Here Are All The Black People was held in The Times Centre, New York, on September 30 this year, the last day of Advertising Week 2016 in the US.

The one day (annual) event is funded by the proceeds raised annually at the One Show. It provides multicultural students, recent graduates, and creative professionals who are interested in exploring careers in advertising and design, the opportunity to showcase their talent to top agencies in the industry.

The career fair aims to provide real-world solutions to the lack of diversity in the advertising and design industries’ creative departments. This year, the event has been extended to include aspiring strategists and account planners/managers as well as creative hopefuls.

Here Are All The Black People was created following a panel discussion between Jimmy Smith and Jeff Goodby eight years ago. The pair were discussing the lack of diversity in the creative departments in advertising agencies when Jeff asked, “Where Are All The Black People?”.

Jimmy Smith’s opening address at Here Are All the Black People 2015

Jimmy, Jeff, and The One Club decided to answer the question and launched the event to address the imbalance and, Here Are All The Black People was born.

Now in its seventh year, recognition of the event has grown considerably, with this year’s sponsors including Verizon – a premier sponsor, as well as FCB Health, Wunderman, Deutsch, Amusement Park, Leo Burnett, GSD&M, Y&R, DigitasLBi, Carmichael Lynch, VCU Brandcenter, Miami Ad School, Droga 5, Swim, McCann Worldgroup, The City College of New York, AIGA, and BBDO.

Support from these companies is central to the running of the event. They not only help to provide funds but also panelists, portfolio reviewers and mentors – all of which are crucial to making Here Are All The Black People a success.

“We’re so excited to have these sponsors on board. This event was created to give participants unprecedented opportunities to interview, network, learn, interact with and gain invaluable knowledge from top creative professionals,” explained Traecy Smith head of diversity at the One Club.

“Many participants have walked away from the event with a second interview or a lead to an internship opportunity.”

Throughout the day, attendees are invited to join portfolio-building workshops, portfolio reviews, and participate in the increasingly popular live ‘elevator pitch’, which awards the winners with interviews with all of the sponsoring agencies.

This year, actress, comedian and video blogger, Franchesca Ramsey, was the keynote speaker. Ramsey was supported by a panel of industry heavyweights including Droga5’s Susia Nam, APE’s Jimmy Smith, Anomaly’s Karina Wilshner, and Carmichael Lynch’s Mike Lescarbeau.

Smith noted, “We all win when we cultivate work environments where diversity of thought, experience, education, talent, and culture are encouraged to flourish. We win when we acknowledge that the best ideas are often born out of a team with diverse perspectives. When we work together to embrace diversity and create a culture for everyone to bring the best aspects of ourselves to work, we create a better company.”

There are ongoing opportunities for agency partners to be involved with the many diversity programs run by the One Club. Contact Traecy Smith for info.

Watch last year’s panel discussion here.