Dubai Lynx Announces 2025 Juries

Dubai Lynx, MENA’s leading platform for creative excellence and effectiveness, has announced its 2025 Jury line-up. 

This year, agencies and networks making their Jury debut include Design Bridge and Partners, Momentum Worldwide and 21GRAMS, Part of Real Chemistry. Esteemed brands and companies such as BUCK and Joe Public will also be represented on the Juries for the first time, highlighting a growing diversity of perspectives and expertise. Jurors confi from 28 markets, including Croatia for the first time, will come together in Dubai  benchmark creative excellence across the region. 

Commenting on the jury president line-up, Philip Thomas, chairman, Dubai Lynx, said, "The Dubai Lynx Awards represent the spirit of creativity and innovation that drives the MENA region forward. Our Jurors play a pivotal role in upholding these values, bringing their unparalleled expertise and unique perspectives to the judging process. We are thrilled to welcome such an esteemed group of industry leaders to guide this year’s Awards and celebrate the transformative power of creativity."

Ian Fairservice, vice chairman, Dubai Lynx, added, "We have an incredible line-up of global creative experts and we’re delighted to see representation from a broad range of agencies, brands and companies – including many for the first time – allowing a diver range of voices in the Jury rooms. We're grateful to all of our 2025 Juries for devoting their time and knowledge, and we can't wait to see our Jurors in action in Dubai later this year." 

The Dubai Lynx 2025 Juries have been named as: 

Audio & Radio, Film, Print & Publishing 

• Chris Beresford-Hill, Worldwide Chief Creative Officer, BBDO Worldwide, Glob
• Bharat Kumar, Executive Creative Director, Momentum Worldwide, USA
• Chrystel Jung, Creative Director, BETC, France 
• Dora Osinde, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy GmbH, Germa 
• Emily Y. Wu, Executive Producer, Ghost Island Media, Taiwan 
• Gustavo Victorino, Chief Creative Officer, Talent, Braz 
• Martin Schlumpf, Executive Creative Director, Joe Public, South Africa 

Brand Experience & Activation, Creative Commerce 

• Ryan McManus, Chief Creative Officer, VML,  
• Crystal Vinisse Thomas, Vice President, Global Brands, Lifestyle & Luxury, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Global 
• Patrick Bennett, Global Chief Creative Officer, Jack Morton Worldwide, Glob
• Rafael Gil, Chief Creative Officer, Artplan, Braz 
• Sebastian Klett, General Manager, Publicis Groupe Australia, Australia
• Uyen Pham, Chief Marketing Officer, Ninety Eight, Vietn 

Creative Effectiveness, Creative Strategy 

• Chioma Aduba, President, Droga5 New York, USA 
• Ana Alonso, Global Strategy Director, VML, Global 
• Josh Taylor Dadds, Group Strategy Director, Special, Aotearoa New Zealand
• Marina Pires, Country Managing Director, Monks, Brazil
• Nhan Mai, Skin Cleansing Vietnam and Deodorant Vietnam Category Business Lead, Unilever, Vietnam 
• Pat Stephenson, Founder and Chief Relationship Officer, Boys + Girls, Irela
• Said Gil, CEO, Dentsu Creative, Mexico 

Design, Industry Craft 

• Mayuri Nikumbh, Head of Design, Conran Design Mumbai, India
• Amanda Smith, Creative Director, BUCK, the Netherlands 
• Heitor Piffer, Executive Creative Director, Design Bridge and Partners, Brazil
• Jessika De Freites, Senior Art Director, Cheil, Spain 
• Tim Woolford, Executive Creative Director, Leo Burnett, Australia
• Yuhei Ito, Head of Design, TBWA\HAKUHODO, Japan 
• Lauren Kimball, EVP, Experience Design Director, Edelman, USA 

Digital Craft, Social & Influenc 

• Mihnea Gheorghiu, Global Chief Creative Officer, LePub, Glob 
• Elisa Konttinen, Creative Director, Reaktor, Finland 
• Juanita León, Premium Local Brands Director, AB-InBev, Colombia
• Neville Shah, Chief Creative Officer, FCB Kinnect and FCB/Six, Ind
• Sanya Grujicic, Executive Creative Director, Monks, Canada 
• Vinod Savio, Chief Creative Officer, DDB Group, Singapo 

