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WACL: Women in Advertising & Communications Leadership. Our purpose: to accelerate gender equality via support, inspiration and campaigning.

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💫 Applications for the WACL Talent Awards are now open!

Do you know an exceptional woman whose leadership potential deserves to be recognised? Or could that person be you?

The WACL Talent Awards are part of WACL's #Inspire programme, recognising and accelerating the next generation of female leaders in advertising, marketing, media and communications, helping drive WACL's ambition of seeing 50% of industry CEOs being women.

Delivered in partnership with @nabs_uk , each winner receives a leadership development grant of up to £1,500 to invest in a course or experience that will help accelerate their career, alongside becoming part of an inspiring network of Talent Awards alumni.

If you're ready to take the next step in your leadership journey - or know someone who is - we'd love to hear from you.

📅 Applications close: 2nd November 2026

👉 Apply now : https://wacl.info/talent/talent-awards/

#WACL, #WACLTalentAwards, #Inspire, #Leadership, #WomenInLeadership by @wacl2

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3 days ago

The most important shifts in a career rarely happen publicly.

They begin in a private conversation with someone who’s already navigated the path ahead.

WACL Talent Mentoring pairs high-potential women in advertising, marketing and communications with four senior industry leaders for four structured 1:1 conversations.

What you can expect:
- Personal access to experienced industry leaders
- Confidential conversations focused on your real career questions
- Insight grounded in experience – not theory
- Space to challenge, reflect and move forward with clarity

Honest dialogue. Lived experience. Real perspective.

Programme details:

📅 November – February 2027 cohort
👉 Applications close: October 1st, 2026
🚨 Places are limited

If you’re ready for the conversation that could change your trajectory, apply here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/wacl-talent-mentoring-program-nov-2026-february-2027-tickets-2000174066476

Further details: https://wacl.info/talent/talent-mentoring/

Mentors give up their time freely to support as WACL’s purpose of accelerating gender equality.

All profit goes towards supporting @nabs_uk and the WACL Talent Awards. by @wacl2

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6 days ago

Sixty mentees. Twenty mentors. Four panellists. Two packed rooms at MAD//Fest.

Brilliant energy. Honest questions. Generous conversations.

A huge thank you to everyone who joined WACL Talent Mentoring at MAD//Fest this week — and to our incredible WACL mentors for giving their time, perspective and lived experience so generously.

It was a powerful reminder of what happens when experienced women make time for emerging talent, and when emerging talent is given the space to ask the questions that really matter.

On the Creativity Stage, we also tackled head-on why the gender wars are bad for business and bad for creativity.

Thank you to Ali Hanan, Josh Harris, Phoebe Barter and Radha Davies for a sharp, evidence-led conversation on why inclusive advertising drives measurable business growth, how creative leaders can navigate the noise, and why the most human work is often the most commercially sound.

Across both sessions, the message was clear: progress happens when we create the space for women to listen, challenge, share and lead.

Thank you to everyone who made it happen.

#wacl, #madfestlondon, #mentoring by @wacl2

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3 months ago

WACL is back at MAD//Fest London!

From 7th - 9th July, WACL will be partnering with MAD//Fest London to champion the next generation of female talent - via mentoring, bold conversations and actionable take-aways.

As part of our presence at the festival, we’ll be running our WACL Talent Mentoring workshop, giving emerging female talent the opportunity to gain direct insight from our brilliant WACL members.

WACL will also be showing up on the Creativity Stage for a powerful conversation: The gender wars are bad for business - and bad for creativity - exploring why inclusive creativity matters commercially as well as culturally.

We can’t wait to bring so many brilliant women together to listen, share experience, challenge, support - and ultimately, help move the industry forward.

Hope we’ll see you there!

Visit the MAD//Fest website to view the programme and find out more about the three-day festival:

https://www.madfestlondon.com/

#wacl, #madfestlondon, #femaletalent by @wacl2

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3 months ago

Another fantastic conversation yesterday at the #EmpowerCafé in Cannes with Karen Stacey, Vicky Handley, Tobi Asare and Carly Avener.

Together, we explored why WACL lever of change, Work Like the World is Watching, has never been more relevant as AI continues to reshape our industry.

As AI becomes an increasingly integral part of our industry, we need to be conscious of the biases it can reinforce, particularly those affecting women, and ensure we are using it responsibly and challenging where necessary.

