WACL Talent Award 2024 Winners Announced
WACL (Women in Advertising and Communications Leadership) in partnership with NABS, the support organisation for the advertising and media industry, have announced the winners of this year’s 19th annual WACL Talent Awards.
21 in total were chosen from 163 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, media and creative agencies, brands, tech platforms, startups and more.
This year nearly 50% of the courses are centred around leadership compared to 25% last year. Other courses ranged from strategy and presentation to service prototyping and creative writing.
“In WACL’s 101st year, we have been truly inspired by the talent, drive and determination of applicants to the Talent Awards. Not only are our winners the future of our industry as practitioners, but are championing gender equality and equity,” said Alex Goat, chair of the WACL Talent Awards committee and CEO of Livity. “This year we heard with honesty and authenticity about the challenges facing our next generation of leaders as they rise in their careers. With training budgets more constrained than ever, as WACL and NABS, we are immensely proud to be able to offer 21 bursaries to changemakers from across the UK, to further accelerate their careers and support them in their journey through leadership. As we continue on our mission to accelerate gender equality across business and our industry, I cannot think of a more exciting way to support this than with the Talent Awards. I can’t wait to see what impact this year’s cohort will have.”
One exceptional winner is also awarded the annual Patricia Mann Award, 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 Dhatri Navanayagam, previously senior strategy director at EssenceMediacom, now independent consultant.
On winning the award Dhatri said, “I care deeply about nurturing the next generation of creative, ambitious and resilient women leaders. I am delighted to have won a WACL Talent Award that recognises and champions the leadership potential of women from all backgrounds. I can’t wait to be part of this incredible support network of fabulous women leaders as I take the next step in my leadership journey. I strongly believe in the transformative power of advertising to drive positive change and I am especially honoured to have won the Patricia Mann award.”
Finally, WACL is awarding The Wendy Braverman Award for a leading light in the advertising industry across more than three decades, Wendy 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. The judges awarded two women this year: Marianne Olaleye, founder and chief brand storyteller of JAIKU and Jennifer Quiqly-Jones, founder and CEO of Digital Voices.
On winning the award Marianne said, “It was very emotional. Having the backing of a network of women leaders that has existed for more than 100 years has given me a massive confidence boost, confirming that I have what it takes to go out there and set up my own marketing agency. I’m thrilled to have been given the funding for my chosen course, which will help me build and grow a successful agency and also, more importantly, to now be joining this network of incredible women leaders. Finding out about the award was very touching, and to hear what the women of WACL have said about me and my talent, as well as the support they’re offering, means everything to me. I am really excited to start this new chapter of my life.”
All winners will receive a membership to the Futures networking group, created and run by alumni of the Awards, as well as a copy of Gremlins by Helen Tupper and Sarah Ellis.
Launched by Tess Alps in 2005, 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. In the last 19 years, more than 270 women have received bursaries totalling over £500,000.
Full list of WACL Talent Award 2024 winners:
- Lucy Gell, marketing manager at Google
- Dhatri Navanayagam, independent consultant, previously senior strategy director at EssenceMediacom
- Amanda Maw, senior client partner manager at Microsoft
- Sara Mahmud-Marshall, formerly strategist at VMLY&R
- Sabah Rhodes, strategic enterprise account executive at Integral Ad Science
- Marianne Olaleye, content strategy consultant at JAIKU
- Mikaela Dragon, freelance creative director
- Maria St Louis, AV manager at Channel 4
- Ashika Chauhan, executive creative director at krow Group
- Marty Davies, creative strategy consultant at Smarty Pants Consultancy Limited
- Nova Dando, creative director at TikTok
- Abigail Gyimah, community engagement manager at Google UK Ltd
- Isabelle Hutchinson, senior account director at VCCP
- Diamond Abdulrahim, freelance senior strategist
- Molly Towers Mode, senior associate director at EssenceMediacom
- Lauren Estwick, new business and marketing director at House 337
- Alex Branzan, strategy director at WeAreFearless
- Beth Hurst, content marketing associate director at Zenith Global
- Jennifer Quigley-Jones, CEO, Digital Voices
- Kim Lambert, group insight director at UM London
- Carys Rush, client solutions manager at Meta
