Cleveland (May 18, 2023) – The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Marcus Graham Project (MGP) in partnership with Hennessy will host the 10th annual iCR8 Sports Marketing Workshop at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse June 5-9, 2023. The workshop will provide 30 diverse students and young professionals from across Ohio with the opportunity to learn, network and collaborate with some of the best and brightest in the sports marketing, media and advertising industry.
A Dallas-based nonprofit, the Marcus Graham Project is a national network of diverse professionals formed with the purpose of developing the next generation of thought leadership. The organization mentors and trains ethnically diverse men and women in all aspects of the advertising, media and marketing industry. MGP introduced their sports marketing workshops during the 2014-15 NBA season in partnership with the Cavs and have over 200+ program alumni from the NEO area. In 2020, MGP was an inaugural grant recipient of the NBA Foundation whose goal is to help drive economic empowerment in Black and Hispanic/Latina/o/é/x communities through employment and career advancement. Since then, MGP has expanded their sports marketing workshop to 10 other NBA markets.
Learn more at www.marcusgrahamproject.org.
“We are proud to partner with the Marcus Graham Project to offer insightful workshops that provide an experiential learning and networking opportunity for participants, including those in our Northeast Ohio Latiné community,” said Kevin Clayton, Cavaliers SVP, Head of Social Impact and Equity “This program has led many of these young professionals to promising and successful sports marketing careers. We are proud that the MGP has provided a great talent pool for the Cavaliers as we currently employ 10 MGP alumni across our Rock Entertainment Group franchises in different capacities.”
During the five-day workshop participants will receive first-hand knowledge about career paths in sports, advertising, media and marketing industries from panels of distinguished speakers that include representatives from the Cavs, Hennessy, along with other marketing experts and agencies.
Additionally, individuals in the program will be placed into separate workshop teams where they will be responsible for creating a 360-degree multi-platform marketing campaign. At the conclusion of the program, all groups will present their campaigns to a panel of judges, where one standout participant will be selected to attend MGP’s iCR8™ Boot Camp this summer in Los Angeles.
Those interested in participating in the 2023 Marcus Graham Project at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse can visit https://jobs.lever.co/marcusgrahamproject for more information and to apply. Applications will be accepted until Friday, May 25.
“Sports are such a great unifier in our society, but ironically the business of sports behind the scenes rarely has the diversity seen in the stands or the equity that encompasses the talent on the field or court,” said MGP Cofounder and Chief Development Officer Larry Yarrell. “In our partnership with the NBA and Hennessy we have been able to introduce talented individuals to the opportunities available to them in an industry that influences billions of people. We are excited to work alongside Cavs again and know that together we can reach even more young, talented, individuals in Cleveland and create that seat at the table to expose them to the many career opportunities available in sports and entertainment.”