AAF's Most Promising Multicultural Students Named for 2023

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Jan 10, 2023, 10:00 ET

Advertising leaders select 50 of the nation's highest achieving diverse seniors to participate in one of the industry's premier DE&I programs

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Advertising Federation (AAF) hosted leading industry professionals to select the 2023 class of Most Promising Multicultural Students. Approaching its 26th year, the Most Promising program is one of the organization's premier initiatives promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion within the advertising industry.

Students will participate in a four-day industry immersion program in New York that will include professional development and personal branding workshops, the Building Bridges for Our Future Awards Ceremony and Luncheon, and Recruiter's Expo. The Most Promising program gives advertising, media, communications, and tech companies the opportunity to tap into high-achieving talent of 50 diverse college students from across the country.

"The 2023 Most Promising inductees continue to raise the bar," said Ayanna Jackson, the AAF's EVP, Mosaic Center. "They are eager to enter our industry with a boldness and eagerness to affect change. We must develop spaces and opportunities that will allow them to create an industry that's never been."

Each year, students of racial or ethnic diversity from the AAF's 140+ college chapters apply to the program. This year's judging panel included representatives from Ally Financial, Nissan Motor Corporation, Captura Group, Cummings Creative Group, Hearts & Science, Lake-Sumter State College, Promedica, Publicis Health, RPA, and The Trade Desk.

Leading agencies and companies, including 72andSunny, BBDO, Dentsu, Meta, FCB, IPG, McCann, Omnicom Group, UM Worldwide, The Trade Desk, Wieden+Kennedy and others, have been long-standing Most Promising supporters and consider the program a valuable resource in recruiting diverse, entry-level talent.

"The AAF is very proud to introduce our Most Promising Multicultural Students Class of 2023. This amazing group of students have met all criteria and vetting processes by an outstanding experienced and respected Council of Judges," said Steve Pacheco, CEO of the AAF. "Now, more than ever, the need to connect young talent to the advertising industry is a top priority for everyone. The fact that the AAF can develop such a diverse group representing the best from across North America is consistent with our mission to develop the Next Generation of Advertising leaders."

This year's incredible class has an average GPA of 3.7 and represents 28 schools and 18 states across the country, including California, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, Oregon, New York and Texas.

2023 Most Promising Multicultural Students Class

Lesly Abarca-Valladares	South Dakota State University	Steven Howard Jr	Ithaca College
Brianna Aguilar	Brigham Young University	Trinity Hunter	The University of Alabama
Deandre Allen	St. Bonaventure University	Fatuma Jama	University of Minnesota
Isaiah Braithwaite	Roger Williams University	Rohini Khamamkar	Arizona State University
Ariana Britto	University of Florida	Sharanya Kumar	San Jose State University
Juan Camargo Quintero	University of Illinois	Carmen Larios	University of Illinois
Pricila Carmona	Olivet Nazarene University	Star Lawson	The Pennsylvania State University
Destiny Carter-Wleh	University of Minnesota	Linda Le	University of Houston
Isabella Castro	Lindenwood University	Kassandra Leyva	University of Illinois
Emma Chan	Pennsylvania State University	Marvin Lim	University of Oregon
Victoria Chan	Texas A&M University	Bri Lucero	Brigham Young University
Chenai Christian	The Pennsylvania State University	Beamlak Lulseged	University of Minnesota
Jacqueline Cimino	University of San Francisco	Carlos Luna	University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Li de Jong	Ithaca College	Christopher Mercado	Brigham Young University
Jessi Delfino	The University of Texas	Sushree Samikhya Mohanty	University of Memphis
Amari Edwards	University of South Carolina	Evanna Momtaj	University of Missouri
Megan Fabriquer	University of San Francisco	Blake Morrow	University of Illinois
Erica Fierro	Texas State University	Hanya Noussier	Florida State University
Amari Foster	University of Missouri	Sara Omar	University of Minnesota
Julie Garcia	University of Illinois	Jenna Ramon	Texas State University
Elizabeth Gordon	University of Minnesota	Brianna Roach	Arizona State University
Asia Griffin	University of Illinois	Marvin Sosa	University of Illinois
Rafael Guedes Bonacin	Kent State University	John Starkweather	Brigham Young University
June Hernandez	The University of Texas	Jyonosuke Tanaka	Newhouse School of Public Communications
Carmelli Hess	University of Oregon	Luckett Vanguard	University of Minnesota

ABOUT AAF

Established in 1905, the American Advertising Federation (AAF), acts as the "Unifying Voice for Advertising." Its membership is comprised of more than 50 corporate members made up of the nation's leading advertisers, agencies, and media companies; a national network of 150+ local clubs representing 40,000 advertising professionals; and more than 140 college chapters with 4,000 student members. The AAF operates a host of programs and initiatives, including Advertising Day on the Hill, the Advertising Hall of Fame, the Advertising Hall of Achievement, the American Advertising Awards, the National Student Advertising Competition, the Mosaic Awards, the Most Promising Multicultural Students Program and AdCamp for high school students. Follow us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn (https://aaf.org).

SOURCE American Advertising Federation