Meet Your 2022 Judges
The Judges for the 2022 I Am A Voter Scholarship Competition are a diverse panel of advertising and design industry experts with extensive experience creating and developing campaigns for clients in a range of industries. This competition is a wonderful opportunity to have your work seen, critiqued, and celebrated by well-respected creative directors and other creative leaders. This kind of access and exposure can spark opportunities and help students refine their portfolios.
DeChazier
Stokes-Johnson
Writer & Content Creator
DeChazier Stokes-Johnson is an award-winning writer and content creator who has helped brands become more culturally relevant and socially conscious for over 17 years. Passionate about crafting stories that move communities to act, DeChazier's work has appeared in print, digitally, and in real life. Currently, he is the Director of Creative Strategy at Cashmere Agency, where he leads social media and content strategy for some of the agency's largest brands.
Erica Conway
Driven by relationships and in the belief that each individual has genuine value, Erica has spent her career helping individuals articulate and present that value to potential employers via C2 and her newest endeavor, Talimer.
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Erica spent the formative years of her career in higher education, serving as a residence life professional at Eastern Washington University and Indiana State University. With nearly 20 years experience in the staffing industry, and having seen thousands of resumes and nearly as many portfolios, her “Cake and Frosting” philosophy has assisted C2 talent in finding their perfect creative homes. She’s now leveraging that framework to launch Talimer, a revolutionary tech and creative talent marketplace that flips the script on the traditional model by putting Freelancers (and job seekers) first.
Xavier Ruffin
Filmmaker & Illustrator
Xavier Ruffin is a creative director, writer, and visual artist focused on altering perceptions of what it means to be a Person of Color in today's world through his work. Xavier received a BFA from MIAD in 2010 and has gone on to help found, lead, or serve with several for-profit and non-profit organizations that support diversity in the creative fields, including Greater Together, Cynosure Creative Agency, and Artists Working in Education. Xavier has done original social media work for popular tv shows and films like Thor: Love and Thunder, Soul, Encanto, Rise, Dolemite Is My Name, Atlanta, and She Gotta Have It, as well as video and animation work for The Migos, Childish Gambino, and many more.
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Xavier has been featured on AdAge.com , NPR, Indiewire, Vimeo, Myspace, SXSW, and in 2016 he was listed as #25 on the top 50 reasons to love Milwaukee, his hometown, before moving to LA to pursue his dream of working in film.
