Miles Philip Hammond Scholarship at Miami Ad School Reignites for Second Year

Miami Ad School Toronto along with Broken Heart Love Affair and Lifelong Crush, today announced they are again accepting applications for The Miles Philip Hammond Scholarship program. 

A campaign to promote this second round of Scholarships is being launched Tuesday October 17th, 2023. This year, the script is flipped. Working with a creative team at Lifelong Crush, the recipients of last year’s scholarship are the creators behind the 2023 campaign as it aims to seek out eligible candidates for its second year.

The striking campaign features the faces of the 2022 recipients amongst headlines that read, 'Challenges Lead to Creativity', 'Struggles Lead to Stories', and 'Hardships Lead to Heart', in an aim to spread the notion that adversity can also create opportunity. An important goal of the campaign is to create awareness about the opportunities at M.AD, especially within communities that are under-represented in advertising. Epitaph Media has donated media planning, and a buy in support of that push. Hype PR is once again donating PR planning and services to promote the Scholarship.  

The Miles Philip Hammond Scholarship, funded by Broken Heart Love Affair (BHLA) and Lifelong Crush (LLC) was initiated in 2022, and covers the costs of a $40,000 CAD two-year full scholarship program at M.AD. It was established in memory of the great nephew of BHLA partner Beverley Hammond, Miles, who lost his battle with cancer in February 2021. Miami Ad School is matching the funds from BHLA and LLC, expanding the program to fund an additional student. 

The 2023 Scholarships are open to applicants who are interested in attending M.AD Toronto in the Art Direction or Copywriting Portfolio program, starting full time studies in April 2024 or July 2024. The Scholarship was created for individuals who have overcome adversity and are in pursuit of their creative dreams. Interested applicants can get more information about the scholarship and apply through Miles Philip Hammond Scholarship | Miami Advertising School - Toronto.  

According to first year recipient Qudsiya Jabeen, there is an opportunity gap that exists in advertising and barriers to entry that go beyond financial restrictions. Despite going to a creative high school and university program, advertising never emerged as a viable career option until the scholarship. She hopes the program will raise awareness and consideration of advertising as a career opportunity and reach a more diverse group of equity-deserving talent. 

"This scholarship had a tremendous impact on my life. But this scholarship goes beyond the individual impact - I believe it's doing something much bigger. It has also provided access to mentorship and an incredibly supportive network. It opened so many doors for me. All these things go such a long way for emerging talent from underrepresented communities, and I hope we can reach new audiences with this campaign,” Qudsiya Jabeen, year one recipient.

"The Miles Philip Hammond Scholarship was the difference in my pursuing a career in Advertising or not,” said Ben LeDrew, year one recipient. Adding, “growing up in a small province and an even smaller town made for few creative opportunities to study and work in advertising. The costs of moving and studying seemed like unbreakable barriers for me. This scholarship has allowed me to move to Toronto to study Art Direction and learn from some of the industry's top creatives.”

Miles’ parents Kate and Kent Hammond added "Watching last year's candidates Ben and Qudsiya utilise their opportunity to do such amazing things has been everything we hoped for at the outset of this process. We're so appreciative to everyone involved for creating such a special way to remember our boy."

Applications open online on Tuesday October 17th, 2023, and the process is an opportunity for applicants to use creativity to tell their story. The deadline for entries will be February 20th, 2024. Miami Ad School Toronto, Broken Heart Love Affair and Lifelong Crush, and the Hammond family will select the two recipients to be announced on March 1st, 2024.