The One Club for Creativity announced veteran agency and brand marketer Sergio Claudio has been named to serve as head of the global nonprofit organization’s groundbreaking ONE School, the industry’s only free portfolio program for Black creatives.
ONE School launched in 2020 with cohorts in New York and Los Angeles, expanding to Atlanta and Chicago the following year and the U.K. in 2022. The one-of-a-kind free alternative to ad schools provides new career opportunities for the next generation of creative Black individuals, and helps make agency and brand creative departments more diverse.
The results-oriented program has already made a tangible difference. In just a few years, it has an 80% hire rate at top agencies and brands for its 250 graduates, 60% of whom are women. Graduates have worked on award-winning campaigns and Super Bowl ads for some of the world’s top brands.
Claudio is an award-winning marketing and technology executive with a track record of transforming global creative and marketing at some of the world’s most recognizable brands and agencies, including Adobe, Amazon, Omnicom, Marketo, Apple, and others. He is also a guest lecturer at Stanford, NYU, Temple, and UC Berkeley, where he teaches how to effectively blend creativity, technology, and customer experience.
He first connected with ONE School in 2020 while serving as ECD and sr. director at Adobe, a founding creative sponsor of the program. Over the past four years, he was first a mentor, then head of mentorship and advisor for the school.
“ONE School is the program I wish I had when I was coming up,” said Claudio. “Access and exposure make all the difference when finding opportunities, and luckily I met great mentors who helped open doors for me along the way. With ONE School, that now happens by design. We’re building the next generation of Black creative leaders by providing access and exposure to education, mentors, and community to turn the underrepresented into represented, respected, and celebrated leaders of the marketing, advertising, and tech industries.”
The initiative aims to ensure that the high cost of portfolio schools–often upwards of $40,000–does not get in the way of giving world-class Black creative talent a route into the industry. ONE School teaches students how to navigate the industry while Black: classes are taught by Black tutors from the ad industry, and designed to help students bring their authentic voice into their work.
While many companies and organizations have cut back on DEI initiatives, The One Club remains all-in on ONE School. Among the priorities for the coming year are to expand programming to provide continuing support for alumni, and build a community of professional Black creatives.
Claudio succeeds ONE School co-founder Oriel Davis-Lyons, CCO at Mother NY, who with creative industry veteran Bob Isherwood, founder of The One Club’s Creative Development department, started the school shortly after the death of George Floyd.
“Sergio’s dedication since day one–as a sponsor, mentor, tutor, and head of mentorship-–makes this transition a natural fit,” said Jennifer Skidgel, global director, Creative Development, The One Club. “Partnering with him to build on the incredible foundation laid by Oriel and Bob is truly exciting.”
While navigating the challenges of the current DEI climate is no small feat, Skidgel is confident in the club’s ability to sustain and grow ONE School as the premier portfolio program for Black creatives. “We’ll continue to provide our students and alumni with the resources and community they need to create work that is both creatively excellent and unapologetically Black,” she said.
ONE School UK, now in its second year, is run by Sherina Florence, an experienced multi-talented creative leader who is an accomplished executive creative director and known for leading AI conversations and influencing the world’s best brands.
Applications are now being accepted for ONE School Spring 2025 cohorts in New York and Los Angeles.
