How Barbara Levy Rewrote the Rules of Advertising Awards

In 1979, Barbara Levy was wrapping up her studies and preparing for a career in law when a short-term opportunity came her way: a temporary gig helping out at an advertising award show called the Clios.

It was meant to be just that: temporary. But Barbara quickly stood out, particularly in her work with the show's international clients. Her efforts with the Brazilian representative landed her a surprise, all-expenses-paid business class trip to Brazil.

“In walks a messenger into the Clio office and hands me an envelope,” remembers Barbara. “It had my name on. I opened it up, and it was a business class ticket to Brazil. I'm like, I don't even have a passport. I was 22 years old, and had never been anywhere outside the US, except Canada.”

That trip changed everything. Though she had planned to move on, Barbara accepted a full-time role, and eventually rose to become the Clio Awards’ International Director.

LIA Takes Off

Today, she’s best known as the founder and driving force behind London International Awards, a show she launched in 1986, back when the idea of a fully integrated ‘international’ awards show was still unheard of. In 1984, Barbara was approached by the UK Creative Circle to turn its awards programme into an international show. After speaking with board members, it became apparent to her that many of them loved the idea, but quite a few were reluctant to embrace it. After these discussions she decided to create a stand-alone international show based in the UK.

Barbara relocated to London, took on two partners and launched London International Awards (LIA) as an independent venture.

The inaugural show awarded TV, Print and Radio with its first ever printed annual showcasing 24 pages of winners. That year’s judging panel read like a fantasy draft of advertising royalty: Ridley Scott, John Hegarty, Jay Chiat, Franchellie ‘Frakie’ Cadwell, Phil Dusenberry, Joe Pytka, Tony Scott, Keith Reinhard, David Abbott, Lois Wyse, etc. “People decided it was a scam, because people could not figure out how they could possibly be judging,” she laughs.

But despite the scepticism, LIA quickly cemented itself on the awards circuit. In those early years, creatives flew in from across the globe for the annual awards gala to pick up their statues – back when budgets still permitted such exploits – with LIA held at venues like The Barbican and Sketch.

After becoming sole owner in 1999, Barbara overhauled LIA’s operations, embracing strict budgeting, ditching debt and building a model focused on sustainable independence – all cornerstones of the business today.

Winning Respect and Moving West

While the show had found international success, it continued to struggle with one market in particular: the UK. Despite its name, British creatives were often dismissive of LIA – a source of frustration Barbara didn’t fully understand until a fateful encounter in Singapore during the judging of the World Press Awards, which she founded with advertising legend Neil French.

“Neil was talking to Jeremy Craigen about LIA,” she says. “Jeremy said something about, ‘Well, I’m not going to judge that show.’ Neil said, ‘Well, maybe you should tell her that.’ Jeremy asked, ‘Who’s her?’ And Neil said, ‘She owns that show.’”

Barbara asked Jeremy why he was against judging LIA. “He said, ‘Because it’s in London’.”

Later that evening, Jeremy joked that he’d judge if the show was held in Las Vegas. With no board to convince and the freedom to move quickly, Barbara went straight to Nevada to scout locations.

Since 2009, Las Vegas has been LIA’s home – not just to win over reluctant judges, but to create a focused space for in-person deliberation. While many shows shifted to pre-judging and virtual panels, LIA doubled down on in-person deliberation. Every juror is present onsite, debating and critiquing work together – a non-negotiable standard that now brings over 180 jurors, including more than 35 global chief creative officers, to Las Vegas each year.

From Awards to Education: The Rise of Creative LIAisons

By 2012, Barbara and her team had grown frustrated with the traditional awards show format. As budgets had tightened, it became increasingly clear that networks weren’t sending teams to London from outside the UK to attend a one-night award show.

Although those who did attend considered it to be one of the best holiday parties (it took place right at the end of the year), LIA made the decision to shift focus – moving away from the traditional awards show and toward education. That’s when Creative LIAisons was born – a fully LIA-funded initiative designed to offer something more meaningful than a party-like ceremony. The on-site programme brings 130 young creatives to Las Vegas each year, at no cost to their employers.

“Education and transparency is a very important factor for LIA,” says Barbara. “Holding our LIAisons programme concurrently with judging allows young creatives access to top level creatives. Our jury rooms are open to all and we are proud to give back and support the industry through our Creative LIAisons Global Coaching Academy. LIA is the only global show that allows emerging talent, creative excellence managers and the press to sit in the jury rooms in real time. Las Vegas is the perfect backdrop to combine judging and educating young talent as everywhere you look it is brimming with creativity.”

It’s this rigour and presence that laid the foundation for Creative LIAisons, which is an evolution of the same idea: that when the best minds in the industry are brought together, in person, meaningful things happen.

Creative LIAisons began in 2012 as a 35-person programme called Creative Conversations. The first year took a speed-mentoring approach, with attendees rotating between industry leaders. It was intimate and impactful, but exhausting for speakers. From year two, the format shifted to talks, panels and workshops, allowing for richer, less repetitive conversations.

The programme has grown steadily, from 35 participants to more than 300 across its in-person and virtual formats, which were launched during the pandemic and sustained since then. Run by Laurissa Levy, it has become one of LIA’s defining pillars, especially as traditional agency training budgets shrink. She says that WPP’s Rob Reilly, then at McCann, once told a room of attendees that it was the most important training programme in the industry.

“I think LIAisons has changed the way the industry looks at us,” says Barbara. “There are plenty of awards, but nothing like this programme.”

What began as a bold shift away from the traditional awards show has become one of the industry’s most impactful programmes for creative development. Now, as it celebrates its 40th anniversary, LIA remains the only global awards festival founded and fully owned by a woman, and run by a full-time staff of women. And that team is stewarding something that’s unmatched in its focus on humanity and creative integrity.

With jury presidents announced ranging from Chaka Sobhani to Sandi Preston to Marco Venturelli, 2025’s entries are now open for projects that hope to live up to those 40 years of growth.