PALM DESERT, Calif. --

Nine prominent leaders from across the interactive and diversity landscape have joined the IAB Education Foundation’s inaugural Board of Directors. They will work alongside AOL chairman and CEO Tim Armstrong, who serves as chairman of the IAB Education Foundation Board, as well as the Foundation’s general manager Michael Theodore, to tackle the twin problems of lack of diversity and a growing skills gap in the digital media and advertising industries.

The new members of the board are:
    –Jennifer Creegan, general manager, Operations, Microsoft
    –Tiffany Dufu, chief leadership officer, Levo League, and former president, The White House Project
    –Phyllis Ehrlich, sr. VP, chief client solutions officer, Time Warner Cable Media
    –Bruce Gordon, executive mentor, Merryck & Co
    –Patrick Harris, director of global agency development, Facebook
    –Maureen Jules-Perez, sr. techndirector, Enterprise Services, AOL
    –Michael Kassan, chairman and CEO, MediaLink
    –Freada Kapor Klein, founder, Level Playing Field Institute, and partner, Kapor Center for Social Impact
    –Stephen Kim, VP, Global Accounts, AOL

These board members will take active roles in the development of the IAB Education Foundation’s iDiverse initiative, which is focused on increasing racial, gender, economic, and cultural diversity in the interactive advertising workforce through education, certification, and job placement. In addition, they will support a host of other efforts undertaken by the Foundation—research, outreach programs, and development of best practices, all designed to ensure a strong talent pipeline as the $50 billion digital media and marketing landscape evolves.

“We are standing in front of a problem that can and will change,” said Armstrong. “The internet has changed the way the world works, and we are organizing the industry to change the way diversity works with iDiverse. Join us.”

“Our industry is poised for tremendous growth and we need a skilled workforce pool that can meet that demand,” said Theodore, who also serves as sr. VP, Learning and Development, IAB. “These distinguished leaders—the Foundation’s first Board of Directors—will be vital in helping to create a robust workforce that can sustain the digital media and marketing arena for years to come.”

Incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, the Foundation is equipped to take tax-deductible contributions from individuals and companies and is funded from a variety of sources including corporate and individual supporters, donations, workforce development grants, and IAB itself. For more on the diversity initiative, click here.

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