The Department of Marketing at Cal State Fullerton’s College of Business and Economics and ThinkLA, the largest marketing community in the region, announced the successful debut of the 2025 CSUF x ThinkLA Career Launchpad Summit, a workforce development initiative designed to expand Orange County’s pipeline of marketing and advertising talent.
The summit responds to a growing regional need as Orange County continues to diversify and innovate and local employers face increasing pressure to attract culturally fluent, next-generation talent capable of supporting brand growth in a rapidly evolving marketplace.
According to 2020 national workforce benchmarks, the advertising industry remains over 70% White, even as more than 42% of the U.S. workforce is multicultural. Locally, the gap is even more pronounced. Orange County has become a multicultural-majority market, with over half of residents identifying as Hispanic/Latino, Asian, Black, or multiracial, signaling both a demographic shift and a major economic opportunity for employers.
“Advertising can’t effectively speak to a multicultural America without multicultural talent in the room,” said Don Lupo, executive director of ThinkLA and co-host of the summit. “This event helps ensure that the next generation of creative, media, and strategy professionals is ready to step into local roles in Southern California on day one and have their voices heard.”
Held on Nov. 14, the four-hour summit brought together more than 250 students, faculty, executives, and recruiters for a day of immersive professional development focused on early-career readiness, leadership, client expectations, and the future of AI-powered marketing.
“First-generation and diverse students are uniquely positioned to contribute to Orange County’s innovation economy,” said Jake Beniflah, director of TITANIAM at Cal State Fullerton, the talent accelerator for the business college’s marketing program. “They bring cultural fluency that local businesses urgently need.”
Building the Regional Talent Pipeline
The summit offered students direct exposure to hiring pathways across creative, media, strategy, account, analytics, and social roles; leadership insights from agency executives and brand decision-makers; recruiter-led sessions on professionalism and workplace expectations; AI and future-skills workshops; and a one-on-one mentorship and networking mixer with regional employers.
Leaders from such major corporate names as ThinkLA, IGNITED, RPA, Jack in the Box, Wolfgang, NinetyEight LA, Beyond Etiquette, research guy.com, BARU, Asians in Advertising, and MiQ participated.
ThinkLA is a nonprofit trade association dedicated to supporting the growth, creativity, and competitiveness of the advertising, marketing, and media industry across Southern California, including Orange County.
About TITANIAM
TITANIAM is the Marketing Department’s inclusive talent accelerator at CSU Fullerton, focused on workforce readiness, industry partnerships, and career access. As a department-led initiative, it prepares students for high-demand roles in marketing through applied learning, real-world consulting, and professional development—ensuring they graduate with both the skills and the confidence needed to thrive in today’s competitive marketplace.
For more on marketing education and research at Cal State Fullerton, read more of our articles on marketing.
