Havas Women Share Stories of Triumph, Disappointment and Hope

Havas asked women in its offices in New York, Paris, and London to talk about their professional experiences in the advertising industry in honour of International Women's Day.

Whether it’s hearing about Havas Creative Network and Havas Health & You CEO Donna Murphy’s first job working the register at McDonald’s, the time chief DEIB officer Lisa Rodriguez was asked to write up a job offer for a male counterpart making double her salary at a previous job, to the importance (and rarity) of a good mentor - these stories are compelling, heart breaking, and inspirational in every way.

Q> How did Havas decide on a video with personal stories from women inside the organisation?

Havas> Females comprise of about 55% of the senior leadership positions at Havas. We started out wanting to learn about these women’s triumphs but stumbled upon the challenges, the importance of mentors and what they think every woman should feel as they navigate their careers.

Q> Where will this run and for how long?

Havas> This will be distributed to all 22,000 Havas employees across all networks, agencies and Villages and will be shared in clips on social (Instagram and LinkedIn) throughout the month of March. 

Q> Was this a completely internal effort?

Havas> Yes, this video was produced by our internal comms team.

Q> What is your main goal with this effort? And are there other moving parts to it - a bigger campaign?

Havas> The landscape for women in leadership positions is certainly improving but we feel we can all do better. And we want to send a message to young women within our networks and throughout the industry that women can successfully grow their career at Havas.