The Ad Council's 65th Annual Public Service Award Dinner to Honor IBM Chairman, President & CEO Ginni Rometty, Trevor Noah to Host

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Jul 18, 2018, 09:05 ET

NEW YORK, July 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ad Council announced today that its 65^th Annual Public Service Award Dinner will honor IBM Chairman, President and CEO Ginni Rometty. Trevor Noah, comedian, political commentator and host of Emmy and Peabody Award-winning "The Daily Show," will emcee the event, which will be held at the New York Hilton in New York City on December 5, 2018. Platinum sponsors include Adobe, Facebook and Google.

Ginni Rometty, IBM Chairman, President and CEO and The Ad Council Public Service Award Honoree

Trevor Noah, Comedian, Political Commentator and Host of Emmy and Peabody Award-winning “The Daily Show,” and The Ad Council Award Dinner Emcee

Attended by more than 1,500 prominent leaders from the media, advertising, tech and corporate communities, the Annual Dinner recognizes the industries and individuals who support the Ad Council and its public service campaigns. It is the organization's largest fundraising event, raising a record-breaking $4.9 million last year to support the Ad Council's programs. This year's event will be chaired by Linda Boff, Chief Marketing Officer of GE, and Chair of the Ad Council's Board of Directors.

Ginni Rometty, Chairman, President and CEO of IBM, will receive the Public Service Award for her longstanding dedication to philanthropy and social good. Throughout Rometty's tenure at IBM, the company has developed technologies that support community needs as much as they assist business needs. Recent efforts benefit veterans and teachers and create an education pipeline that will better equip future generations. Rometty has also empowered her teams to embrace social causes and public service at every level of the organization through volunteer opportunities, service corps and grants. Under Rometty's leadership, IBM is co-founding the Ad Council's upcoming campaign designed to encourage young females to pursue their interests in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), which is slated to launch this fall. Rometty also serves on the Council on Foreign Relations, Northwestern University's Board of Trustees and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center's Board of Overseers and Board of Managers.

"The Annual Dinner is one of the most inspiring evenings for our industry, where we get together to celebrate the indelible impact of our collective work on behalf of critical social issues, including suicide prevention, diversity and inclusion and the opioid epidemic," said Lisa Sherman, President and CEO of Ad Council. "We're thrilled to honor Ginni Rometty and her extraordinary legacy of social good, with Trevor Noah as our emcee."

Trevor Noah is the host of the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning "The Daily Show" on Comedy Central. "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah" recently received a 2018 Emmy Award Nomination for Outstanding Variety Talk Series. The show has also won a GLAAD Award for Outstanding Talk Episode and received nominations for a Writers Guild Award (Comedy/Variety Series), as well as two NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Talk Series and Outstanding Host in a Talk or News/Information Show. Since Noah joined "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" in 2014, he has won Best Host at the 2017 MTV Movie & TV Awards, as well as a Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Short Form Variety Series for his hosting role on "The Daily Show – Between The Scenes." Beyond his role as host of "The Daily Show," Noah is an award-winning author and stand-up comedian. Much of his work focuses on the story of his upbringing and remarkable career in post-apartheid South Africa.

The Ad Council has held its Annual Dinner, honoring corporate leaders for their contributions to public service, since 1953. Previous hosts of the Ad Council's Annual Dinner include Samantha Bee, James Corden, Ellen DeGeneres, Jimmy Fallon, Tina Fey, Seth Meyers and Conan O'Brien. To learn more and purchase tables and tickets, visit here.

THE AD COUNCIL
The Ad Council brings together the most creative minds in advertising, media and technology to address the most worthy causes. Its innovative, pro bono social good campaigns raise awareness. They inspire action. They save lives. To learn more, visit www.adcouncil.org, follow the Ad Council's communities on Facebook and Twitter, and view the creative on YouTube.

SOURCE The Ad Council