The Dollar General Literacy Foundation and the Ad Council have announced a new Finish Your Diploma campaign aimed at reminding the approximately 34 million U.S. adults without a high school diploma (roughly the equivalent of California’s population) that it is not too late to pursue their academic dreams.
The Finish Your Diploma campaign highlights real stories of adults who completed their degree with the support of friends, family and local education centers. The campaign is a longstanding, successful collaboration between The Dollar General Literacy Foundation and the Ad Council, which provides adults with information needed to earn a high school equivalency diploma and encourages them to sign up for free adult education classes near them at FinishYourDiploma.org.
“Often one of the greatest challenges facing adults who are considering finishing their diploma is simply knowing where to go for support and having the courage to take that first step,” said Denine Torr, Executive Director of the Dollar General Literacy Foundation. “By celebrating real success stories of individuals who achieved their goals while juggling family, work and other adult responsibilities, we hope to inspire others to complete their high school education, pursue their dreams and create a new narrative for themselves and their family.”
The new creative work features Jessica, Santiago and Yeni, three inspiring students who conquered the challenge of going back to school to complete their high school equivalencies in adulthood. New ads show how their family, friends, teachers and mentors provided the extra support and motivation they needed to complete their degrees, underscoring the fact that no one gets a diploma alone.
“We want to raise awareness throughout the country that getting a high school diploma is more attainable than you think,” said Lisa Sherman, Ad Council President and CEO. “You may not feel like you’re ready, but with the help of friends, family and teachers, there’s no better time than right now to get that degree.”
Why This Campaign Matters
Many adults who did not finish high school would like to complete their diploma to potentially access college or new career paths, but may not know where to start. Oftentimes, these individuals are parents raising children, working full time and do not know how to access local and free resources that are available to help them attain their high school equivalency. Additionally, the campaign seeks to inform students who speak English as a second language that classes and tests can be offered in Spanish.
Since the campaign launched in 2010, it has connected 1.5 million Americans with the information needed to sign up for free adult education classes and received more than $159 million in donated support from the media community. The new ads were produced pro bono by advertising agency NGL Collective and are available in English and Spanish. They will live alongside previous phases of “No One Gets a Diploma Alone” creative.
“We’re so grateful for the opportunity to work with partners like the Ad Council and Dollar General Literacy Foundation who invited NGL to lend our expertise to an already amazing campaign encouraging more Latinos to receive their high school equivalency diplomas. We could not be any more proud of the work we’ve done together, and the good it is going to do in the community,” said David Chitel, CEO of NGL Collective.
