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Austin proclaims Be Essential Marketing Day; founder speaks about youth mentorship

Austin City Council · May 21, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Councilmember Mike Siegel and Brandon Madyan celebrated Be Essential Marketing with a proclamation naming May 21, 2026, as Be Essential Marketing Day; Madyan described founding the student-focused program to support creativity, mentorship and academic success.

Councilmember Mike Siegel read a proclamation recognizing Be Essential Marketing and declared 05/21/2026 as Be Essential Marketing Day in Austin.

Siegel said the organization helps young people "discover their voice, develop their talents, and see new possibilities for their future," and credited the group with advancing youth employment and creative skill-building. Brandon Madyan, the organization's founder, told the council he started the group while in college to offer students free access to photography, fashion and other creative programming.

Madyan described the organization’s core values — "be exquisite, be supportive, and be essential" — and said his program has worked with historically Black colleges and local middle and high schools to give students exposure to creative and professional skills. The item was ceremonial and the proclamation concluded the series of recognition items at the meeting.