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American Indian College Fund Proud to Announce Dan Wieden, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Ad Partner Wieden+Kennedy Presented with CLIO Lifetime Achievement Award

The CLIO Awards, one of the world's most recognized international advertising and design competitions honoring creative excellence and innovation in the industry, presented Dan Wieden, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Wieden+Kennedy (W+K) , with the Lifetime Achievement Award on May 13 during the 50th Anniversary CLIO Awards in Las Vegas. The CLIO Lifetime Achievement Award is one of the highest, most prestigious honors in the advertising industry and recognizes the outstanding and ongoing contribution of an individual who leads the industry forward.

"CLIO is honored to present Dan Wieden with the Lifetime Achievement Award. He truly embodies the essence of a strong, committed leader, one who has made significant fundamental and progressive contributions for his clients and the industry," said Wayne Youkhana, director of the CLIO Awards. "Dan's contributions and pioneering spirit have certainly made a lasting impact on those who not only have had the pleasure to work with him, but the ad industry as a whole."

"We at the Fund are delighted that the industry has recognized Dan Wieden's achievement. We have been honored and humbled to work with him over the years to further the cause of American Indian education," said Richard B. Williams, president and CEO of the American Indian College Fund (the Fund). The Fund is one of Wieden+Kennedy's pro bono clients, and Wieden personally works on the campaigns alongside co-founding partner David Kennedy. Their dedication and vision have led to national recognition of the Fund's mission to provide college scholarships for American Indian students.

In 1982, Wieden worked at a local ad agency in Portland, Oregon, with his partner David Kennedy on Nike, an upstart sneaker account (at the time). Shortly thereafter, the agency-client relationship began to falter, and Wieden+Kennedy recognized the timely opportunity to open their own agency. Wieden+Kennedy (W+K) was founded in Portland with one shared pay phone and one client – Nike. Today, the agency is a globally recognized powerhouse that has grown tremendously over the past 27 years, with nearly 1,000 employees and offices in Portland, New York City, London, Amsterdam, Delhi, Shanghai and Tokyo.

W+K prides itself on being an independent, creatively led, progressive ad agency that operates 24 hours a day, in several languages, and on projects beyond advertising including: international corporate branding; an experimental advertising school; the production of sports documentaries and television series; pro bono campaigns for clients, including the Fund, in every office around the globe; and the W+K Tokyo Lab, which releases some of Japan's best new music. W+K currently works with worldwide recognizable brands such as Nike, Levi's, Heineken, ESPN, Coca-Cola, Electronic Arts, Honda, Procter & Gamble, Target, Disney/PIXAR and Nokia. Last year, Adweek named W+K "2007 Global Agency of the Year."

"It is a great, great honor. And I am forever thankful. That said, I feel like a thief," said Wieden. "This award rightfully belongs to that humming mass of brains and hearts at Wieden+Kennedy that built this network, office by office, day by day, job by job. They take my breath away."

Wieden himself has won several honors, including: Inc. magazine's "America's 25 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs"; Time magazine's "World's 50 Cyber Elite"; and Advertising Age's "100 Ad People of the 20th Century." He is also the founder of Caldera, a nonprofit arts education organization and camp for at-risk youth located in Sisters, Oregon. Wieden grew up in Portland, graduated from the University of Oregon and worked briefly in public relations before switching careers to advertising.