Capital One Pledges 2-Year Sponsorship of The Creative Ladder
The Creative Ladder™, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit working to make creative careers more accessible and inclusive, today announced it has received its largest corporate sponsorship to date: a $700,000 commitment from Capital One. The sponsorship will support a wide range of free programs for rising, underrepresented talent over two years.
Capital One will also host celebrated director Spike Lee as keynote speaker of the next Creative Ladder virtual event, “Breaking Into Filmmaking as a Creator of Color,” on Feb. 3, 2023.
”We are enormously proud to be a Creative Ladder partner,” commented Marc Mentry, Chief Brand Officer for Capital One. “We know that full inclusion also means that people need to see themselves in the brands they support and to have the opportunity to lend their voices and talents to the marketing fields. Alongside The Creative Ladder, we aim to help remove barriers to access in the creative, marketing, and advertising industries.”
After Creative Ladder’s launch was announced at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in June 2022, Capital One was one of the first major brands to reach out to the nonprofit about supporting its mission to connect, inspire and elevate an inclusive new generation of creative industry leaders.
Ryan Reynolds, co-founder of The Creative Ladder, had this to say about Capital One’s support for the nonprofit:
"It's hard to imagine a better partner to help us build The Creative Ladder. Capital One is one of the world's most creative and captivating brands, and I've been so impressed by their team's commitment to helping make creative industries more inclusive. Plus, they've been an absolute joy to work with."
Reynolds, owner of Mint Mobile and a founder of creative agency Maximum Effort, co-founded The Creative Ladder with CEO Dionna Dorsey Calloway and veteran Adweek editor David Griner.
Creative Ladder’s launch was supported by founding sponsors Deloitte U.S. and Hilton, who remain actively involved with the nonprofit’s programs, with generous support also coming from creative software Ceros and agency Consiglieri.
In just its first six months, Creative Ladder has also partnered with an array of prominent creative industry brands including The Shorty Awards, Creatively, Adweek and Group Effort Initiative.
“We’re so grateful for each of our sponsors who truly understand the value of investing in, empowering and elevating diverse talent,” said Dionna Dorsey Calloway, Creative Ladder’s co-founder and CEO. “It costs real dollars to make creative careers more accessible and inclusive, and our sponsors not only stepped up to the plate, they willingly joined our team and have tangibly increased our impact.”
About The Creative Ladder
The Creative Ladder™ is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2022 with the mission to connect, inspire and elevate an inclusive new generation of creative industry leaders. Programs include virtual events, in-person professional-development events, virtual and in-person leadership academies, mentorship and more. The nonprofit was co-founded by Ryan Reynolds, CEO Dionna Dorsey Calloway and Chief Content Officer David Griner.
About Capital One
Capital One Financial Corporation (www.capitalone.com) is a financial holding company which, along with its subsidiaries, had $317.2 billion in deposits and $444.2 billion in total assets as of September 30, 2022. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One offers a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients through a variety of channels. Capital One, N.A. has branches located primarily in New York, Louisiana, Texas, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey and the District of Columbia. A Fortune 500 company, Capital One trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "COF" and is included in the S&P 100 index.
About Spike Lee
Academy Award® Winner Spike Lee’s iconic body of storytelling has made an indelible mark on filmmaking and television. Most recently, he has entered into a new creative partnership withNetflix, which will see him directing and producing narrative features under a multi-year deal with the streamer. He previously collaborated with Netflix on a number of projects including: Da5 Bloods (which he directed and co-wrote), the series She’s Gotta Have It (which he created, wrote and directed), the film version of Rodney King (which he directed) and the Stefon Bristolsci-fi film See You Yesterday (which he produced). Most recently, he directed a multi-part documentary on activist and athlete Colin Kaepernick for ESPN Films.