13th Annual Shorty Awards Categories

The Shorty Awards honor the talented agencies, brands, and industry leaders behind the best and most innovative work on social media and digital channels, campaigns, websites and applications.

By Campaign
By Design
By Industry
By Overall Presence
Campaign by Platform
Content and Media
Influencer & Celebrity Brand Partnership
Strategy & Engagement
Video by Platform
Video Content
Virtual
Websites & Apps

Best Multicultural Community Engagement

This award honors a brand organization or institution that use social media or digital to effectively engage and collaborate with historically and presently marginalized racial and ethnic communities.

See previous winners and honorees here.
Multicultural Community Engagement
#BuyBlack Friday Show
Small businesses are the heartbeat of our communities and many are facing an economic crisis, due to the pandemic. Black-owned businesses have been disproportionately affected, closing at 2X the rate of non-diverse businesses due to COVID-19. So, we wanted to redistribute focus during the biggest retail season and day of the year toward celebrating and s…
Multicultural Community Engagement
ACADEMY DIALOGUES: IT STARTS WITH US
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented a new series of virtual panels for members and the public, as a part of Academy Aperture 2025, called “Academy Dialogues: It Starts with Us,” with conversations about race, ethnicity, gender, history, opportunity and the art of filmmaking. These discussions focus on the industry-wide systemic changes…
Multicultural Community Engagement
Adobe Diverse Voices: 'When I See Myself'
In celebration of Black creativity, Adobe and Complex partnered on an impactful campaign dedicated to elevating diverse voices across various artistic mediums. The Adobe Diverse Voices campaign was inspired by Adobe’s ‘When I See Black’ film, which beautifully highlights the spectrum of the Black experience.  The goal of the campaign was to explore a vis…
Multicultural Community Engagement
America The Beautiful
The murder of George Floyd prompted a national reckoning around race in America. Over the course of the next several months, 26 million Americans marched and protested across the country, becoming the largest movement in our nation’s history. Despite feelings of anger, 82% of Americans were hopeful about the future of race relations in the country, and 56% …
Multicultural Community Engagement
Color & Capital For Good: An Eastern Bank initiative dedicated to closing Boston’s racial wealth gap
With over 200 years in business, Eastern Bank has a long history of doing what's right and smart and a deep-rooted commitment to fighting for social justice and equality.  Last year, we focused on addressing the systemic racism and wealth inequities within Boston's Black and Latinx communities with our "Color & Capital for Good" campaign. Living under ou…
Multicultural Community Engagement
Comm and Marketing Director
Tap Black content creators across 8 swing states in U.S markets to help galvanize the Black community to register to vote, volunteer to become poll workers, and Vote! The goal is to make an active difference in voter turnout and volunteering at the polls. 
Multicultural Community Engagement
Cricket's #HearMeOut Campaign
Cricket Wireless wanted to create a program that would drive brand affinity and help turn up the volume on issues and interests that affect underrepresented communities, particularly African-Americans. We wanted to genuinely engage and connect with this audience in a way that was authentic and relevant. In fact, we wanted to create a social space where peop…
Multicultural Community Engagement
Facebook Elevate: On the Rise. Together.
Facebook Elevate was launched in 2018 by a group of enterprising Black and Latinx & Hispanic Facebook employees who wanted to take action and positively impact communities of color. Ever since its inception, Elevate has had one mission: to accelerate the economic success and impact of Black and Latinx & Hispanic communities. To this end, Elevate is a pro…
Multicultural Community Engagement
Family Style is Back for Seconds
The objective of season 2 of Family Style was originally very similar to that of season 1, to reach and connect with viewers who are foodies and culture enthusiasts through exploring not just the palate but the people at the table; and not through interviews, but instead discussions like ones between family or friends over a nice meal. However, about halfwa…
Multicultural Community Engagement
Father's Day Taken
On May 25, 2020, the most important news story in America was sparked by a dad who did not make it home – George Floyd. His death resulted in nationwide protests that galvanized citizens demanding an end to the brutality. But, a devastating number of Black fathers in the U.S. were and still are taken from their families because of racism and violence.   …
Multicultural Community Engagement
HBO Insecure S4 - Virtual Block Party
Each year, fans of the Emmy-nominated HBO comedy series, Insecure, look forward to the new season and the festivities that come along with it. Dating back to the show’s 2016 debut, HBO has launched each season with an annual block party premiere experience combining themes from the show with live performances and celebration of community. Season one kick…
Multicultural Community Engagement
