NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The PR Council (PRC) has announced today the winners of the second annual Student Innovation Challenge “One Day” by Giana Darville and David Pérez. Darville is a public relations student at Oakwood University and Pérez is an MBA/MPP student at Harvard University. They will receive $1,000 and recognition at the PRC’s Member Dinner & Diversity Distinction in PR Awards, in partnership with PRWeek, on September 27, 2018 in New York City.
The Student Innovation Challenge asked current and recently-graduated collegiate students to create a communications campaign and video that celebrates inclusion within diversity on their school campus or community.
The winning “OneDay” campaign emphasizes diversity education as an active process of learning to accept and utilize our differences, instead of just to achieve political correctness.
When asked the inspiration for their winning idea, Darville replied, “OneDay and its different components were largely inspired by my own new student orientation week experience. I remember having an incredible time entering Oakwood University last fall, making new friends and becoming acclimated to my new environment, but also how impressionable and attentive I was to all that we learned during orientation week. The combination of memorable fun and impactful learning truly resulted in me becoming the student I am today. I thought that if I could make the necessity of inclusion within diversity an integral part of someone else’s introduction to college, it would completely reshape their worldview for the better and positively alter the trajectory of their life. OneDay is a chance to put that theory into action.”
Pérez also shared his vision for their idea, “The inspiration from the OneDay campaign was simple: We asked ourselves when have we been most inspired to champion diversity and create communities of inclusion? Without a doubt it's when we get personal; when we hear the stories of our classmates - their dreams, their realities, their struggles - and are galvanized to shape a community to be welcoming and encouraging all to realize their potential. The vision behind the OneDay campaign is for students to view diversity beyond a training or seminar, and to become life-long champions for the power of diversity.”
The runner-up entry, “The People Puzzle” was created by Niema Bracey and Nimra Haroon. Bracey is an MBA student studying International Business and Marketing at American University and Haroon is a master’s student studying Integrated Marketing Communications at Georgetown University. The People Puzzle campaign presents a creative and unique way to bring students together using puzzle pieces to represent an individual’s contribution to the student body and to society.
“We surpassed the number of entries we received this year and the quality of the campaigns these students created was exceptional,” explained Sara Ghazaii, PR Council Vice President and Director of Communications. “Diversity is an important area for all communities to focus on, but inclusion within diversity is something that needs to be addressed more often. These students’ creative ideas are pushing us in the right direction.”
The PRC will recognize Darville, Pérez, Bracey and Haroon on September 27 and will show both video entries. All four students are 2018 LAGRANT Scholarship recipients.
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Established in 1998, the PR Council (PRC) is composed of America’s premier global, midsize, regional and specialty agencies across every discipline and practice. It is the leading trade association for agencies, designed to empower the present and next generation of communications professionals, industry innovators and business leaders through education, events and industry resources. The PRC’s active members from over 105 leading U.S. agencies represent more than 80% (est.) of all U.S. PR firm revenues and employ over 12,000 professionals.
