Glass Lion
This year’s submissions were from 38 countries and featured work that confronted gender-based prejudice and inequality. The proceeds from the 155 entries into the Glass Lion at this year’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity have been shared between ten gender equality-focussed charities from across the world: UN Women, Equality Now, Pro Mujer, Global Fund for Women, Gender and Development Network, Geena Davis Institute, Men Engage, Women for Women, Clinton Foundation and UN Women National Committee of the UK.

Live at the Festival, attendees picked their favourite charity from the selected 10 and made donations using an activation platform delivered in partnership with in/PACT. Donations will support a range of causes, including:

Pro Mujer is committed to empowering women in Latin America. “The generous contributions of Cannes Lions attendees will provide essential health services and training, supporting women to break free from the cycle of poverty,” said Lynne Patterson, co-founder, Pro Mujer.

Global Fund for Women gives voice and resources to women worldwide. “Thanks to your donation, we can ensure more women and girls are free from violence and are economically and politically empowered,” commented Renee Saedi, stewardship officer of GFFW.

UN Women National Committee UK is dedicated to gender equality with the goal of removing social and cultural barriers. “The money raised will make a tangible difference, helping women and girls become more self-confident, independent and respected within their communities,” said Laura Haynes, chairwoman of the UN Women National Committee UK.

“When we launched the Glass Lion, we were clear that all proceeds from entry fees would go to appropriate charities. Thank you to all the Cannes Lions attendees who participated in choosing the charities through the in/PACT platform. We hope the Glass Lion will one day focus on other issues within society, and we look forward to the day when an award like this is no longer needed to highlight gender imbalance in the world,” said Jose Papa, managing director of Lions Festivals.

The Glass Lion was launched in 2015 as part of a growing number of initiatives designed by Cannes Lions to promote diversity within creative communications. In 2016, 40% of jury members were women, the highest ratio ever.

Female creatives

See It Be It, the Festival’s initiative for high-potential creative women, aims to change the ratio of female leaders in agency creative departments. In its third year, a cohort of 14 women took part in a tailored programme of main stage seminars, behind-the-scenes jury room access, workshops, one-to-one mentoring and exclusive networking opportunities.

The Glass Grand Prix award, the highest accolade, was won by India’s first transgender band in a campaign by Mindshare for Brooke Bond tea. The winning Glass Award work is available on the Cannes Lions winners’ site at: www.canneslionsarchive.com/winners/

For more information about the diversity agenda at Cannes Lions, please visit the Cannes Lions Archive where highlights from keynote sessions are available to watch in full. These include: Sex, Lies & Advertising by Madonna Badger; Gender Equality Is No Laughing Matter, Talks from the girls’ lounge; and Unleashing The Power of Diversity in Tech with Reshma Saujani.

Cannes Lions is an eight-day Festival and Awards celebrating creative excellence across all forms of brand communications and runs from 17-24 June 2017 in Cannes, France. Further information on how to be a part of it can be found at www.canneslions.com.