On September 22, Cox Media of Northern Virginia was recognized with the American Advertising Federation’s (AAF) prestigious Mosaic Award for increasing its partnership with minority employees. The Mosaic Awards celebrate individuals and companies that have implemented programs which reinforce the AAF’s goals of increasing the representation of people of color throughout the ranks of business, helping companies achieve growth by leveraging multicultural and targeted ethnic marketing communications, and promoting fair competition.

Cox Media received recognition under the Workforce Diversity category of the Mosaic Awards. In order to be acknowledged under this particular category, Cox Media had to demonstrate a strong effort to recruit and hire persons from various ethnic and cultural backgrounds and reflect results through a highly diverse professional and non-professional workforce.

Created in 2002, the NAB Media Sales Institute (MSI) of Howard University presented an opportunity for Cox to recruit qualified and ethnically diverse students, by forging a partnership to groom graduates to join the Cox Media sales department. Ron Dickinson, Vice President, General Manager of Cox Media in Northern Virginia Cox Media notes that the challenge was to develop an efficient training program that would yield ethnically diverse account executives that mirrored the culture of the 46 Cox Media offices across the country.

“Every year 30-40 graduates of historically black colleges and universities are selected for a free 10-day program designed to educate students on the media sales business,” Dickinson said. “Taught by Cox mangers, this program gives minority students a jump start on cable television advertising sales. By their involvement, Cox managers are able to network with various broadcasters and faculty of Howard, in addition to evaluating the potential of those enrolled in the program.”

“The Howard Diversity Project” has diversified a number of Cox Media markets. For 2004 there are 13 new Howard project recruits completing a rigorous 90-day training program in Phoenix and they will soon take account executive positions in Cox Media locations nationwide, from San Diego to New England.

“Cox has better customer service by allowing diversity within the workplace to reflect the diversity amongst our customer,” Dickinson said. Due to the success of “The Howard Diversity Project,” similar programs are being designed to attract Hispanic account executives.