Mending Walls is a public art project that brings together artists from different cultures to create murals in the Greater Richmond area that address societal issues. Founded by artist Hamilton Glass, Mending Walls’ mission is “to bring about healing through public art while adding something meaningful to the conversation of Black Lives Matter.”
In 2021, Mending Walls focused on critical areas where communities of color historically have been harmed: food justice; mental health; criminal justice reform; and housing. As part of the Padilla Diversity & Inclusion Day of Service, several of our employees volunteered for the housing project – priming a 120-foot wall for a mural that conveys the need for safe living spaces in Richmond’s southside.
Padilla has partnered with the Minnesota Technology Association (MnTech) for many years to support the nonprofit’s annual Tekne awards, a business competition that recognizes the best and brightest of Minnesota’s technology efforts. We work with MnTech and award recipients to showcase the stories of Minnesota technology innovation through media and social channels, as part of making Minnesota the best place for technology companies and employees.
Action for Healthy Kids (AFHK) is a national nonprofit organization committed to the belief that child health is a basic human right. Through its work, AFHK empowers families and supports schools to improve the health of more than 2 million children by helping students gain access to healthy foods, opportunities to play and be active, and nurturing environments. With a brand-new marketing team brought on board in 2021, the Padilla and FoodMinds teams helped AFHK develop and align on an overarching strategic framework to drive its communications activities, including an earned media approach to raise awareness and support for its efforts in creating healthier schools where kids can thrive.
Twin Cities PR BIPOC Career Explorer is a very long title for a program, but it’s one that’s doing some heavy lifting in terms of recruiting students of color into the communications field and more specifically the world of public relations agencies. Padilla is one of six agency collaborators and three university partners who designed and delivered this first-of-its-kind “externship” program for BIPOC students. Students receive a real-world look at the industry through a direct-access learning program and a network of professionals and mentors who are helping them connect with future opportunities in the Twin Cities area and beyond. Thirty-two students completed the six-month inaugural program – more than double our goal – and we’ll be repeating it again in the Fall 2022. Together, the agencies and partners are working to diversify the make-up of the PR industry to better represent the world and the messages we put into it.
In 2021, the team at SHIFT rallied around two major issues — the pandemic and DE+I — and took action through The Fierce Urgency of Now Festival, hosted by City Awake, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce’s premier young professional platform for next-generation leaders. The event, in SHIFT’s headquarters city, aims to make Boston a more inclusive, welcoming and truly anti-racist place. To support those efforts, the SHIFT DE+I Committee hosted The Job Hunter’s Post-Pandemic Playbook. The workshop-style event helped equip BIPOC and LGBTQ+ members with advice and tools needed to break into Boston’s public relations and marketing industry.