The panel discussed how AI and human expertise should work together, recognising the unique strengths of each. While technology can accelerate productivity, people still buy people. Trust, relationships and the chemistry between teams remain fundamental drivers of creativity, growth and lasting change.

A thoughtful and optimistic conversation that ended with a simple but powerful reminder: principles remain, practices change. Our business is, and always will be, built on creativity, media and marketing. Old tools and new tools are simply the means, not the end.

With thanks to Lloyds Banking Group for partnering with WACL on the session.

#WACL, #CannesLions26, #womeninleadership by @wacl2

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3 months ago

A fantastic chat yesterday at #EmpowerCafé in Cannes with WACL president Claire Sadler, Jo Arden, Yvonne Quinn, and Xavier Rees about one of the five levers of change in the WACL 50% CEO handbook: Be A Women’s Health Hero.

We covered what we can do in our capacities as business leaders and marketeers to bring the important conversations about women’s health to the fore.

Taking inspiration from the kind of open and honest conversations that women are having with each other in communities on Reddit, Inc., our panellists championed candour and curiosity about women’s health – as well, of course, as action to support people through specific circumstances.

Our panel shared personal experiences too – of parenthood, paternity leave and of women they have worked with and be inspired by.

It was an open and generous conversation about one of the major opportunities out business can explore to build more diverse and equitable work places.

#WACL, #EmpowerCafé, #CannesLions26, #WomeninLeadership by @wacl2

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3 months ago

Day two of WACL's Cannes Week at #EmpowerCafé focused on one of the most important levers for change in our #ChangeTheStats campaign: Changing the Language of Leadership.

As AI becomes increasingly embedded in how we recruit, assess, promote and develop talent, we asked a simple but urgent question: what happens when yesterday's biases become tomorrow's algorithms?

Chaired by Lianre Robinson, the conversation brought together Amy Wood (née Crowsley), Sara Holt, Celine Saturnino and Josh Harris to explore how the language we use every day shapes who gets seen as a leader — and how technology risks amplifying those assumptions at scale.

We talked about the words we'd happily throw in the bin before AI learns them. "Gravitas". "Bossy". "Culture fit". "Alpha leadership". The labels and shorthand that often reward one style of leadership while excluding many others.

Sara Holt shared how the same behaviours can still be interpreted very differently depending on who is demonstrating them, and why diverse perspectives continue to make teams, businesses and marketing stronger.

Amy Wood (née Crowsley) highlighted the role technology can play in actively challenging bias rather than reinforcing it, showing how conscious media investment can support more diverse voices while also delivering better business outcomes.

Celine Saturnino reminded us that flexibility is not a concession but a leadership choice, and that modern businesses perform better when success is measured by outcomes rather than visibility.

And Josh Harris spoke powerfully about visible role modelling, from taking paternity leave to putting school pick-ups in the diary, and why culture changes when leaders openly demonstrate the behaviours they want others to feel safe adopting.

A recurring theme throughout the discussion was that AI will learn from us. The leadership traits we celebrate, the language we use, the behaviours we reward and the systems we design today will become the training data for tomorrow.

With thanks to Channel Factory for partnering with WACL (Women in Advertising & Communications Leadership ) on the session and helping drive this important conversation forward. by @wacl2

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3 months ago

Drawing on WACL’s Promote for Potential lever within the #ChangetheStats Playbook, today's panel in Cannes focused on how leaders can better recognise and accelerate diverse talent.

The participants explored the importance of promoting for potential in finding future leaders. All our panellists (WACL VP Katie Lee, president Claire Sadler, Tom Ghiden and Josh Krichefski) drew from their own experience of having a moment in their career when senior leadership believed in them and the effect that belief had on their management style.

It highlighted the importance of building an objective structure into succession planning to prevent bias, opaque decision-making and reliance on informal networks over spotting potential.

We talked about the importance of discussing potential promotion candidates with a broad leadership team to ensure promotions aren't based solely on those who speak loudest.

A lively discussion questioned how best to use sponsorship to ensure it focused on genuine potential and was used authentically.

The future structure of teams in an AI driven world was seen as an opportunity to reshape roles, challenge long held beliefs about leadership, and shape a more equitable future description.

AI was also seen as a tool that could coach, mentor, and redefine readiness when promoting for potential. At a time when team structure and future skills are changing rapidly, it's never been a better opportunity to promote for potential.

