OLSON is in Good Company for Philanthropy
Olson Wins Jefferson Award for Corporate Philanthropy
Olson has been given a Jefferson Award for Corporate Philanthropy by the Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal, one of 10 companies in Minnesota to be honored. Other recipients include Target, General Mills, UnitedHealth Group, U.S. Bancorp and Ameriprise.
The award recognizes Olson's commitment to education through its privately funded, self-sustaining nonprofit organization The BrandLab, a program designed to increase diversity in the marketing industry where minorities are largely underrepresented.
The BrandLab, launched in the fall of 2007, is a first-of-its-kind initiative offered through several Minneapolis high schools that provides exposure and opportunity in the marketing industry for students with diverse socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. The program not only teaches students about the business functions of the advertising world through real-world experiential education, but also offers practical professional working skills and behaviors.
"With The BrandLab, we're introducing a new generation of creative thinkers to our world, students who may not be aware of professional opportunities in the marketing industry," says agency founder and CEO John Olson. "At Olson, we are in the business of connecting people to brands through social circles, and The BrandLab takes a step back to ensure that in the future we'll be able to diversify our ranks."
Beyond in-classroom instruction from marketing professionals, students have the opportunity to learn in agency and corporate marketing environments. They are paired with marketing professionals through a mentorship program and can apply for scholarships and internships.
The 10 Twin Cities companies were chosen by Business Journal editors to receive Jefferson Awards and were recognized at the Celebrate Twin Cities event December 4 at the James J. Hill Library in St. Paul. For the first time, the Business Journal teamed with the Wilmington, Del.-based Jefferson Awards to bring more attention to Twin Cities' companies' efforts. The Jefferson Awards were founded in 1972 by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, U.S. Sen. Robert Taft Jr. and Sam Beard, founder and chairman of the National Development Council, to honor public and community service. The Jefferson Awards are led by a board of selectors who choose national winners.
