VSA Honored by 2nd Annual Anthem Awards for Inspiring Racial Justice Work

Feb. 23, 2023

Agency VSA Partners announced today that "Until Justice Just Is," a social justice campaign created in collaboration with the YWCA, has received a Bronze Award in the 2nd Annual Anthem Awards.

VSA developed “Until Justice Just Is” in collaboration with the YWCA, a group famous for its advocacy and support for women. But the organization has also stood on the front lines of eliminating racism for well over a century, and during the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, it wanted a way to invite people to join its mission—and empower them to help scale it. The site, UntilJusticeJustIs.org, gives individuals and companies a place to publicly pledge their support for antiracist efforts, access tools and resources to use in their own communities, and join the YWCA’s Racial Justice League, where they can share best practices and hold each other accountable for following through.

The campaign included out-of-home, video, social media, website design, digital and print advertising, internal communications and promotional merchandise.

Associate partner and executive creative director Kim Mickenberg said:

"Every single piece we put out there from the film and website to the OOH and social—is designed to convey the urgency of YWCA’s mission and the importance of joining it. We are so proud of the impact the campaign has had, both in raising awareness of YWCA’s work and inspiring countless individuals and organizations to get off the sidelines and commit to making meaningful, measurable changes."

 

The campaign was a resounding success: YWCA Metropolitan Chicago met its annual fundraising goals six months ahead of schedule and received the inaugural Chicago Community Healer Award. It was also awarded a $9 million gift from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. The local campaign was so impactful, it was picked up by YWCA USA.

Launched in 2021 by The Webby Awards, The Anthem Awards were created in response to the increasing role social good has taken in the national conversation in recent years. Anthem Awards winners are selected by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, and the second annual competition received nearly 2,000 entries from 43 countries worldwide.

The VSA team being honored includes Kim Mickenberg, Avery Gross, Susan Pfeifer, Emily Gorski, Bryan Haney, Sam Stalling and Amy Bretz. For complete credits, visit the Anthem Awards website.

This year’s Anthem Awards honorees include Gloria Steinem; the founders of Ben & Jerry’s, Ben Cohen & Jerry Greenfield; Billy Porter, Gabrielle Giffords, Amanda Gorman and Abigail E. Disney, among others.

Winners of the 2nd Annual Anthem Awards will be celebrated at the winners celebration on February 27 in New York City.