Black-owned public relations company, 98Forward, has been partnering with major universities and corporations for over two decades. As the Detroit-raised business looks forward, it is celebrating by…yes, you guessed it, giving back.
The 25-year-old company decided to celebrate its quarter-century birthday by sharing 25 acts of kindness. To start, last week, 98Forward blessed 10 students from Wayne State University with $25 gift cards.
“It’s directly related to why we were founded and our connection to the city,” 98Forward’s co-founder and CEO, Georgella Muirhead said to the Detroit Free Press. “We have always really prided ourselves on not just having an office in the city of Detroit, but actually being a part of the community. So we anticipate that you will find us doing volunteer work for some of those legacy organizations that we have throughout the city or lending our support to the public schools.”
In the coming weeks, 98Foward will surprise some employees with a day off, or days off, for a day at a museum, a Detroit Tigers baseball game, or simply to have lunch.
Since the company’s inception in 1998, 98Forward has provided resources and services to several businesses, non-profit organizations, as well as residents of Detroit, according to the Detroit Free Press.
98Forward is the brainchild of Bob Berg and Murihead. Initially, the company’s name was Berg Muirhead. It later changed to Van Dyke Horn before settling on 98Forward. Clients include the City of Birmingham, Detroit’s Strategic Neighborhood Fund, Affordable Housing Leverage Fund, GS3 Global, Detroit Institute of Arts, and several others.
“I think back to my partner, Bob Berg and I, when we started the firm, we had one very simple goal: We wanted to make enough money to pay our bills,” Muirhead said. “So to have an organization that surpassed that goal, and has, in fact, lasted and been very, very vibrant for 25 years, was something that I think neither one of us, quite frankly, thought about when we started it. But it is an accomplishment that we both would be very, very proud of.”
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