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Between the AI arms race, political and economic headwinds, the ad industry finds itself at an inflection point, reshaping how organizations invest in and talk about talent. Most notably, advertisers are grappling with the pullback from diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives — largely given President Trump’s scrutiny of DEI.
The 4As, hasn’t been immune from that recalibration. Earlier this year, the U.S. trade association for advertising agencies overhauled Multicultural Advertising Intern Program (MAIP) and Vanguard — two of the marketing industry’s cornerstone diversity programs — to be more be more inclusive beyond race and ethnicity. The changes were meant to fall in line with cultural shifts, but sparked concern from former MAIP fellows who argued that the move diluted the original mission.
As the industry navigates changes to DEI and surge in AI use, the 4As appointed Sylvia Banderas Coffinet as the organization’s evp of people, talent and upskilling, to expand the foundation’s reach and strengthen key programs, including the Multicultural Advertising Intern Program (MAIP) and Vanguard.
Coming into the role, Banderas Coffinet is pitching diversity as a business imperative rather than a moral initiative by measuring intern hiring rates and incorporating AI into program curriculum. Banderas Coffinet came with a background in media as CEO of Latina Media Network and corporate general manager at Vox Media. She was announced as the 4As latest hire under CEO Justin Thomas-Copeland on October 21.
“At the end of the day, engagement, inclusion, learning — these are not nice to have. They are the economic levers that are going to make you successful,” she said.
Digiday recently caught up with the newly appointed 4As exec to learn more about future-proofing MAIP and Vanguard, diversity amidst political headwinds and AI’s impact on the next generation of advertisers.
This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.
How will you approach talent initiatives given the current climate of DEI setbacks and AI’s impact on job roles?
Innovation is still the goal. And while technology serves as the tool, it will never replace human ingenuity. As it relates to diversity, equity, and inclusion — we can get into the semantics of the words — but fundamentally, diversity is central to innovation. One without the other doesn’t exist. Probably the greatest killer of creativity is group think. Often, we talk about diversity and inclusion is good ethics, and it is. But I also believe it’s good business, and sometimes we get caught up in these conversations that forget that the numbers and the research and the years of analysis that have been done by numerous experts still show that there is a direct correlation between diversity and inclusion, talent and more successful campaigns.
Is there a difference between DEI and inclusion in terms of semantics, and how does this impact talent initiatives and programming?
Diverse workforces are a form of creating inclusion. Inclusion and belonging are ultimately rooted in equity. And the idea that when we have more voices in the room, when we create an aperture for more just more — more thoughts — innovation is a natural result of that. It’s unfortunate that we’ve turned this conversation into semantics. Because whatever we call it, the bottom line is the facts support that it’s good for the business.
Considering the current climate around DEI, what initiatives do you plan to tackle to advise 4As members?
The biggest difference is the way we’re talking about it. Before, we could openly say this was a moral initiative. And that was correct. In many ways, that seems to be not as popular now. But the reality is the support and the numbers are there. So it’s OK to then turn it into a business conversation. I’m not saying it has to be either-or. It’s very much an “and.” It also depends very much on who you’re speaking to. Most of us that have done this work and believe in this work and understand the importance of this work, know that you can call it whatever it is, representation and innovation are critical to the bottom line.
Does the shift from ‘moral’ dilemma to business imperative change how the 4As pitches partnerships to agencies and others?
The conversation is going to be best received if it’s grounded in the dollars and cents of it all. I don’t think that that’s the only anchor point. I believe most of us in the industry are living in New York and in the world, and just the way things are now, Gen Z is 50% diverse. There is a return to wanting to speak more on things like ROI and on impact business metrics. In many ways, I welcome that we are poised to have those conversations and there’s plenty of data that supports it. And if that’s what it’s about — if it’s about doing the right thing for the business — that’s good news for us.
How will you measure the continued impact of your MAIP or Vanguard programs, ensuring they deliver real outcomes rather than just symbolic initiatives?
The full-time hire rate is a critical measure. It’s a huge investment in time and upskilling and training. These programs are really rigorous and they also support the fellows after the fact. One of the most important measures for us is, did they land that full-time job? Did the agencies hire them full-time? The national average is around 53% for most internship programs [according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) 2024 internship and co-op report]. We are at around 48%, and our goal is to get to 55%.
Could you outline the expansion plans for the MAIP and Vanguard programs and how they will contribute to achieving the 55% full-time employment goal?
Part of that is ensuring that our curriculum and our upskilling is really responding to the greatest need of the industry — which is around AI upskilling — and to make that central. The other part of that is there’s a certain level of educating and reminding our partners that in many ways, our role has and always will be…our strategy has always been to identify and power and employ the next generation of creative leaders. That’s what MAIP is about. How we get to that 55% is very much by ensuring that our industry values and understands the importance of representation as innovation, that they can correlate how hiring inclusive talent ultimately means they see benefits in their bottom line.
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