony Music Group, Omnicom, The Trade Desk, etc.). There was also an ongoing competition where we had a week to work on an advertising campaign pitch for the Ray Ban x Meta Smart Glasses with other students in the cohort. While in New York, we presented our work in front of the staff at Dentsu and the Head of agency at Meta. I am pleased to announce that my group won the competition! (Our group name was Team Hachiko and we’re all in the pic in front of the purple backdrop) And then we presented our pitch again at the award luncheon. The word I’ve been using to describe it all is magical, this all just feels like a full-circle turning point in my life and something I can truly be proud of. My cup is overflowing with inspiration and I want to take it and create and do and put out more magic into this world.”
What are you career goals?
“I’m a sort of creative jack of all trades and I have plans to do it all. I want to try, do and see everything in this life. My hope is to be able to use the intersectionality of my skills to do work that fulfills me and helps create positive change.I just wrote my career goals for a scholarship essay I recently wrote, here’s an excerpt:
“I would not be the woman I am today without the teachers, professors, and administrators who have sacrificed so much to pass on their gifts to my peers and I. I’m pursuing a Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) certificate at UCF because I am eternally grateful and I want to be like them when I grow up. Right out of college, I plan to teach abroad in a Spanish-speaking country to pass on the goodwill, passion and knowledge I’ve acquired to the next generation of learners while fully immersing myself in the language and cultures that I’ve had the honor of studying for so long.
Once I return to the states to continue my career in advertising, I want to really shake the table in terms of corporate culture. When I step into the industry, my hope is that I can use my language and interpersonal skills to build community, genuinely, in a way that shapes company culture and changes the status quo to make business relations mutually beneficial for companies and those who make them possible, internally and externally. I want to do the work to ensure relationships where people everywhere feel safe and valued as both consumers and employees. As a society, I want us to work toward cherishing people as much as we do profit. Dismantling unethical practices, environmental destruction, inequity, greed, etc. that runs rampant in corporate America will be crucial in my plan. In baby steps, of course. Hence why I’ve continued participating in community efforts that align with this goal.
With regard to my long-term goals and life’s work, I also want to take advantage of the intersectionality of my skills (in language, education and advertising) to work personally in the education sector and/or create a foundation that continues to establish language immersion programs around Florida (and eventually nationwide). As an underprivileged student who was blessed with the opportunity to participate in a Spanish immersion program that changed my entire life, my goal is to create and provide students and their families access to funding, resources and opportunities that propel them forward in every aspect of life – emotionally, mentally, financially and academically. Just as I was thanks to many lovely people who came before me and did the work. I want to be directly involved with scholarship, internship and/or networking programs like AAF’s MPMS program or the Multicultural Advertising Internship Program (MAIP), both of which I have the honor of being a part of. I want to ensure that every child can have access to the same high caliber of education and opportunities I have, no matter their background or circumstance. To me, this is so crucial in raising the next generation of well-rounded, culturally aware and open-minded youth of our world and curbing the downfall of our current education system that we are witnessing in real time.”
By Majdulina Hamed.
Published to Nicholson News on March 4th, 2024.
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