LIVES
As a nation, America has become numb to the loss of Black lives at the hands of police around the country. But during lockdown, it was no longer possible to look away. George Floyd’s murder was a horrific event that ignited a racial reckoning, with over 26M Americans protesting to demand change. We wanted to make a powerful statement of support for the move…
Multicultural Community Engagement
Mobilizing Infrequent Voters of Color to Elect Biden-Harris
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is composed of 2 million members -- the majority of whom are Black and brown -- who’ve been essential workers on the frontlines of the pandemic as home and health care, janitorial, airport, food, and other service workers. They knew what was at stake in the presidential election and strongly believed new lead…
Multicultural Community Engagement
New Jingle for a New Era
The events of summer 2020 sparked a nationwide reckoning on racial injustice, exposing deep-seeded racism throughout American culture—even in the country’s most well-known ice cream truck jingle. When a viral video surfaced the racist origins of the song “Turkey in the Straw,” we knew that Good Humor had the responsibility to respond immediately. Althoug…
Multicultural Community Engagement
P-Valley Social Campaign: Welcome to The Pynk
The key to turning this southern-fried series into a cultural phenomenon? Authenticity. Katori Hall’s colorful and complex world of STARZ’ P-Valley told the story of a Black southern experience never before seen on television. The country slanguage, layered characters, original music, Delta Noir aesthetic (baybee, the list finna go on) gave STARZ a chance t…
Multicultural Community Engagement
Pepsi Trademark, Unmute Your Voice
Latinos make up the nation's largest share of nonwhite voters. A record 32 million Latinos make up 13% of all eligible voters. But what's more notable is the youth — about 40% of eligible Latino voters are 18 to 35, according to census data. Hispanics are among the youngest racial or ethnic group in the country with a median age of 30, according to the P…
Multicultural Community Engagement
Protest + Vote = Change
2020 caused the entire nation — in fact, the entire world — to reckon with the injustices and inequalities Black communities face every day. The murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade and many more at the hands of police officers spotlight the brutality Black people experience in the United States. We also saw through research how the ongoing …
Multicultural Community Engagement
Stockton
Generate buzz, awareness and tune-in for the HBO Original documentary Stockton on My Mind through primarily digital activations. Campaign elements were meant to highlight and elevate Stockton mayor Michael Tubbs as a public figure while showcasing the impact he and his policies have had on his community and constituents.
Multicultural Community Engagement
Summit Credit Union - Diversity Video
Following the police-related death of George Floyd in May 2020, protests erupted across the country, including in Madison, Wisconsin. As protests became riots, downtown Madison businesses suffered damage, leading business owners to board up their windows. Madison’s community spirit began to truly shine, with residents coming together to clean up the damage …
Multicultural Community Engagement
Target #BlackBeyondMeasure
In light of 2020's cultural movement around racial and social injustice, Target created a social strategy to elevate, celebrate, and educate on Black voices. As a part of the strategy, Target Social committed to dedicating at least 15% of our editorial calendar to feature Black brands, creators, artists, guests and team members. Representation lived across …
Multicultural Community Engagement
The Chi: Season 3 Marketing Campaign
The Chi is a drama that tells the story of a vibrant and beautiful Chicago community balancing the everyday struggles of life with hope and persistence. Creator and Executive producer Lena Waithe describes the series as “a show about celebrating Black life and Black love even in the midst of tragedy.” Leading into season 3, SHOWTIME® aimed to bring back the…
Multicultural Community Engagement
Univision's Se Habla USA
As the leading Hispanic media company in the U.S., Univision Communications Inc. entertains, informs and empowers U.S. Hispanics with news, sports and entertainment content across broadcast and cable television, audio and digital platforms.    Se Habla USA launched in 2018 as a 360 campaign to celebrate Latino contributions in the U.S. By 2019, the campa…
Multicultural Community Engagement
YouTube's Hispanic Heritage Month
Hispanic Heritage Month (HHM) pays tribute to the generations of Hispanic Americans who have positively influenced and enriched our nation and society. YouTube and XX Artists set out to continue to spotlight and elevate Hispanic creators by featuring evergreen content via takeovers throughout Hispanic Heritage Month. Together, YouTube and XX Artists worked …

About the Shorty Awards

The Shorty Awards honor the best of social media.

Millions of people participate in The Shortys to recognize individuals and organizations producing great content on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitch, TikTok, Snapchat, and the rest of the social web.

shorty awards finalists will be announced in mid-march!