The LAGRANT Foundation (TLF) will award $100,000 in scholarships to a total of 15 ethnic minority college students
pursuing a degree in advertising, marketing or public relations
TLF will be holding the 11th Anniversary Scholarship Recognition Reception and Awards Program on Monday, June 1,
2009 at 6:00 p.m. at New York University’s Kimmel Center. CNN National Correspondent, Jason Carroll, will serve as
the Master of Ceremonies for the third year in a row.
“For more than ten years now, the foundation has been committed to fulfilling its mission of funding dreams into
reality and furthering the advancement of ethnic minorities within the fields of advertising, marketing and public
relations,” said TLF Founder/Chairman, Mr. Kim L. Hunter. “The recipients reflect the future of this industry and
will continue to academically excel toward a successful career path.”
Since its inception in 1998, The LAGRANT Foundation has awarded close to $1,000,000 to more than 150 students
nationwide. The scholarship recipients will participate in a day-long career development workshop hosted by New York
University and have the opportunity to meet with industry professionals. The following are the 2009 TLF Scholarship
Recipients:
Undergraduate students – $5,000 Award Recipients
Steven G. Bram – IMC, San Diego State University
Debbie A. Ebalobo – Public Relations & New Media, University of Georgia
Jonathan G. Gipson – Communications, Rutgers University
Diana F. Jimenez – Advertising, University of Texas at Austin
Bentley C. Lopez – Business Administration, Marketing, University of Southern California
Tiia Koppel – Communications, The University of Washington, Seattle
Karmen K. Ponder-Moore – Public Relations, University of Oklahoma
Francesca O. Murray – Journalism/Public Relations, California State University, Long Beach
Phillip Parris – Business/Marketing, Medgar Evers College, CUNY
Christine E. Nieves Rodriguez – Communications/Consumer Psychology, The University of Pennsylvania
Graduate students – $10,000 Award Recipients
Danielle M. English – Master of Science in Public Relations, University of Denver
Kaneisha D. Grayson – MBA & MPA in Marketing & Public Affairs, Harvard Business School
Erick Laseca – Master of Science in IMC, Northwestern University
Sara E. Morgan – Master of Arts in IMC, Emerson College
Sharell S. Weeams – MBA in Marketing, University of Dallas
The LAGRANT Foundation would also like to thank the 2009 Host Committee members for raising in excess of $110,000
and for their investment in furthering the education of ethnic minorities within the fields of advertising,
marketing and public relations.
Michael J. O’Neill, Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs & Communications, American Express – Committee Chair
Andrew Polansky, President, Global, Weber Shandwick Worldwide – Committee Co-Chair
Barry H. Caldwell, Senior Vice President, Government Affairs and Corporate Communications, Waste Management, Inc.
Stephen L. Johnson, Senior Vice President and Director of Public Relations and Government Affairs, Union Bank
Lisa F. Hyden Carrieri, Managing Director, Corporate Human Resources & Administration, Ogilvy PR Worldwide
Neil Miller, Global Chief Financial Officer, Draftfcb
Javier Evans, Senior Premier Corporate and Professionals Relationships Manager, HSBC Bank USA
Charlotte R. Otto, Global External Relations Officer, Procter & Gamble
Nelson Fernandez, Managing Director – New York Office, Chief Diversity Officer – North America, APCO Worldwide
Barbara J. Parsky, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications, Edison International
Andrew Sawyer, Executive Vice President, Alloy
American Airlines provided a roundtrip ticket for all 15 scholarship recipients. Donors who have contributed $5,000
or more in cash or in-kind donations:
Alloy, American Express, APCO Worldwide, Castells & Asociados, Council of Public Relations Firms, Draftfcb, Edison
International, Fleishman-Hillard, Golin-Harris, Heyman Associates, Hill & Knowlton, HSBC, Johnson & Johnson, Jordan,
Ketchum, Macy’s, McCann Worldgroup, Nordstrom, Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, Prudential, Union Bank, Verizon,
Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, Waste Management, Weber Shandwick Worldwide and American Airlines, the official airline
of The LAGRANT Foundation.
Mission Statement
The LAGRANT Foundation (TLF) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) whose mission is to increase the number of ethnic minorities
in the fields of advertising, marketing and public relations by providing scholarships, internships, career
development workshop and professional development to African American, Asian Pacific American, Hispanic/Latino and
Native American undergraduate and graduate students{enclose lagrant_foundation.mp4}
