“I almost didn’t press submit on my ONE School 

application, but I told myself that I would forever wonder, 

“What if I got in?”

Today this former student is working at a top ad agency 

in New York.

ONE School students come from varied backgrounds: 

Slam poets, graffiti artists, working Moms, a steelworker 

and a Private investigator are some.

I co-founded the school with Oriel Davis-Lyons, a black 

Creative Director, to address the small representation of 

black creatives in the ad industry.

My friend Lindsay Lamb had alerted me to Oriel’s 

Linkedin post where he put the issue down to the high 

cost of  Portfolio schools which was prohibitive to most 

of the black community.

(Around $45,000 pa at the time.)

In the post Oriel explained that it hadn’t cost him a 

fortune to create a decent portfolio of work. 

He offered to help anyone interested.

I was interested. I called him up and asked if he’d help 

start a school with the One Club for Creativity where 

I’m Director of Creative Development.

With the support of our CEO, Kevin Swaneapoel, 

three weeks later we launched ONE School in New York 

and Los Angeles, a free, online portfolio program.

At One School all the teachers and mentors are black. 

That way students can see a pathway for themselves into 

the industry and social issues can be openly discussed.

Students are also advised to keep their voice in the work.

As new media moves closer to one-on-one engagement 

agencies and brands need writers and content creators 

who can speak with authenticity to their audience.

To date former ONE School students have created Super 

Bowl commercials, the “Black Owned Friday” campaign 

and are winning at the World’s top award shows including 

those at the One Club.  

Clarks, the shoe company, set a brief for the students to 

design their popular “Wallabee” boot with a New York 

theme. 

They chose the submission from Tola Oseni and involved 

her all the way through the production.

The boot is now sold worldwide in a shoebox labeled 

Clarks/ONE School.

(That’s Tola on the previous page, not her quote though.)

In less than 3 years with programs now running in 

New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, and recently 

the UK, ONE School has 200 graduates, (65% are women,) 

an 84% hire rate, and is the biggest social change program 

in the history of the US ad industry. 

Do you have a black friend or sibling over 18 who’s 

wondering how to turn their creativity into a career? 

Have them check out ONE School.

Then, if they’re up for it, push them to hit submit.