David Meltzer
The 2025 Fresh Faces Project Award winners have officially been announced! Coming from a wide array of industries, the honorees exemplify an inspiring and relatable network of business owners, creatives and changemakers. The annual competition was held virtually this year by its Founder, Dr. Calynn Lawrence. With over a decade of experience in the field and having reached over 1,000 brands, causes and people through her work, she has amassed 23 national and international awards such as 3 Person of the Year Awards, 4 RCCI Academy Awards (Chicago Oscars), 2 Influencer Magazine Awards, and many “youngest ever” and “first ever” titles. The critically acclaimed and world record breaking humanitarian-entrepreneur-social scientist, decided to continue the formerly in-person Fresh Faces Project tradition digitally due to massive encouragement from supporters who expressed a passionate interest in seeing the initiative continue online. This is because the Calynn Communications & Creative corporation has shifted the majority of their bandwidth towards launching and scaling The Holistic Healing Source for Marginalized Society. The globally accredited virtual resource center offers lots of free reusable content for public education, professional development and advocacy on topics at the intersections of mental health, spiritual care and social justice.
As in previous years, The Fresh Faces Project Awards were completely free with no nomination fees to participants so as to eliminate any financial barriers for all who wanted to enter. The event is nobly self-funded from the revenue of its parent company and Dr. Lawrence’s demanding yet rewarding career in marketing and media. As a result, the honorees come from several different backgrounds, offering excellent representation to under-resourced populations such as people of color, women, the disabled and more. The Fresh Faces Project prides itself on prioritizing inclusivity regardless of if it’s trendy or not.
We asked Dr. Lawrence what her thoughts are on this year’s winners and if she could highlight a few of them that she is especially connected with. She had this to say:
“Every single one of the honorees that we’ve ever awarded over the many years that I’ve been doing this were promising talents in their professions. Whether they were high ranking executives, worldwide pageant queens, famed performers, local do-gooders or rising child stars, I view their gifts and hustle as nothing short of astonishing. However, if I had to pick a few to discuss from this year’s tribe, I’ll discuss these three. Dave Bradley and Tony Strong were the only two from this year’s line up to walk away with multiple category wins. Dave, who is a friend and someone I consistently am in awe of as both a person and a performer, was selected for Veteran Comedian of the Year and Musician of the Year. Tony Strong, who is a friend and someone I look up to for his undying commitment to spreading joy in the community, won for Event Producer of the Year and Humanitarian of the Year. I think that speaks for itself, and is all the more heartwarming because they are both fellow African Americans whom I love to see acknowledged for our successes. Carolyn Lear Palmer is the former Ms. Elite Fresh Face Universal 2022 and has such a touching life story of perseverance and love, alongside her and her daughter’s continual support of us over the years. It was only right to celebrate her and the notable digital advocacy that she does for various people and organizations.”
Congratulations to all of The 2025 Fresh Faces Project Award winners! We look forward to watching as you all positively impact the world.
Website: www.freshfacesproject.org
