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NORWALK, Calif. – August 3, 2022 – The Cerritos College Foundation received a $20,000 grant from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) to foster diverse voices in the College’s journalism program. To combat the lack of representation in news media, the grant will fund diversity initiatives and opportunities for current and future students to study journalism.
“We’re thrilled to receive this gift from the HFPA in support of Cerritos College’s outstanding journalism program,” said Carol Krumbach, executive director of the Cerritos College Foundation. “This support from the HFPA will enable new learning opportunities for future journalists.”
“Black and Latino students make up less than a quarter of the media professionals in our industry today,” said Christian Brown, professor of journalism and department chair of mass communications at Cerritos College. “[The school] is committed to recruiting and training diverse storytellers and content creators to challenge and change the conversation.”
The grant will support fellowships for current students participating in the Cerritos College journalism program. Funding will also be used to produce a high school journalism competition to attract high school students of color into journalism. “This generous funding from the HFPA will double our efforts to expand our journalism programs into local high schools, increasing our visibility and versatility to young people who are already pioneers in the digital media landscape,” said Brown.
“The HFPA’s long history of philanthropy sits at the core of our mission to support cultural, educational, artistic, and humanitarian organizations,” said Helen Hoehne, president of the HFPA. “Our membership has always taken pride in devoting its funds to supporting the broadest range of programs with the most impact. We are exceptionally proud of this year’s grantees and the impact they are making, which range from the largest film restoration project in our history in France to the support of economically and socially disadvantaged diverse journalism students in Cerritos, California.”
Cerritos College’s relationship with the HFPA is long-standing. Dating back to 2014, the Cerritos College Culinary Arts students have helped prepare meals for the Golden Globe Awards dinner at the Beverly Hilton.
