Pharrell Williams Receives the Inaugural Anthem Award

Anthem Blog

Pharrell Williams Receives the Inaugural Anthem Award

Pharrell Williams' Inaugural Anthem Award Winner Acceptance Speech

An artist, philanthropist, entrepreneur and advocate for racial equity, Pharrell Williams is using his platform to empower a new generation of leaders.

A true visionary, talented singer, songwriter, music producer, fashion designer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist, no one is more fitting for this inaugural honor than Williams. He has long pushed for racial equity and created real-world impact with his work—most notably by helping to “even the odds” for students through his non-profit YELLOW. The organization was established to provide children in underserved communities with the educational tools necessary for their future success. In early 2021, YELLOW announced ‘Your Voice Is Power,’ a new educational partnership with Amazon and the Georgia Institute of Technology formed to encourage middle and high school students to have meaningful conversations about racial equity, as well as inspire an interest in computer science by teaching students to code new music remixes.

His philanthropic work does not stop with students; Williams announced the launch of Black Ambition in December 2020, a non-profit initiative to support Black and Latinx entrepreneurs in the tech, design, healthcare, and consumer products and services industries.

For his work through non-profits YELLOW and Black Ambition, to actively creating a more racially equitable world through STEAM education for underserved children, and connecting Black and Latinx business owners with entrepreneurial support, Pharrell Williams is well-deserving of this Special Achievement award to celebrate the launch of The Anthem Awards.

Inaugural Anthem Achievement Award

Through our inaugural season, we will walk in the same footsteps by amplifying the causes, organizations and people that are making a real-world impact. Submit your work to The Anthem Awards and amplify your work across the following causes: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Education, Art & Culture, Health, Humanitarian Action & Services, Human & Civil Rights, Responsible Technology, and Sustainability, Environment & Climate.

Enter your work by the Early Entry Deadline on Friday, August 6th.

Patagonia – Don’t Buy This Jacket

Patagonia has put social impact at the core of their brand mission and values from the start, and their iconic Don’t Buy This Jacket campaign demonstrates how brands can use their platform to make an impact — or better yet, to help reduce our impact. This 2011 ad ran in the New York Times on Black Friday, making a lasting impression for its bold message addressing the issue of consumerism head on and asking readers to take the Common Threads Initiative pledge to reduce, repair, reuse, recycle, and reimagine a world where we take only what nature can replace.

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NEWS & ANNONCEMENTS

Ad Council’s Love Has No Labels Movement

Love Has No Labels is a movement by The Ad Council to promote diversity, equity and inclusion of all people across race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age and ability.

Read our Q&A with Heidi Arthur, the Ad Council’s Chief Campaign Development Officer on the team behind LHNL collaborates with partners to combat implicit bias—from crafting PSAs to driving viewers to take action, to how brands and companies should approach corporate social responsibility with authenticity.