👉 WACL Change the Stats Playbook: https://wacl.info/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ChangeTheStats-Playbook.pdf

#WACL, #EmpowerCafé, #CannesLions26, #womeninleadership by @wacl2

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3 months ago

We started our Monday in #WACL's Cannes Week, at our beloved #EmpowerCafé, with the first of our five panels, each featuring one of the five levers of change identified as most able to drive gender equality :

Being #FlexibleFirst. Retaining women and making work work for everyone.

Flexibility isn’t just about how working mothers work around the school run – it’s about how much choice we all have in the amount, timing or places we work; building strong, loyal bonds between employers and employees; and enabling everyone to shine. When we build in flexibility for those who need it, we make work better for everyone.

Ali Hanan recognises in her own business that different people have different rhythms and cadences, different family situations and challenged us all: "whose last brilliant idea came to them in the office?"

After a busy always on life in the glamorous world of professional football, Kelly Gordon has designed her business With Not For with 100% flexibility baked in, to remove barriers to working and dispel myths about Disability talent.

Chris Dunne’s personal experience showed how a strong loyal bond between company and colleagues starts with feeling trusted to do the right thing, not feeling boxed in and judged on ‘presenteeism’.

Chaired by Liz Wilson we also talked Swedish coffee breaks, naps as a creative tool and much much more.

For lots of practical guidance on flexible working, a simple checklist and toolkit, go to wacl.info.

Find us all week at Empower on Pantiero Terrace, between the Lions registration building and Amazon Port. We have water, snacks and HUGE fans 😊

@creativeequals, @wnfcreative , thinkbox

#WACL #EmpowerCafé #CannesLions26 #FlexibleFirst #GenderEquality by @wacl2

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3 months ago

WACL is in Cannes! ✨

We're thrilled to be at the Empower Café this week for a fantastic line-up of conversations and connections. Across the week, the café will host conversations inspired by WACL’s Five Levers of Change, bringing together industry leaders, partners and allies for bold, relevant discussions on our industry.

Join us throughout the week for:

Monday 22 June

· Flexible First - The Flexibility Imperative: Unlocking the Future of UK Advertising

· Promote for Potential - Rethinking How We Recognise and Back Future Leaders

Tuesday 23 June

· Changing the language of Leadership - Navigating Equality and Innovation, sponsored by Channel Factory

Wednesday 24 June

· Be a Women’s Health Hero

Thursday 25 June

· Work like the World is Watching - Creativity, AI & Radical Accountability , sponsored by @lloydsbankinggroup

If you're in Cannes, we'd love to see you at the Empower Café. Come along, join the conversation and connect with the WACL community throughout the week.

Register and view the full agenda here:
https://register.empower-cafe.com/event/signup/agenda

#WACL #EmpowerCafe #WomenInLeadership by @wacl2

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3 months ago

Cannes planning is well underway at WACL and we've got a packed agenda both at Empower Café - in partnership with Propeller Group - and across WACL's member events.

Across the week, the Empower Café will host conversations inspired by WACL’s Five Levers of Change, bringing together industry leaders, partners and allies for bold, impact-oriented discussions on the future of our industry.

We'll be exploring topics including The Flexibility Imperative: Unlocking the future of UK advertising - Rethinking how we recognise and back future leaders - and other sessions focused on driving measurable progress across the industry.

If you're heading to Cannes, we'd love to see you there! Whether you're a WACL member, an industry partner or simply passionate about shaping a more inclusive and progressive future for advertising, come and join the conversation.

Check out the full Empower Café agenda and register here:
https://register.empower-cafe.com/event/signup/agenda

#WACL, #EmpowerCafe by @wacl2

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4 months ago

WACL Talent Mentoring Programme — New Cohort Coming Soon!

Our first mentoring cohort is officially SOLD OUT 💫

We’re thrilled by the response to our WACL Talent Mentoring Programme, a national initiative where 100+ inspiring WACL members generously share their time to support the next generation of female leaders.

And now… we’re opening the door to a new cohort starting in September

💡 Be mentored by four experienced and supportive WACL leaders
💡 Gain direct insight from the UK’s most experienced and inspirational leaders

Applications for the September cohort open in August, but you can join the waitlist now to be the first to hear when applications go live. Don’t wait - spots go fast.

Join the waitlist here: https://wacl.info/talent/talent-mentoring/ by @wacl2

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4 months ago