Austin Williams Announces Scholarship For Students Of Color

Hauppauge NY

13 April, 2022

12:55 PM

Description

Press release from Austin Williams: April 13, 2022 Austin Williams, a full-service marketing, advertising, digital and public relations agency located in Hauppauge, NY, today announced it has awarded the second round of its Opportunity Scholarship in Marketing/Communications/New Media. The scholarship helps minorities and students of color achieve their aspirations of a degree and a career in advertising and marketing. St. Joseph's College sophomore Leilani Henry Thomas, 18, of Manhattan, NY, will receive $2,500 in annual tuition assistance and mentorship and an eventual paid internship at Austin Williams in her junior and senior years. "I'm excited for the opportunity and grateful for the chance to learn and grow," said Leilani. "This will be a foot in the door to where I want to take my career." Leilani Henry Thomas ('24), is a first-generation American and the only child of a single parent who immigrated from Trinidad and Tobago, splitting her 18 years between New York and Concord, NC. After graduating from the International Baccalaureate program at Concord High School, she became a marketing major at SJC Brooklyn. Leilani chose marketing because she "wanted to be in a creative environment" and in the future, would like to pursue a career as an art director or event planner for large scale, corporate events. "We're thrilled to be helping students like Leilani and do our part to make advertising a more diverse industry," said Eva LaMere, president of Austin Williams. "Every ad agency has an obligation to enable young people of color to pursue a career free from barriers. We've said from the start that this program should be replicated by every agency that wants to put its words into action." The AW scholarship program, in partnership with St. Joseph's College in Patchogue and Brooklyn, NY, and Molloy College in Rockville Centre, NY, was launched in 2020, and will ramp up over time, sponsoring a growing number of students each school semester. When fully implemented, the scholarship will simultaneously fund the tuition of four students from each college at a total cost of more than $100,000 over the students' four years of college. The program will also include paid internships at Austin Williams for those same students in their junior and senior years. Throughout, Austin Williams team members will serve as mentors for the students, assessing their course work, offering advice and providing guidance for their future job prospects. This press release was produced by Austin Williams. The views expressed here are the author's own.