Hashtag Sports Awards announced winners for its 3rd year. Yellowbrick took home the award for Excellence in Black Storytelling for the Sneaker Essentials K-12 Pilot Initiative. The awards — presented by Budweiser — honor excellence in fan and consumer engagement across more than thirty categories.
Yellowbrick took home the award for Excellence in Black Storytelling for the Sneaker Essentials K-12 Pilot Initiative.
A prestigious voting panel of members from The Engagement Academy of Sports x Entertainment selects Hashtag Sports Awards winners each year. This year’s panelists include Sean Brown, Clubhouse Head of Sports; Ken Gibbs, Spotify Global Head of Social Media Marketing; Sara Toussaint, North Carolina Courage co-owner & Wells Fargo VP; Chad Easterling, OBSIDIANWORKS CEO; Rachel Jacobson, Drone Racing League President; Dianna Kraus, FleishmanHillard Global Managing Director of Sports; Stephanie Maes, MGM Resorts Sports Partnerships Director; and Pat LaCroix, Bose Global Marketing lead.
ABOUT THE INITIATIVE:
Yellowbrick formed the Sneaker Essentials K-12 Pilot Initiative to help students strengthen their educational engagement by connecting their interest and passion for the sports ecosystem (sneakers) area to their learning experiences. As a result, the development of practical design and critical thinking skills would expose students to potential career paths.
Yellowbrick’s Sneaker Essentials course was initially created in partnership with Complex and the Fashion Institute of Technology. In Brooklyn, NY, students from Meyer Levin Middle School took a customized version of Sneaker Essentials developed specifically for middle-school-aged children for the pilot program. Students created mood boards, then studied different footwear silhouettes to mock up their own designs. They also learned about surveying customer demographics and how to track the value of a shoe. Students presented their final designs during the school’s annual Juneteenth celebration.
“We are so honored that Hashtag Sports selected our program for this award. We see it as added validation for the work we’ve been doing to promote education, working alongside brands like Adidas and Reebok, foundations like JFF, and universities like Parsons – all of which have devoted time and resources to these initiatives,” said Rob Kingyens, CEO of Yellowbrick.
In Brooklyn, NY, students from Meyer Levin Middle School took a customized version of Sneaker Essentials developed specifically for middle-school-aged children for the pilot program.
To read more about the Sneakers Essentials K-12 Pilot Initiative, head to Yellowbrick Sneaker Essentials and sign up for more information.
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FIT is a leading educator in cosmetics, fragrance, design, fashion, and art. The New York-based university has provided industry-defining instruction for over 75 years.
Complex Media is a media and entertainment company reporting on popular and emerging trends in style, sneakers, food, music, sports, and pop culture.
