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CEO and Founder | The Holliday Collaborative Agency
LaMar Holliday founded a public relations agency to tell clients’ stories. His own is just as worthy. Overcoming homelessness, he built a career in journalism and strategic communications to address social-justice issues, including fair housing and rehabilitation. His accomplishments include successfully leading public involvement on the Interstate 69 expansion when he worked for the state and helping to secure $40 million in Lilly Endowment funding for a nationwide climate change initiative through the Red Cross. At the city of Indianapolis, he helped manage pandemic assistance for underserved communities. Holliday walks the talk, too, opening his home to ex-felons. “His unwavering commitment to inclusivity and rehabilitation mirrors the forward-thinking vision that Forty Under 40 embodies: fostering a world where opportunity is not a privilege of the flawless record but a testament to the indomitable human spirit,” said Juan Gonzalez, president of KeyBank.
Getting here: As a broadcast journalist, Holliday reported on the landmark hearing of a same-sex marriage case in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. He transitioned to media relations for the Indiana Department of Transportation and the Indianapolis Mayor’s Office, leading major public engagement campaigns. Using his vacation time to volunteer for the Red Cross as a communications liaison led to a role as the organization’s regional communications director, his last staff job before going solo. He is a recipient of the Public Relations Society of America’s Pinnacle Award for Media Relations and participated in the Stanley K. Lacy Executive Leadership Series.
First job: McDonald’s inside The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis
Givebacks: Board member, Outreach Inc. and Kennedy King Memorial Initiative; president, Kennedy King Neighborhood Association; director of advocacy, Public Relations Society of America, Hoosier Chapter
Influential moment: Graduating from high school on time—because Holliday spent his senior year in dire straits and working two jobs. “At that time, I was receiving assistance from Outreach Inc. as a homeless teen. I told my case manager that if they could help me and my family get over these hurdles in our lives, I would soar! That’s exactly what happened! I would go on to graduate from college and have successful careers in journalism, PR and now as an entrepreneur. I could have become a statistic, but I chose to fight and live a fruitful life instead.”
Advice: “Do not get caught up in the destination of life. Enjoy the journey because that’s where the fun happens!”•
Check out more Forty Under 40 honorees.
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