WE Communications Establishes Scholarship With United Negro College Fund
Five-Year Fund Will Award 20 Black Students Money to Pursue Education and Careers in Communications
SEATTLE – MARCH 27, 2023 – Today, WE Communications (WE), a leading global communications agency, announced it has established a new scholarship with the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). The WE Communications Catalyst Scholarship Fund will provide financial resources to 20 BIPOC students to pursue education and careers in communications over the next five years.
“The communications industry has significant work to do to increase racial and ethnic diversity in our organizations,” said Global CEO Melissa Waggener Zorkin. “Supporting students of color is one step in building toward a more inclusive future, and one that we’re honored to be taking with the United Negro College Fund.”
WE’s new $100,000 scholarship fund will award $5,000 scholarships to four students annually over the next five years. The scholarships will be open to college juniors and seniors who are Washington or Oregon residents studying Communications, PR, Marketing or Journalism at any U.S. institution.
“It is only when organizations take action to truly lift up students of color that we can start to tip the balance toward equity,” said Linda Thompson Black, UNCF’s Development Director. “WE is leading by example to help fuel the future of communications as a more diverse, inclusive industry for people of color.”
For the past decade, WE has been an active supporter of the next generation of communicators, providing multiple scholarships in the region, as well as working with students at Hampton University to help them prepare for their post-graduation job searches. WE has provided financial support to UNCF over the past year, and WE and Waggener Zorkin were recently honored by UNCF Seattle as CEO and Corporation of the Year.
WE also partners with PRovoke Media on the Young Changemakers Awards, which recognizes and celebrates young women in communications from underrepresented groups. These awards help launch the careers of up-and-comers and create better equality and more opportunity for those in marginalized groups within the communications industry.
“With each partnership and program WE takes on, we better understand how to make our giving as impactful as possible,” said Waggener Zorkin. “The UNCF scholarship is another move to help drive meaningful, measurable impact for the future of communications.”
UNCF is the nation’s largest private scholarship provider to minority group members. Each year, the organization awards more than $100 million in scholarships to students attending more than 1,100 schools across the country. Since its founding, UNCF has helped more than 500,000 students earn their college degrees.
ABOUT WE
WE is one of the largest independent communications and integrated marketing agencies in the world. We’re all about people — both our clients and employees — and we believe in the power of communications to move audiences to positive action. Female-founded, female-led, and fiercely independent, WE has spent more than three decades helping world-class brands tell technology-led transformation stories that shift perceptions and change behavior.
Our global reach includes offices in 21 cities, partner networks that expand our footprint and client capabilities, and a team of more than 1,200 media and content strategists, creatives and data scientists across our technology, health, and consumer sectors. Our work with global brands like Microsoft, Intel, McDonald’s, and Volvo has been recognized by Cannes Lions, PRovoke SABRE Awards and PRWeek Awards, just to name a few.
For more information, press only: Kara Kraft, WE, (503) 443-7143, karak@we-worldwide.com
