Why the 4A’s is broadening two of its diversity initiatives to be ‘more inclusive’

MAIP, founded in 1973, has been an internship program to place people of color in marketing roles. MAIP cohort sizes range each year, but there are about 300 to 400 applicants every year for the program, according to MAIP’s informational page. Vanguard, meanwhile, has been a professional development program since 2021 that ensures non-white talent has equitable access to leadership roles. Since last October, the 4A’s have added an academic curriculum to MAIP and enhanced Vanguard’s curriculum. The biggest change also made at that time, however, may be the programs’ shift to allow all people to apply, according to the 4A’s.

“The goal is how can we be broader and more inclusive because we’ve always addressed intersectionality, but through initially that race, ethnicity lens. Now, we’re just being more expansive,” said Kaplowitz. (Kaplowitz will step down as CEO at the end of this month. Her replacement has not yet been named.) 

How many students graduate from the program each year, as well as the cohort sizes, range each year. In 2024, the MAIP cohort saw 75 fellows. Per the foundation’s 2023 annual report, MAIP’s fellows identified as 27% Black/African-American/African, 33% as Hispanic/Latinx, 29% identified as Asian American and Pacific Islander, 2% Middle Eastern and 9% identified as multiracial or multiethnic. As a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, the 4As Foundation’s programs are funded by donations, sponsorships and other fees.

Shifts in the program date back to October, before President Donald Trump’s efforts to dismantle DEI at a federal level, per the foundation. Meaning, the changes are in response to ad and marketing agencies asking for talent that reflects a more diverse consumer base, Kaplowitz said. 

Kaplowitz said she believes the core mission of the programs remain intact, providing opportunities to talent from underrepresented backgrounds, whether it be race, sexual orientation, gender, physical and intellectual capabilities and socioeconomic status. The application period for the 2025 MAIP student program has now closed.

Both MAIP, which started in 1973, and Vanguard, which started in 2021, have been the non-profit’s response to lagging diversity and inclusion in the ad and marketing industry, dating back generations and designed to provide diverse professionals with opportunities and support Black and brown talent. Last year, the ANA (Association of National Advertisers) conducted a study revealing that ethnic representation among marketers declined from 32.3% in 2022 to 30.8% in 2023. In comparison to the previous three years, ethnic diversity increased from 27.6% in 2019 to 32.3% in 2022.

Redefining DEI

Notably, the industry has been pushing to redefine diversity and inclusion, backing away from DEI amidst Trump’s crackdown. As Digiday previously reported, companies like Target, Walmart, Ford Motors, John Deere, Molson Coors (the list goes on) have retooled their DEI commitments, signaling a DEI rebrand after the topic got renewed attention amid the Black Lives Matter Movement and murder of George Floyd in 2020.

“Diversity in our industry has evolved and changed, where probably five years ago the emphasis and the talk was more around racial or even gender. Today, you’re seeing that open up a little bit more,” said  Chris Witherspoon, referring to the industry’s push for inclusivity beyond race and ethnicity. Witherspoon serves as board chair at BLAC (Building Leaders And Creators) internship program and founder at DNA&STONE ad agency. He later added, “Right now, everyone is trying to navigate how you do that in a way where you’re under a microscope.”

The non-profit program BLAC is heading into its fifth year this month, founded to introduce and retain the next generation of Black talent to the ad industry, he said. BLAC is open for anyone to apply, but emphasizes Black talent, Witherspoon said, pointing to the industry’s underrepresentation. Like MAIP, BLAC thinks about diversity in its internship program outside of race and ethnicity, also considering gender, cognitive and experiential diversity.

Questions around commitment

Still former MAIP fellows question the industry’s current commitment to Black talent. 

Jazmine Francis-Nobrega, as a MAIP fellow in 2019, felt she’d had a sense of community in advertising for the first time. By the time she finished the fellowship, she felt she had access, confidence and the tools to network. Francis-Nobrega is currently a student at NYU Stern School of Business and hopes with the changes, the program will maintain its commitment to underserved communities. “… Being in a group of people who are very talented who look like you, for other people it’s very intimidating, but for me it was very empowering,” she said.

Jasmine Farooq, senior strategist at OBERLAND ad agency, was a MAIP fellow for both the 2019 and 2020 cohorts, and said her experience was invaluable, giving her the confidence and support to continue in the ad industry. “In an industry where there’s so much bias, discrimination, and favoritism, this opened the door for people like me to have a chance at a career that would’ve been even more difficult with the odds already set against us,” she said in an emailed statement to Digiday.

Both Farooq and Francis-Nobrega, however, said that while they understand the need for inclusivity beyond race and ethnicity, they were concerned these shifts meant faltering commitments to Black and brown people.

“There’s so much erasure happening within diversity efforts that it’s disheartening to see the one program that felt like a lifeline for many of us become reduced to a program ‘for all’,” Farooq added.

That’s not to discredit the work MAIP, Vanguard, BLAC and programs like them have done toward creating a seat at the table for Black and brown talent in the ad industry, said Bennett Bennett, cultural strategy director at GUT ad agency in the U.S. Bennett was a MAIP alumnus in 2013, volunteering or mentoring with the program through 2023. The strategist also served as co-founder of 600 & Rising, an advocacy group for Black talent in advertising backed by the 4A’s in 2020. 

“It’s a great equalizer for somebody like me who didn’t come from a major advertising and marketing program,” he said. He also added, “It also begs the question, ‘how many new doors are there for Black and brown talent?’”

In regards to those concerns, Kaplowitz says MAIP and Vanguard will remain “a platform for people that need opportunities.” She later added, “There’s different terminology that may be used, but there’s still this core fundamental commitment to how can we be inclusive and supportive of all people.”

In addition to the inclusivity efforts, MAIP is refreshing its curriculum, focusing on providing agency-specific skills, fostering personal and professional growth as well as offering career planning guidance. The program comes with updated campus recruitment strategies, a Labs program to enrich the fellows’ internship experience and new summer projects. The 4A’s Foundation will also create a new research series to inform the future of the foundation’s talent programs, including research on the state of employee resource groups and neurodiversity at agencies.

Vanguard’s new features also come with an enhanced curriculum to focus on inclusive leadership and management skills, innovation and data analysis and AI application in marketing. 

“We want to make sure that the program can continue and we believe this is an important next step to maintain the strength of the program while continuing to see it evolve but also still stay true to its roots about who we’re really trying to serve and support,” Kaplowitz said.