Ije Nwokorie selected Cannes design jury president

Born in America, Nwokorie spent his early years in Nigeria, an experience he credits with underpinning his creative outlook, as it is a world where commerce, culture and creativity are necessarily intertwined with everyday life. He completed his architecture training at Columbia University and has worked on urban regeneration projects in Africa, special effects in New York and computer gaming in London.

Nwokorie joined the Wolff Olins team in 2006 as a senior strategist, was appointed managing director of Wolff Olins' London office in 2010 and became global CEO in 2014.

Exciting new chapter in design

In his new position, he will lead the global business forward into an exciting new chapter, to inspire, as well as drive, facilitate and deliver strategy and innovation for big corporations. Increasingly his role is as much about creating, as it is about bringing great people together to make things happen. The agency is responsible for brands such as (RED), Orange, GE, Mercedes-Benz, New York City, London 2012, Tate, Unilever, Target, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Docomo and AOL.

Nwokorie is a passionate speaker on creativity and leadership, fascinated by the possibilities of technology and an influential mentor and voice on entrepreneurship in Africa. "As so many aspects of society and commerce are going through such fundamental rethinks, design has never been more important and creative approaches never more required in addressing systemic challenges. I'm looking forward to seeing how our industry is bringing design as a tool to play our part in these critical and exciting times."