Immigrant-centered report wins Gold at Anthem Awards

Define American empowers diverse and nuanced storytelling about immigrant experiences through research, partnerships, and storyteller engagement. Founded in 2011 by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and Tony-nominated producer Jose Antonio Vargas, their work helps audiences see all immigrants with their full humanity.

Define American looked at 79 television shows airing between 2020 and 2022 to understand how often and how well immigrant characters are represented on TV. Madeo partnered with Define American on the design of the report and its corresponding social, email, and website content. The design of the report uses a television-inspired take on their brand identity, connecting their overall mission of humanizing the immigrant narrative to the report’s findings on representation.

Titled Change the Narrative, Change the World: The Power of Immigrant Representation on Television, the award-winning report found that 40% of immigrant characters were associated with crime—an all-time high. On the other hand, twice as many AAPI & Black immigrant characters appeared on television, compared to 2020. Viewers of immigrant-centered shows also had a greater understanding of immigrants’ lives and more positive attitudes toward immigrants.

We are honored to see this insightful project receive a Gold award at the Third Annual Anthem Awards, as one of 11 nonprofit Gold winners in the Awareness and Media categories. The largest and most comprehensive social impact award, The Anthem Awards aims to honor the purpose & mission-driven work of people, companies and organizations worldwide. 

Madeo and Define American have partnered on a variety of projects over the years, including their brand identity.