WACL (Women in Advertising and Communications Leadership) has revealed the winners of its annual talent awards, celebrating and crucially, financially supporting, the women going above and beyond in the creative industries.

The awards, which are run in partnership with NABS, were created by Tess Alps and are now in their 20th year. Over those 2 decades, almost 300 women have received bursaries totalling over £500,000. An investment which underlines WACL’s deeds not words approach to driving forward gender equality in the creative industries.

29 finalists were chosen from a record-breaking 210 applications to receive bursaries of up to £1,500 each to fund a training course of their choice.

Entrants spanned a mix of ages, backgrounds and locations, and are representative of the whole industry, including brands, media and creative agencies, tech platforms, startups and more.

Satin Reid, Chair of the WACL Talent Awards committee and Chief Operating Officer of EssenceMediacom, said: “We were blown away by the record number of applications to the Talent Awards this year. At a time when the wider world is struggling with championing gender equality and equity, it’s reassuring to know that there is so much propensity for change from the future of our industry and the next generation of leaders.”

She continued: “This year, we have heard some incredibly candid and inspiring stories from the next generation of leaders as they deftly navigate their careers against the backdrop of an ever-changing world. As training budgets continue to be scarce, WACL and NABS are incredibly proud to offer 29 bursaries to trailblazers from across the UK, helping to fast-track their careers and guide them on their journey to leadership. As we continue to push forward with our mission to drive gender equality in business and our industry, there's no better way to support this than through the Talent Awards. I can’t wait to see the lasting impact this year’s cohort will create - they’re frankly an amazing bunch and I can say with confidence that we’ll be hearing a lot more from them across the world of adland in the next few years.”

WACL introduced three special additional awards this year. The annual Patricia Mann Award is given for championing change and challenging the status quo to support other women and make a positive impact on the marketing and advertising industry. This year’s winner is Thanh Catachanas, Head of Collaboration and Acquisition at JCDecaux UK.

Additionally, WACL is awarding The Wendy Braverman Award for a leading light in the advertising industry. Across more than three decades, Braverman was a champion of talent, a dedicated supporter of NABS and long term WACL member. Introduced in 2021, the award is given to one of the Talent Award winners who truly reflects Wendy’s entrepreneurial flair. This year, the award went to Emilia Kireli-Reed, Founder and Creative Director at Kireli Studios.

Finally, a brand new award to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Talent Awards, The Lyndy & Judith Award is awarded to a successful applicant who might either be a more mature winner or a winner who had chosen an unusual training course. This year it was awarded to Bee Pearson, Director and Co-Founder at picniq ltd.

All winners will receive a membership to the Futures networking group, created and run by alumni of the Awards. In addition, they will receive a copy of No More Menemies by Lori Meakin. A book which focused on how to get beyond the growing gender wars and encourage more men to want to build a gender-equal future too. 

The WACL Talent Awards are designed to encourage talented and inspirational women to stop, reflect on and prioritise areas of their development in order to accelerate their careers and achieve their full potential.

Image credit: Bronac McNeil