‘Insecure’ Star Jay Ellis to Host Inaugural Anthem Awards for Social Impact (EXCLUSIVE)

Sasha Urban
·7 min read
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Jay Ellis (“Insecure,” “Top Gun: Maverick,”) will host the inaugural Anthem Awards.

The virtual awards, to be held Feb. 28, were created to honor individuals and organizations for their social impact work.

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“It’s a tremendous honor to host the first annual Anthem Awards,” Ellis said. “As we enter the third year of a global pandemic that heightened serious disparities around the world, this important award presents an opportunity to celebrate work that has had real impact from industry leaders making a difference in their communities and globally.”

In addition to honoring organizations and brands including “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” Google, Nat Geo, GLAAD and the American Red Cross, the Anthem Awards will also recognize two individuals for special achievement: athlete of the year Naomi Osaka, “for claiming her third grand Slam title while igniting a conversation about mental health, racial injustice and police brutality,” and entertainer of the year Adam McKay, “for holding up a mirror to society through his work, challenging the status-quo, and for the powerful messages that he compels us to hear,” as the press release states.

“It is our distinct honor to recognize the work that brands, organizations and individuals are all making to create an impact in their community,” said Jessica Lauretti, managing director of the Anthem Awards. “We launched this platform to show the world that all corners of our culture, from sports and entertainment, to business leaders and celebrities, are all standing up to say, it is time for systemic change and that social good is what we value as a society.”

Winners were selected by the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences from a pool of more than 2,500 entries from 36 countries. Viewers can tune into the awards online. In advance of the ceremony will be the first annual Anthem Voices conference, which will feature panelists and winners in conversation. Tickets for the conference and the full list of winners are also available here, or see a selection of winners in the list below.

Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

  • United Nations, UN Research Roadmap for the COVID-19 Recovery

  • Google, Search Black-owned

  • Impact BBDO, New National Anthem Edition

  • BBDO New York, Color of Change: Pedestal Project

  • Tool of NA, Bubba Wallace – Progress Owes No Apology

  • HBO Max, “See Us”

  • FleishmanHillard, Tillamook County Creamery Association’s (TCCA) “All For Farmers” Social Impact Campaign

  • Media.Monks/Google Brand Studio APAC, Stories of Courage

  • Revolt, LIFEWTR – Life Unseen

  • In The Know x Black Girl Podcast Present: Enter the Chat

  • FOLX Health, West 4th Subway Station Takeover

  • McKinsey Global Publishing, Black representation in film and TV: The challenges and impact of increasing diversity

  • Forbes, The State of Black Entrepreneurship

  • m ss ng p eces, Glass Ceiling Breaker

  • WarnerMedia, Mastercard One Billion and Beyond

  • 72andSunny, Adobe Diverse Voices – When I see Black

  • ViacomCBS, RuPaul’s Drag Race “Say Love” PSA w/ The Trevor Project

  • Work & Co, Work & Co Fund

  • Partizan Entertainment, Nike’s FM (Future Movement) Broadcast

  • Netflix, Visions of Us: Groundbreaking Moments in Queer Latine Representation

  • The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Trevor Noah: The Daily Show

  • TBWA\Chiat\Day LA, QuickBooks x Compton Girls Club: Business G.IRL Incubator

  • Curb Free with Cory Lee, Curb Free with Cory Lee

  • Medium Rare, Daymond John’s Black Entrepreneurs Day

  • IFundWomen, Fund Black, Queer, Latinx & Hispanic, and AAPI Women Founders

  • Cut+Run, The New York Times – Megan Thee Stallion

  • Al Jazeera Digital, Shoaib Parliament

  • Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Be Seen

  • Sesame Workshop, Coming Together

  • Malala Fund, Assembly, a digital publication and newsletter from Malala Fund

  • Cerebral Palsy Foundation, Just Say Hi Inclusion Program in Schools

  • GLAAD, Social Media Safety Index

  • Color Of Change, Puma Sponsorship of Gwen Berry

  • Marshall Plan for Moms, Reshma Saujani x Marshall Plan for Moms

  • BBC, 50:50 The Equality Project – BBC

  • AIDS Healthcare Foundation/iN-Hale Entertainment, All Boys Aren’t Blue

  • Born This Way Foundation, Born This Way Foundation’s #BeKind21 2020 Campaign

  • National Geographic, In Conversation: Reframing Black History and Culture

  • Black Girl Ventures, Black Girl Ventures Foundation

Education, Art, & Culture

  • Hello Monday, American Society for Deaf Children: Fingerspelling with Machine Learning