Direct, Outdoor 

• Neo Mashigo, Chief Creative Officer, The Up&Up Group, South Afri
• Benjamin Vendramin, US and Global Chief Creative and Content Office EssenceMediacom, Global 
• Elizabeth Juarez, Creative Vice President, VECTOR B, Mexico 
• Mike Dubrick, Chief Creative Officer, Rethink Toronto, Cana 
• Rachel Kennedy, Group Creative Director, Forsman & Bodenfors, Singapore
• Sara Clewemar, Independent Brand & Creative Lead, Sweden 
• Sean Poropat, Creative Director, Studio Sonda, Croatia

Entertainment 

• Matt Murphy, Global Chief Creative Officer, 72andSunny, Glob 
• Britney Pai, Head of Entertainment, Greater North Asia, dentsu, Greater North Asia
• César Castaño Salazar, Executive Creative Director, Monks, Colombia
• Juan Woodbury, EVP, Head of Branded Content and Entertainment, North America, Prose on Pixels, North America 
• Kaleesha Rajamantri, Head of Prime Video SVOD - Business, Amazon Ads, Global
• Michiel Marsman, Executive Creative Director, Sizzer, the Netherlands 

Film Craft 

• Aisha Blackwell, Head of Production Services, Serviceplan MAKE, Germany
• Cristiana Williams, Executive Producer of Global Origination, TBWA\Media Arts Lab, USA
• Felipe Luchi, Director/Creative Director, Santeria, Brazil 
• Katherine Jones, SVP - Production Practice Africa, Publicis Groupe, South Africa
• Louise Bonnar-Whitehead, Head of Film, Havas London, UK 
• Marius Talampas, Director, Managing Partner, Arcade, the Philippines 

Healthcare 

• Roberta Raduan, Managing Director, Klick Health, LATAM 
• Bakani Ntaisi, Head of Marketing Consumer Division, Adcock Ingram, South Africa
• John McPartland, Executive Creative Director EMEA, Ogilvy Health UK, EMEA
• Katie Dean, SVP Creative Director, 21GRAMS, USA 
• Joy Zhu, Managing Director, McCann Health China, Mainland China 

Media 

• Fiona Johnston, CEO – Client, Media and Commercial, Dentsu, Australia Anisha Iyer, CEO, OMD, India 
• Janet Levine, Head of Global Invention, Mindshare, Global 
• Kien Lim, CEO, Havas Media Network China, Mainland China 
• Pedro Santos García, Chief Growth Officer, Zelva, Colomb 
• Yvonne Bertolino-Goos, Senior Media Advisor, Zilveren Kruis, the Netherlands

PR 

• Vanessa Ho Nikolovski, Chief Client and Growth Officer, Asia Pacific, Weber Shandw APAC 
• Lauren Haberfield, Executive Creative Director, Edelman, Fran 
• Pablo Sanchez Liste, Managing Director, Untold_, Argentina 
• Parveez Modak, Managing Director - Strategy, MSL, India 
• Randa Stephan, Global Chief Brand Officer, Burson, Glob 
• Sera Holland, UK CEO, Ketchum, UK 
• Sylvester Chauke, Chief Architect, DNA Brand Architects, South Africa 

The 2025 Dubai Lynx Awards have introduced exciting updates to better reflect t evolving creative landscape. The Digital Lynx has transformed into the Digital Craft Lynx, highlighting the growing significance of technological artistry across platforms. Similarl the Social & Influencer Award has been refreshed to honour the influential role crea play in shaping and amplifying brand messages in today’s dynamic digital ecosystem. 

Mihnea Gheorghiu, global chief creative officer, LePub and jury president for the Digit Craft and Social & Influencer Lynx Awards, shared his perspective: “The MENA regi holds surprising stories that many of us are not familiar with. There are different challenges and brilliant minds that come up with fantastic solutions that can innovate and inspire way beyond the region. In our Jury’s case, we’re looking for those solutions that have either ground breaking digital craftsmanship or redefine how brands conne with audiences on social through smart creator-driven campaigns. I’m very excited to go really deep into stimulating discussions with my Jury and decide what really stands out.” 

Other changes include an update to the Audio & Radio Lynx Award to reflect t expansion of Audio work across the industry, a refresh to the PR Lynx Award to accurately reflect the current PR industry and an evolved entry process to focus on areas Sustainability, DEI and Cultural Context.