Introduction by Dan Perkins

Because diversityinbusiness.com exists to broaden awareness of emerging talent in diverse communities, we take great pleasure in featuring our second annual salute to The Next Generation of Advertising Talent. 

We are delighted by the industry's favorable response to our annual salute of its emerging minority talent.  Although there remains a great deal of work to be done before the advertising industry fully reflects the diversity of America, we are greatly encouraged by the enormous talent and accomplishments of the five individuals selected for this year's salute. 

We are equally encouraged by the growing number of agencies that submitted outstanding minority candidates for our consideration.  While we value all of the accomplishments of all of the candidates submitted for this year's review, we believe we have selected five individuals who truly embody the richness of diversity in the industry today, and throughout American society.

Our five honorees for 2005 are:

• Clark, Creative Director, The Donahue Group, Los Angeles.

• Eduardo Dehesa-Conde, Associate Creative Director, Draft New York.

• JeWayne Thomas, Account Supervisor, Burrell Advertising, Chicago.

• Miraj Parikh, Media Director, Starlink, Chicago.

• Lena Woo, Account Supervisor, Leo Burnett, Chicago.

We salute each of these professionals and look forward to highlighting their continued success in the industry in the years to come.

To learn more about this year's honorees, click on the graphic at the bottom of this page.  Our Advertising Editor, Matthew Jones, has done a outstanding job presenting all five of our honorees.  Discover who they are and prepare to be inspired.