  • POPSUGAR, POPSUGAR’s Girl Talk: Knowledge is Our Superpower

  • The New York City Department of Youth and Community Development/Show the Good, Step it Up NYC: Black Lives Matter

  • The Door, Listening Lab

  • The Black Light Project, The Black Light Project

  • National Geographic Society, Storytelling For Impact

  • Inc Arts UK, Inc Arts UK Speak-Listen-Reset-Heal & Unlock

  • The Iconoclast Dinner Experience (IDE), The Iconoclast Dinner Experience (IDE) by The Dental Kidz Foundation

  • Stanford University School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences, #StanfordEarthCelebrates identities series to promote awareness and

  • inclusion across the the Stanford School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences

  • First Americans Museum, OKLA HOMMA: Tribal Nations Gallery
    James Madison University, Here + There: Exploring Multi-layered Identity through Photography

Health

  • dentsuACHTUNG!, Malaria No More, Draw The Line Against Malaria

  • DDB Group New Zealand, Sperm Positive: The World’s First HIV-Positive Sperm Bank

  • Google, Forward Rhythm

  • The Public Works, First Descents

  • BBDO New York, Sandy Hook Promise, Teenage Dream

  • Nightjar, NextStep – Making Sense of Mental Health

  • Women’s Health, Women’s Health’s Instagram Fitness Community

  • 72andSunny, Sports United: MLB, MLS, NFL, NHL, NBA, WNBA, ATP, WTA, NWSL, USGA, NASCAR, Activision, EA, WWE, Sports United:

  • #TheRealHeroes Project

  • Purpose, The United Nations, Verified: Fighting COVID-19 Misinformation

  • ViacomCBS, Mental Health Action Day

  • Deutsch LA, Ad Council, Do It for Me, COVID-19 Vaccine Education Initiative

  • Jet Propulsion Laboratory, VITAL Ventilator

  • Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Planned Parenthood’s Chat/Text and Chatea/Textea

Human & Civil Rights

  • Media.Monks, Reporters Without Borders Germany, The Uncensored Library

  • BUCK, Netflix “We The People”

  • Swell Creative Group, Re-Imagine L.A. Coalition

  • Droga5, The New York Time: 1619

  • ViacomCBS, Vote Early Day

  • Al Jazeera Digital, Still Here

  • Zealous, a fiscally sponsored project of Tides Center, Silenced: Solitary Confinement

  • NAACP, Unmasked COVID-19 Town Hall Series

  • National Immigration Law Center and Resilience Force, Immigrants Are Essential

  • It Gets Better Project, Out in Front: Queer Youth Changing the World

  • World Vision International, Syria’s Lost Generation

Humanitarian Action & Services

  • Droga5, Red Wing Labor Day On

  • Zillow Group, Zillow and Housing Connector partner to increase housing security

  • CNN, Champions for Change

  • Blue State, UNHCR UK— The UN’s Refugee Agency – Worlds Apart (Winter Appeal)

  • Innocence Project, Innocence Project Presents “Happiest Moments”

  • Airbnb.org, Airbnb.org Commits to Provide Free Housing to 20,000 Afghan Refugees

  • charity: water, charity: water Tiny Heroes Campaign

  • Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, Mayors for a Guaranteed Income (MGI): Abolishing Poverty Through Direct Cash Payments

  • World Food Programme (WFP), The World Food Programme Innovation Accelerator

  • World Vision International, Refugee Phone Takeover

  • NDPI Foundation, For the Good of All:Three Partners for Peace Stories

  • Sesame Workshop, Ahlan Simsim

  • Global Citizen, Global Citizen Live

  • USA for UNHCR, Refugee Youth Storytellers Celebration

  • Mothers Against Drunk Driving, In Loving Memory of Andrew McMorris

  • American Red Cross, Clara, the Multilingual Disaster Response Chatbot

  • International Rescue Committee, Leadership In Times of Crisis

Responsible Technology

  • BBDO New York, Monica Lewinsky, The Epidemic

  • Google, A CODA Story

  • DoorDash, Project DASH

  • IBM, Call For Code – Activating Global Developers to Solve Society’s Pressing Challenges

  • Accenture, Advancing Race Equity in VR (Tory’s Home Visit)

  • LaunchSquad, The Trevor Project’s Crisis Contact Simulator

  • Columbia Journalism Review, Columbia Journalism Review: The Disinformation Issue

Sustainability, Environment, & Climate

  • Ubilabs GmbH, Timelapse in Google Earth

  • Morgan Stanley, Audrey Choi

  • National Geographic, Nat Geo’s Earth Day Eve 2021

  • The Solutions Project, The Solutions Project

  • World Economic Forum, What Future Do We Want?

  • Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef, Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef: The Great Reef Census

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