BCW’s Brian Ellner Recognized as a Power Player and Role Model in the LGBTQIA+ CommunityJune 22, 2021

NEW YORK, June 22, 2021 – BCW, the global communications agency built to move people, today announced that Brian Ellner, Executive Vice President, Growth & Marketing,New York, BCW, has been named to two key lists honoring LGBTQIA+ individuals during Pride Month. He has been ranked 40 on City & State magazine’s 2021 Pride Power 100 list, which celebrates 100 people in the LGBTQIA+ community in New York who are striving for full equality. Ellner was also recognized as part of PRWeek’s inaugural “Pride in PR List” which spotlights leading LGBTQIA+ PR professionals and showcases their achievements in order to inspire young PR professionals entering the industry.

“Brian is an relentless advocate when it comes to LGBTQIA+ rights, human rights, diversity and inclusion, and equality for all,” said Jillian Janaczek, President, New York, BCW. “If there is a cause in the name of equity, Brian is definitely somehow working to move people to support it. In the same way, Brian is a relentless advocate for his clients and his colleagues, through his roles as a client counselor and executive sponsor of the agency’s LGBTQIA+ employee resource group, BCW PRide. I couldn’t be more pleased that he is being recognized as a leader both in New York and the wider PR industry.”

In the past year Ellner has worked on the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and the Equality Act, and he worked closely with a BCW client to help bring corporate America into the fight to pass the ERA, making it the first time that corporate America weighed in en masse in support of its passage.

In 2011, Ellner was the lead strategist for the Human Rights Campaign's (HRC) successful effort to win marriage equality in New York. He also created HRC's Americans for Marriage Equality campaign and provided strategic counsel on the 2012 marriage equality wins in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington. In 2014 Ellner co-created a global campaign for the Sochi Olympics to highlight Russia’s anti-LGBTQIA+ laws. Frank Bruni called it a “Clever Solution to an Olympic Problem.”

Ellner is also a founding board member of Athlete Ally, a non-profit focused on ending homophobia and transphobia in sport and activating the athletic community to exercise their leadership to champion LGBTQIA+ equality. In 2015 he was awarded ADCOLOR’s Advocate Award given annually to an advertising, marketing or media professional who increases awareness of LGBTQIA+ causes within and outside of the communications industry.

In 2019 and 2020, Ellner was ranked number 39 and 41 on City & State’s Pride Power 100 lists respectively.