MLK Scholars Partnership with The Boston Globe

Every year, John Hancock sponsors MLK Scholars, the largest summer jobs program of its kind in the country. The program pays the salaries for students to work for local nonprofits and provides civic education and money management skills. These videos were co-produced with the Boston Globe to celebrate the ways in which MLK Scholars positively impacts the city – by providing staff to nonprofits, jobs to city youth, and a valuable hiring pool of talented and experienced young people to the business community.

About the Video

This video focused on the three-pronged approach, or win-win-win, that makes the MLK Scholars program so special. Published as a sponsored post alongside an in-depth article on the program, the video was produced with a journalistic feel and features three main characters representing city youth, area nonprofits and the Boston business community. Interviews with these subjects are supplemented with location footage of civic leadership forums at Boston University’s Agganis Arena, a jobs program at the Boys & Girls Club of Mattapan, activism sessions at Teen Empowerment in Roxbury and a corporate human resources office at John Hancock.

Creative Team

Director: Dave Walker

Art Director: Nicole Ricciardi

Copywriter: Erin Granneman

Hair & Makeup: Bridget Bouilette

Video Crew: Bryan Fusco, Lindsay Taylor Jackson, Tony Cotte

Music: Steve Boyle

About The Video

This video was produced to demonstrate how MLK Scholars adapted to serve Boston youth during the coronavirus pandemic, attesting to John Hancock’s continued commitment to the program despite unprecedented adversity. When faced with the possibility of cancelling in 2020, program stakeholders and organizers pivoted and brought the leadership forums and job placements to virtual and socially-distanced formats, providing Boston teens important opportunities in a year that saw economic and racial disparities compound nationally. This story of resilience was made possible through a resourceful editing, which combined kinetic type with a percussive soundtrack to bring energy to a mix of archival footage, limited assets from 2020 programs, and stock imagery. Building on the successes of this campaign, the creative team is developing an MLK Scholars podcast, co-produced with Boston teens, that invites Scholars, program alumni and Boston community leaders to speak on a range of relevant topics including urban planning, career development, racial equity and civic activism.

Creative Team

Director/Editor: Dave Walker

Art Director: Isabel Bonenfant

Copywriter: Ricky Mahoney

Producer: Melissa Johnson