Kate Desmarais, associate creative director at Ogilvy & Mather, Chicago is originally from South Africa.

Developed collaboratively by the organisations in 2015, Next Creative Leaders identifies and celebrates talented creative women who are making their mark with both great work and a workplace perspective on diversity that helps change the industry for the better. While most of the honourees currently work in the US, the program has a strong global element with six of the winners originally from other countries.

Next Creative Leaders for 2017

• Kate Baynham, copywriter, Goodby Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco. 
• Sakshi Choudhary, creative supervisor, Ogilvy & Mather, Mumbai, India.
• Kate Desmarais, associate creative director, Ogilvy & Mather, Chicago (originally from South Africa).
• Micaela Gallino, senior creative art director, Johannes Leonardo, New York (originally from Argentina).
• Kristin Graham, associate creative director, Goodby Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco.
• Emmie Nostitz, creative director, Droga5, New York.
• Lucia Orlandi, creative director, R/GA, San Francisco (originally from Ireland).
• Alexandra Sobiecki, art director, Spotify, New York.
• Jessica Toye, senior art director, J. Walter Thompson, New York (originally from Canada).
• Hanna Wittmark, art director, Goodby Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco (originally from Sweden).

“The One Club for Creativity has a long-standing commitment to providing programming that helps solve the industry's diversity problem as opposed to just talking about it,” said Kevin Swanepoel, CEO, The One Club. “We created our own Inclusion and Diversity Department nearly a decade ago, and support programs like Next Creative Leaders that identify, elevate and give voice to those who are making a real difference. They are the ones who are opening the door and inspiring the next generation of women who follow in their footsteps.”

Swanepoel added that this year’s three Next Creative Leaders honourees from Goodby Silverstein & Partners are testament to the agency’s ongoing commitment to inclusion and diversity championed by senior leadership such as co-chair Jeff Goodby, a driving force behind creation of The One Club’s annual “Here Are All The Black People” multicultural conference and career fair, and Margaret Johnson, chief creative officer, One Club board member and founding member of The 3% Conference.

Global showcase of diversity

“We are thrilled about the level of talent and spirit embodied by this year’s Next Creative Leaders,” said Kat Gordon, founder, The 3% Movement. “Six of the 10 winners are originally from outside the US, making this a true global showcase of diversity, advocacy and opportunity for people of every ethnicity.”

To make the Next Creative Leaders program as open and accessible as possible, there is no cost for nominating a candidate. Nominees were judged on four-to-six pieces of creative work, their background and information about how they — and their work — are pushing the industry forward and making a positive contribution in terms of diversity, mentoring and advocacy. Winners were selected by a jury of 29 top creatives, including past Next Creative Leaders winners (complete with jury list).

This year’s Next Creative Leaders were featured at The 3% Conference, profiled on The One Club for Creativity website and The 3% Movement blog, promoted through the two organisations’ social media channels and invited to serve as judges for next year’s program.